Republican National Conventions Research Articles

‘The opposite of nationalism’? Rethinking patriotism in US political discourse

ABSTRACT Patriotism frequently is framed as an individualised expression of affinity for a civic polity and a counterweight to ethnocultural nationalism. Yet the term is invoked by theorists and practitioners to denote a broad, often contradictory range of values. This paper argues that this is not simply semantic slippage, but a reflection of the exclusionary character of patriotism. Taking as data the full range of speeches delivered at the 2016 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, alongside 180 campaign speeches delivered by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I conduct a critical political discourse analysis. I find that invocations of ‘patriotism’ construct an in-group of citizens who are positioned as the heirs of an authentic national tradition, and an out-group of co-citizens who are attempting to hijack the national spirit. Further, despite its global aspirations, patriotism hardens the racialised distinction between citizens and non-citizens.

MEASURING PROTEST FOR COMPARISONS: MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING OF ACTION, MESSAGE, AND COMMUNITY*

We introduce a fine-grained method of categorizing protests by their strategies and tactics that places protests in a multidimensional space based on motivations—direct change towards a policy or goal; changing public discourse narratives; and building movement identities or communities. This technique recognizes that multiple motivations may exist and allows protests to be compared based on where they are in multiple dimensions. To test our method and the theoretical dimensions we hypothesize, we surveyed protesters at the 2016 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Using questions about participant goals and targets, and confirmatory factor analysis, we corroborate the existence of three dimensions. We show these dimensions provide real information about the differences between protests outside the two conventions. We conclude by discussing how our multidimensional measure can be extended to other events, social movement organizations, or whole movements to facilitate comparisons of events, organizations, or movements across time and space.

Party Rules and Equitable Representation in U.S. Presidential Nominating Contests

Party rules for determining allocation of delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions once again drew criticism in 2016. Analyses of the effects of various rules indicate that the inclusion of party leader and elected official delegates (“superdelegates”) within the Democratic Party and use of winner-take-all primary elections by Republicans bias the representativeness of states’ delegations to national conventions; neither the choice of primary election or caucuses nor of open or closed events affect representativeness. The choice of primary election or caucuses did affect vote percentages of candidates, but the choice of open or closed events had no effect on candidates’ vote percentages in recent nominating contests. The basic conclusion is that the party rules that created biased, unrepresentative state delegations to national conventions and that benefited certain candidates in the 1980s continue to do so in the 21st century.

The Unconventional Music of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions of 2016

Research Article| December 01 2017 The Unconventional Music of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions of 2016 James Deaville James Deaville James Deaville (School for Studies in Art & Culture: Music, Carleton University) has published in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, Journal of the Society for American Music, Journal of Musicological Research, and Music and Politics and has contributed to books published by Oxford, Cambridge, and Routledge, among others. He also edited Music in Television: Channels of Listening (Routledge, 2011). With Dana Gorzelany-Mostak, he coedited a special issue of Music and Politics on music and the 2012 presidential election in the United States. He is also coeditor of the website Trax on the Trail. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google American Music (2017) 35 (4): 446–466. https://doi.org/10.5406/americanmusic.35.4.0446 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation James Deaville; The Unconventional Music of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions of 2016. American Music 1 January 2017; 35 (4): 446–466. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/americanmusic.35.4.0446 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressAmerican Music Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright 2018 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois2018 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: COLLOQUY You do not currently have access to this content.

Unconventional wisdom: Estimating the economic impact of the Democratic and Republican national political conventions

AbstractWe use daily hotel occupancy, price, and revenue data to analyse the economic impact of the 2008 and 2012 Democratic and Republican national conventions. We find that political conventions generate approximately 29,000 room nights of lodging, though this figure is partially offset by lower hotel occupancy during the week before and, to a lesser extent, after conventions. Conventions increase hotel revenue by approximately $20 million on average, a figure which suggests that host cities’ claims of economic impacts of $150 million or more may be implausible.

