Major Speeches Research Articles

Reviewing victories, renewing struggles: The ACTU Congress, Adelaide, South Australia, 4–6 June 2024

The Australian Council of Trades Unions gathered in Congress in Adelaide, June 4th - 6th 2024. This article provides a detailed report on the Congress: drawing out key themes in debate and decision, providing an account of major speeches, and reviewing the industrial and political context. The report devotes special attention to the Congress's collective consideration of recent changes to industrial law, to the issue of artificial intelligence, to the problem of ‘working time’, and to the prospects of a green industrial transformation. It also seeks to place the Congress in historical context.

From a ‘Peaceful and Prosperous China’ to ‘the China Virus’: Examining the Framing of China Through American Political Rhetoric

Abstract The period comprising the past thirty-two years since the collapse of the Soviet Union has seen a range of approaches taken by the United States in handling its relationship with China. Launched in November 2011, the ‘Pivot to Asia’ policy approach entailed new levels of engagement with ‘a peaceful and prosperous China’, but on the most challenging issues this approach also brought increasing confrontation. The West (in this case the United States) has a history of utilising Orientalist-style, ‘us vs them’ dichotomies to manipulate unequal relations of power with the East (known as the ‘Orient’) throughout history (originally with middle-eastern nations). By using tenets from Edward Said’s Orientalism and critical discourse analysis adapted from Normal Fairclough’s 3-dimensional model, this article seeks to establish whether the foreign policy rhetoric of the United States has shifted to frame China through an Orientalist worldview since the Obama Administration’s “Pivot to Asia” strategy in late 2011. The article analyses 52 speeches from the Obama and Trump Administrations, finding evidence of pro-orientalist themes and language being adopted for both. Whilst utilised to a lower degree, these ‘us vs them’ dichotomies do exist under President Obama’s more accommodating and calmer linguistic-style, being intertwined with language designed to project an image of welcoming cooperation (albeit in a condescending, back-handed way). The use of orientalist themes is more prominently provable under President Trump, with almost all major speeches pertaining to China containing high usage of orientalist tropes in a more openly xenophobic, racist fashion.

Ford Speaks on Campus: An Opportunity Lost? President Gerald Ford’s Major Speeches at College Campuses, 1974–76

Ford Speaks on Campus: An Opportunity Lost? President Gerald Ford’s Major Speeches at College Campuses, 1974–76

Public speech as a tool for nation-building: An analysis of Thabo Mbeki’s speeches

This study investigated the discursive strategies used in major speeches in South Africa with distinct socio-political systems, which put nation-building in a central place, making the nation both the context and an analytical unit for the study of nation-building. The research question that needed to be answered was: to what extent does a presidential speech, as a tool, reflect South Africa’s nation-building objectives? This study specifically examined various discursive techniques used in the political language of former President Thabo Mbeki. Two speeches by former President Thabo Mbeki were collected from the GCIS website. A general textual description of the speeches is made in terms of lexis and syntax to uncover the underlying ideology in the speeches. Thematic content analysis was adopted. The analysis was predominantly qualitative, supported by some statistical data, on the assumption that a purely qualitative analysis would not necessarily yield reliable results. The occurrence of linguistic features was presented; each text was transcribed and marked for relevant linguistic features. The critical discourse analysis revealed that, on a macro-level, the text of the speeches can be viewed as a manifestation of larger socio-political processes within the country. The texts illustrate a type of political speech positioned in a society in transition, as there are references to building a cohesive society, policy implementation, new programs of government, job creation, and poverty alleviation. The speeches did serve as a nation-building tool, as they conveyed the steps undertaken by the South African government to strive towards an inclusive and all-encompassing approach in an effort to achieve nation-building.

