Speaking with the people's voice: how presidents invoke public opinion

Abstract

The role of public in American democracy has been a central concern of scholars who frequently examine how public influences policy makers and how politicians, especially presidents, try to shape public opinion. But in Speaking with People's Voice: How Presidents Invoke Public Opinion , Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury asks a different question that adds an important new dimension to study of public opinion: How do presidents rhetorically use public in their speeches? In a careful analysis supported by case studies and discrete examples, Drury develops concept of public opinion to study modern presidents' use of public as a rhetorical resource. He defines term as the rhetorical representation of beliefs and values of US citizens. Speaking with People's Voice considers both strategic and democratic value of invoked public by analyzing how modern presidents argumentatively deploy references to beliefs and values of US citizens as persuasive appeals as well as acts of political representation in their nationally televised speeches.