Critical Discourse Analysis of the Anecdotes Used by the Female Political Leaders

<p>This article critically analyses the use of anecdotes in the speeches of Laura Bush, delivered in the period of the electoral campaigns (2000-2008) at the democratic and the republican national conventions. She has ideologically and emotionally manipulated the anecdotes by making use of rhetorical and the discursive structures of the anecdotes.</p>

Caucus Reform? Primary Reform? Delegate Reform? Lessons from the 2016 Political Party Presidential Nominating Process: A 50-State Review of the Legal and Political Mechanisms Deployed by the Republican Party for Selecting Delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention

Caucus Reform? Primary Reform? Delegate Reform? Lessons from the 2016 Political Party Presidential Nominating Process: A 50-State Review of the Legal and Political Mechanisms Deployed by the Republican Party for Selecting Delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention

Invoking “The Family” to Legitimize Gender- and Sexuality-Based Public Policies in the United States: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the 2012 Democratic and Republican National Party Conventions

Women and sexual minorities in the United States continue to experience subordinate status, and the policy gains they have made in areas such as reproductive rights and marriage equality continue to be challenged in political discourse. We conducted a critical discourse analysis of texts from the 2012 Democratic and Republican national conventions in order to examine the extent to which ideological representations of the family were employed to legitimize public policy positions related to gender (e.g., abortion) and sexuality (e.g., same-sex marriage). We analyzed two forms of text (official party platform document, transcripts of speeches) with distinct intended audiences (i.e., party members, general audience). Findings revealed that an ideological representation of the traditional family ideal—featuring a heterosexual couple, their children, and asymmetric gender relations—was present within speeches given by both parties, particularly by the spouses of the presidential candidates (Michelle Obama and Ann Romney). Although this ideological representation was subsequently used within the Republican Party platform to legitimize positions against same-sex marriage and abortion, the Democratic Party platform challenged this representation of the family to instead advocate for policy positions in favor of same-sex marriage and women’s reproductive rights. We discuss this ambivalence within Democratic texts in light of the different audiences that party convention texts seek. Implications for gender- and sexuality-based policies are discussed, as well as the importance of examining political discourse across diverse forms and settings.

Polarized Networks

Previous research has documented that the institutional behaviors (e.g., lobbying, campaign contributions) of political organizations reflect the polarization of these organizations along party lines. However, little is known about how these groups are connected at the level of individual party activists. Using data from a survey of 738 delegates at the 2008 Democratic and Republican national conventions, we use network regression analysis to demonstrate that co-membership networks of national party convention delegates are highly polarized by party, even after controlling for homophily due to ideology, sex/gender, race/ethnicity, age, educational attainment, income, and religious participation. Among delegates belonging to the same organization, only 1.78% of these co-memberships between delegates crossed party lines, and only 2.74% of the ties between organizations sharing common delegates were bipartisan in nature. We argue that segregation of organizational ties on the basis of party adds to the difficulty of finding common political ground between the parties.

Men in Transit and Prostitution: Using Political Conventions as a Natural Experiment

Abstract Approximately 100,000 visitors came to Denver, Colorado and Minneapolis, Minnesota to attend the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Economic theory suggests that men in transit can shift demand for commercial sex work. We estimate the responsiveness of labor supply to these two conventions, focusing on a previously neglected but increasingly important segment of the prostitution market: indoor sex workers who advertise on the Internet. Using a differences-in-differences estimator of prostitution advertisements posted on a major classified ads website, we find that the conventions caused a 29-44 percent increase in advertisements in Minneapolis and a 47-77 percent increase in Denver. Given the key role prostitution plays in the transmission of STIs, these results imply that focusing public health resources on men in transit may be beneficial.

Rejecting “Conventional” Wisdom: Estimating the Economic Impact of National Political Conventions

This paper provides an empirical examination of the economic impact of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions on local economies. Our analysis from 1970–2005 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country, including all cities that have hosted one of the national conventions during this time period, finds that the presence of the Republican or the Democratic National Convention has no discernable impact on employment, personal income, or personal income per capita in the cities where the events were held confirming the results of other ex post analyses of mega-events.