تحليل الخطب السياسية حول العنصرية للرئيس دونالد ترامب خلال فترة رئاسته

This paper attempts to illuminate the ways in which racist ideology is represented and articulated in everyday discourse. Since racism has been and continues to be, a driving force behind segregation in the United States, American rhetoric has been selected as the data for this investigation. This research analyses the speeches of US President Donald Trump on racism towards Muslim people through linguistic, social, and cultural perspectives. The study is an attempt to cast light on the strategies that are used express racism in the President’s speeches. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher used the qualitative approach. The data was collected from six major speeches on racism made by President Donald Trump and downloaded from YouTube and the Euronews Arabic online channel. Fairclough model (1995) is used as the main analysis model in this research. The results show that the self-other schema was heavily evident in Trump's speech, in which he effectively portrayed himself as a national hero who wants to rescue America from suffering and disaster while painting Muslims in a bad light. This study also revealed Trump's transparent effort to promote his virtuous persona by using a number of rhetorical methods meant to instill undesirable traits to Muslims, such as pronounced Islamophobia. The results show that Trump utilizes demagogic language to establish a gap between Muslims and Americans, which he then uses to metaphorically exclude individuals of other ethnic identities, particularly Muslims.

Reconstructing Early Beowulf: Evidence from Andreas for the Ninth-Century Form of the Text

The Old English hagiographical poem Andreas provides an important witness to the form and reception of Beowulf in the early medieval period. As scholarship in recent decades has confirmed, the author of Andreas drew pervasively from Beowulf in composing the hagiographical poem, borrowing phrases and extended passages to imbue the story of St. Andrew with heroic qualities. The present study tabulates the borrowed phraseology found in Andreas to systematically assemble a portrait of Beowulf as it was known to the poet of Andreas, most likely in the ninth century. The image reconstructed reveals that the text of Beowulf at this time had the same shape it possesses today, containing all the major episodes and speeches. The patterns of borrowings also suggest that Beowulf was admired for its heroic ethos and imagery, and was likely memorized verbatim. These findings accord well with an early (eighth-century) date for Beowulf.

China's collectivist cosmopolitanism: Harmony and conflict with Western conceptualizations of cosmopolitanism rooted in individualistic notions of human rights

Just as leading Western countries have begun withdrawing from the neoliberal Washington Consensus that paved the way for economic globalization over the last 40 years, China has proposed an ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, or One Belt One Road, outlining its vision for global development. President Xi's vision of collectivist cosmopolitanism is centered on the principle of sovereign equality between nations, emphasizing civilizational uniqueness rather than universal human rights. In this view, economic and social development are path dependent, and in China's case, prioritize decolonization and national sovereignty. Xi's view in major speeches is cosmopolitan but collectivist, emphasizing economic growth, openness, dynamism, and an “avowed respect” for the integrity of other cultures, while saying nothing about individual human rights or groups within China. This approach positions ancient Chinese traditions like Confucianism as playing a central role in cultivating individuals’ and society's moral qualities so that person, society, and governance are bound together as a mutually beneficial and interconnected whole. It forms the theoretical basis of a Chinese view of cosmopolitanism, which could be the basis of dialogue with Western cosmopolitanists. The challenge is reconciling the different emphasis accorded to human rights versus national sovereignty in the two views. Empirical results of a new measure of Cosmopolitan Orientation that correlates positively rather than negatively with nationalism and religiosity provide insights into the specific basis for this dialogue to become beneficial rather than conflictual.

From defying to (re-)defining Europe in Viktor Orbán’s discourse about the past

One of the salient features of the recent populist turn in Europe has been a redefinition of the European. Traditionally, (far) right-wing parties defined themselves as Eurosceptic and focused on national identity. Increasingly, however, they have referred to pan-European heritage, although against the mainstream conceptualization of it. The article looks at the case of Hungary and the image of Europe constructed by the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose rhetoric has become a key reference point for other European populist movements. The past decade his government has witnessed, on the one hand, a tendency to redefine what is European against the dominant and institutionalized interpretations, and, on the other, an attempt to single-out the concept of Central Europe as the locus for maintaining and nurturing European values in contrast to perceived Western decline. This paper examines this discourse through a close reading of major speeches delivered by Orbán on the anniversaries of historical events. Analysis of these speeches reveals the ideological foundations of his political project and presents historical and philosophical interpretations of the European political situation. It seeks to identify how Orbán’s discourse evolved across time, by putting the speeches about the past into the present political context.

