Political Vocabularies

MARY E. STUCKEY is Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Pennsylvania State University, specializing in political and presidential rhetoric, political communication, and American Indian politics. She is the author, editor, or coeditor of twelve books and author or coauthor of roughly eighty essays and book chapters.

• Contents Acknowledgments Author’s Note Sample Letter to the Clergy Introduction Chapter 1. By Benefit of Clergy: Authoritative Political Vocabularies Chapter 2. Witnessing Politics: The Depictive Element of Political Vocabularies Chapter 3. Revelations: Naturalizing Hierarchies in Political Vocabularies Chapter 4. The American Eden: Mythic Elements of Political Vocabularies Chapter 5. Making a City on a Hill: Political Vocabularies and National Policy Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

“In this important and timely book, Mary Stuckey explains how political realignments are both enabled and reflected in shifting political discourses that reimagine authority, recast identity, and reformulate public policy. Her compelling case study illuminates an important historical period and sheds light on our own. We may not always be able to predict political change, but scholars and citizens alike need to understand its dynamics and significance. Towards this end, this text is an indispensable resource.”—ROBERT ASEN, Professor of Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture, Department of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and author of Democracy, Deliberation, and Education