Dog-whistle politics is political propaganda in which one's true meaning is hidden, or coded, behind seemingly different concepts. This term came into use around the 1960s after white American politicians soon found it was too distasteful and unappealing to the general public to be openly racist in their campaign speeches. They soon adopted a different strategy to keep voters. By using certain phrases (like "states' rights," for instance) they were able to retain a majority of their usual voters without alienating anyone who would be too angry or uncomfortable with outright racism. Since the 1960s, this strategy has remained in American politics. While it may not seem as apparent as before, speeches by Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Trump and more can be read and analyzed for the dog whistles they discreetly contain.
Research Question
I hope to study the different political messaging some of our past and present U.S. presidents have used in order to win favor with the American public. Dog-whistles are hard to recognize because they are not meant to be noticed. However, they are very powerful tools (even weapons, one might argue) that have shaped our political environment. It is important to recognize, study, and understand the language our presidents use, especially as we have another presidential election coming up this fall. Thus, my research question is: What dog whistles have our presidents used in the past and how can we recognize this same kind of political messaging in our modern-day politics?
Texts
The texts I will be using are speeches from Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Trump (and perhaps more presidents, as well). I will analyze these texts for dog whistles, specifically recording each dog-whistle's intended meaning and effect. Furthermore, as we have now entered such a social-media-dependent era, I think it could also be useful to analyze Donald Trump's tweets for dog-whistles.
Introduction
Dog-whistle politics is political propaganda in which one's true meaning is hidden, or coded, behind seemingly different concepts. This term came into use around the 1960s after white American politicians soon found it was too distasteful and unappealing to the general public to be openly racist in their campaign speeches. They soon adopted a different strategy to keep voters. By using certain phrases (like "states' rights," for instance) they were able to retain a majority of their usual voters without alienating anyone who would be too angry or uncomfortable with outright racism. Since the 1960s, this strategy has remained in American politics. While it may not seem as apparent as before, speeches by Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Trump and more can be read and analyzed for the dog whistles they discreetly contain.
Research Question
I hope to study the different political messaging some of our past and present U.S. presidents have used in order to win favor with the American public. Dog-whistles are hard to recognize because they are not meant to be noticed. However, they are very powerful tools (even weapons, one might argue) that have shaped our political environment. It is important to recognize, study, and understand the language our presidents use, especially as we have another presidential election coming up this fall. Thus, my research question is: What dog whistles have our presidents used in the past and how can we recognize this same kind of political messaging in our modern-day politics?
Texts
The texts I will be using are speeches from Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Trump (and perhaps more presidents, as well). I will analyze these texts for dog whistles, specifically recording each dog-whistle's intended meaning and effect. Furthermore, as we have now entered such a social-media-dependent era, I think it could also be useful to analyze Donald Trump's tweets for dog-whistles.