Presidential Influence and Public Opinion During Crises: The Case of COVID-19 in Brazil

Abstract Can presidential messages influence public opinion? The scholarship shows that common features in developed democracies such as fragmented audiences and partisan reasoning tend to limit the persuasive effects of the bully pulpit. In this article, we argue that the effectiveness of the presidential rhetoric is context dependent. Presidents will be the most likely to persuade public opinion when they seek to break consensus by using messages that activate defection among their supporters. To examine this framework, we focus on the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, where the outbreak was initially a valence issue, but quickly it became a divisive matter among the public. We use a survey experiment conducted days before the President Bolsonaro’s national televised address to show that cueing subjects with one of his earlier denialist remarks about the outbreak polarized opinions. We then use Bayesian change-point models to demonstrate how his major televised speeches affected daily trends in online searches related to the pandemic during the first and the most crucial weeks of the outbreak. The findings shed light on the circumstances in which presidential influence can not only be most powerful, but also most harmful.

Polemics and populism in times of pandemic: Legitimation and construction of authority in Bolsonaro’s addresses

This article examines the way the Brazilian President J. Bolsonaro reinforces his legitimacy and builds his authority in a populist discourse of a polemical type, gratifying for himself while attacking his adversaries. To do so, he tries to justify his refusal of health measures and at the same time to reinforce his ethos as a strong leader and a Savior, in two major national speeches as well as in his reactions to the attacks. The argumentative analysis shows how his efforts collided with and responded to a counter-discourse that developed into a public controversy. The reception of his speech shows the attacks against his person and his discourse which he must confront to restore his legitimacy and rebuild his authority.

Referential and evaluative strategies of conceptual metaphor use in government discourse

We undertake a corpus-based diachronic analysis in order to explore how leaders in China and Hong Kong have employed metaphors of EDUCATION in major governmental speeches and reports both before and after Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China. The results of this study demonstrate that Hong Kong SAR Chief Executives have similar patterns of source domain selections with Chinese Premiers as compared with Hong Kong Colonial Governors, indicating that the change in sovereignty brought about different ways of referring to education for the people of Hong Kong, with evaluative effects remaining positive overall. These findings demonstrate that diachronic and synchronic comparative analyses of metaphors within small, specialized corpora are useful in uncovering potential sociopragmatic shifts in how political leaders frame social issues.

The effect of Crisis on Charismatic Rhetoric and Presidential Ratings: The case of François Holland

In times of crisis, leaders are perceived as more effective and charismatic. Using signaling theory, we explore the impact of crisis on charismatic rhetoric and presidential support. In France, between January 2015 and July 2016, three terrorist attacks targeted a satiric journal (i.e., “Charlie Hebdo”) as well as ordinary citizens (i.e., “Paris” and “Nice” attacks). We exploited data from this “natural experiment” setting to investigate former French President Hollande’s charismatic rhetoric and approval ratings. We analyzed 150 major speeches for markers of charismatic leadership (Antonakis, 2017a). Using a regression discontinuity design, where we identify the causal effect of the attack on his speeches (just before and after the attacks) our results indicate that the occurrence of a crisis (i.e., in the cases of Nice and Paris) significantly increased President Hollande’s use of charismatic leadership tactics and for all cases, his approval ratings. Our findings add to empirical evidence showing that a crisis state offers more opportunities to leaders to signal charisma as well as more visibility, attention and credit, resulting in higher ratings. We offer explanations and discuss the implications of these findings.

The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics. Lisa L. Miller. New York: Oxford University Press (2016). 272pp. £26.49hb ISBN 9780190228705

The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics. Lisa L. Miller. New York: Oxford University Press (2016). 272pp. £26.49hb ISBN 9780190228705

Major Speeches by PRC Presidents, Vice Premier & NPC Chief in Official Visits to the HKSAR

Major Speeches by PRC Presidents, Vice Premier & NPC Chief in Official Visits to the HKSAR

A Normative Assessment of 2016 Political Convention Speech Exposure: Perceived Political Threats and Anticipated General Election Legitimacy

Political party conventions, rivaled only by general election debates, are media events that can affect democratic processes through their ability to reach a wide audience. Conventions hold a unique place in the American electoral system by serving as a pivot point between the nation’s primary and general election phases. From a normative perspective, the current study focuses on the degree to which consuming major political party convention speeches mitigates negative perceptions generated from the primaries on what citizens are anticipating for the general election. A national pre–post conventions panel survey of U.S. adults ( N = 562) is utilized to address five hypotheses. The consumption of more convention speeches reduces the negative impact of perceived primary election threat on the anticipated legitimacy of the general election (i.e., positive normative effect), but also increases threat ambivalence associated with the conventions (i.e., negative normative effect). In addition, convention speech exposure generates a strong, positive direct effect on perceived general election legitimacy (i.e., positive normative effect). When judged from the standpoint of republicanism as a type of democratic theory, the positive influences of convention speech exposure outweigh this activity’s negative effects.

Make no exception, save one: American exceptionalism, the American presidency, and the age of Obama

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the circumstances under which U.S. presidents have invoked American exceptionalism in major speeches and how this concept has culminated in the Obama presidency. We find that U.S. presidents have increased their invocations of American exceptionalism since the Second World War and that they have relied heavily on this concept in times of national crises. Moreover, we demonstrate the overwhelming propensity of President Obama, relative to his predecessors, to emphasize American exceptionalism. We argue that this is due to the double-crisis nature of his presidency – two major wars and a recession – in addition to the racial bind that he has endured throughout his presidency. We reflect on the implications for other minority politicians and the broader American public.

Conditional Representation: Presidential Rhetoric, Public Opinion, and the Representation of African American Interests

AbstractConventional theories of presidential representation suggest that presidents avoid courting African Americans for fear of alienating white voters, leading to the underrepresentation of “black interests.” We argue that presidential representation of black interests is conditional: when (1) African Americans prioritize issues other than economic redistribution and civil rights and (2) when these priorities overlap with those of whites, presidents should provide considerable representation of those interests. We test our theory using two new sources of data: a dataset of black and white perceptions of the US's most important problem between 1968 and 2012; and a quantitative content analysis of over 200 major presidential speeches from 1969-2012. We find that presidents provide substantial representation of black interests, but only when these interests center on non-racialized concerns and overlap with the priorities of whites. We also find that presidential priorities are often independent of the chief concerns of both African Americans and whites.

On the Grammar of Politics—or Why Conservatives Prefer Nouns

Previous research indicates that political conservatism is associated with epistemic needs for structure and certainty (Jost et al., 2003) and that nouns elicit clearer and more definite perceptions of reality than other parts of speech (Carnaghi et al., 2008). We therefore hypothesized that conservatives would exhibit preferences for nouns (vs. verbs and adjectives), insofar as nouns are better suited to satisfy epistemic needs. In Study 1, we observed that social conservatism was associated with noun preferences in Polish and that personal need for structure accounted for the association between ideology and grammatical preferences. In Study 2, conducted in Arabic, social conservatism was associated with a preference for the use of nominal sentences (composed of nouns only) over verbal sentences (which included verbs and adjectives). In Study 3, we found that more conservative U.S. presidents used greater proportions of nouns in major speeches, and this effect was related to integrative complexity. We discuss the possibility that conservative ideology is linked to grammatical preferences that foster feelings of stability and predictability.

Lee Kuan Yew’s enduring legacy of good governance in Singapore, 1959-2015

Purpose – Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, who governed the country from 1959 to 1990, passed away on 23 March 2015 at the age of 91. The purpose of this paper is to assess his legacy of good governance in Singapore. Design/methodology/approach – The changes in Singapore’s policy context during 1959-2014 are described first before analyzing Lee’s legacy of good governance in Singapore by examining his books and major speeches. Findings – Lee Kuan Yew’s commitment to meritocracy, empowerment of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau to curb corruption effectively, reliance on competitive salaries to attract the “best and brightest” citizens to join the civil service, and maintenance of the rule of law, constitute his legacy of good governance in Singapore. Originality/value – This paper will be useful to policy-makers, scholars and readers who are interested in learning about Lee Kuan Yew’s contribution to good governance in Singapore.

Indian Foreign Policy and International Humanitarian Norms: A Role‐Theoretical Analysis

Although role theory has been widely used in the field of foreign policy analysis, it has never been comprehensively applied to the study of Indian foreign policy. This article analyzes major foreign policy speeches of Indian decision makers in an effort to identify salient national role conceptions. In the second part of the article, it is shown how in the process of emerging international humanitarian norms, inherent tensions between different role conceptions become aggravated. Thus, Indian foreign policy makers find themselves in the middle of intra‐ and inter‐role conflicts. Taking the Responsibility to Protect and International Criminal Law as examples, the article examines the way in which decision makers have tried to mitigate and to evade conflicting role‐derived expectations.