POLLUTION RESPONSE DURING NATIONAL SPECIAL SECURITY EVENTS: STRIKING A BALANCE BETWEEN SECURITY AND RESPONSE.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During the summer of 2004, the First Coast Guard District in Boston, Massachusetts supported both Presidential political nominating conventions for the 2004 election. The Democratic National Convention was held in Boston, Massachusetts on July 26–29, 2004, and the Republican National Convention was held in New York City from August 30th to September 2, 2004. This was the first time both conventions have taken place within the geographic area of responsibility of a single Coast Guard District. The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security declared both of these events as National Special Security Events under Presidential Decision Directive 62 (PDD-62). PDD-62 formalized and delineated the roles and responsibilities of federal agencies in the development of security plans for major events. The 2004 Democratic and Republican Conventions were the first political conventions held in the United States since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In the months before the Democratic National Convention, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice stated that there was credible intelligence from multiple sources indicating that al-Qaeda planned to attempt an attack on the United States during the period leading up to the election. (Joint Statement of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft on May 28, 2004) The terrorist attacks on the Madrid rail system were a direct attempt by AI Qaeda to influence the elections in Spain, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was going to take all appropriate steps to prevent a similar attack in the United States. (Schmidt and Priest, Washington Post May 26, 2004; Page A02) The 2004 Conventions offered a significant challenge for the Coast Guard and other federal, state, and local agencies that had dual responsibility for coordinating security operations while being prepared to respond to a disaster including oil spills and hazardous substance releases—the combination of what was previously designated as crisis and consequence management under PDD-39. This paper will examine lessons learned from planning and operations in support of the conventions. Having served as the First District Project Officer for the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, this paper is written as my observations of the lessons learned and offers some insight into what went well and possible areas for improvement as I observed throughout the more than 18 months of planning for these events of national significance. The Coast Guard planning and operational support for the Democratic and Republican National Conventions demonstrated the importance of a team approach to planning, interagency coordination and partnerships, pre-event preparedness activities, and pre-deploying personnel and resources for response. It is my hope that the observations contained in this paper can benefit federal, state, and local agencies as they prepare for large significant events in the future including National Special Security Events.

Democrats And Republicans On Security And Privacy: Virtually No Difference

The recent Democratic and Republican National Conventions rolled out their respective party platforms on a number of policy issues, including cyber-security and data privacy. A close examination of the platforms reveals very little difference between the two parties on information policy issues. Although presidential candidates seldom abide by the policies enunciated on the platforms, the gist of the party planks indicate that both the Democrats and Republicans generally favour industry self-regulation of privacy issues and an increased government role in cyber-defence and information warfare.

The Structure of Attitudes Toward Groups: A Comparison of Experts and Novices

The study of mass opinion has recently focused increased attention on political sophistication and attitudes toward groups. Although the two topics are not directly related, they share a common concern: how does the mass public manage to form opinions about political issues given its well-established lack of a coherent political ideology. Groups are impor tant symbols that structure political reasoning; but, it is not clear that this structure is the same for people with different levels of political aware ness. On the one hand, the sophistication hypothesis has found low lev els of political sophistication associated with poorly organized issue attitudes and ideological naïveté. On the other hand, research supporting the group hypothesis suggests that groups may provide even the least politically sophisticated with a coherent view of the political world. To test these ideas we draw upon data from the 1980 and 1984 studies of delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions and the National Election Studies of the same year. We find, in agreement with the preponderance of evidence in the literature on political sophisti cation, that the structure of attitudes toward groups becomes more ideo logical as the level of political sophistication increases. Furthermore, we argue that with decreasing levels of political sophistication comes a greater reliance on emotion as a guide to the political world.

Women's issues, women's place: Gender‐related problems in presidential campaigns

This essay is a feminist rhetorical analysis of recurring gender‐related problems in presidential campaigns, focusing particularly on the 1992 campaign. I examine 39 speeches from the Democratic and Republican National Conventions (1972–1992) for discussion of women's issues, women's roles, and men's roles, and conclude that the anti‐feminist “backlash”; of the 1980s has taken a serious toll on public attention to women's issues. When politicians spoke of women's concerns, they largely ignored actual issues, and instead focused their attention on women's roles in society. Men's roles were also a central focus, as each presidential candidate sought to convince the voting public to cast him as the Leading Man.

Congressional Term Limits, State Legislative Term Limits and Congressional Turnover: A Theory of Change

During the first Congress of the United States, two measures to amend Article I of the Constitution were considered which, if ratified, would have limited the number of successive terms held by senators and representatives. Those measures were defeated and the issue was not considered again for over 150 years. However, since 1943 when the proposal was first resurrected in Congress, interest in the idea has grown to the point that from January 1981 through February 1992 no less than 69 proposals to limit the tenure of our national legislators were introduced into Congress (Richardson 1991, 80-90, 93-100; Richardson 1992, 1).Today the idea of limiting the number of successive terms a member of Congress may hold is hotter than ever. Fanned by the support of the 1988 and 1992 Republican National Conventions, and fueled by the efforts of several special interest groups, the idea has achieved high levels of public support nationally. A nationwide poll of likely voters conducted two weeks before the 1992 elections showed that 79% favored congressional term limitations (Shafer 1992). In an impressive burst of voter resolve, 15 states have passed amendments to their constitutions that attempt to limit the number of successive terms that their own U.S. representatives and senators may serve in office.

Gender and the meaning of power and politics

This paper examines the extent to which women as a group have a distinctive understanding of politics and power. Using the theoretical framework of the perceptual-representational system and the Associative Group Analysis (AGA) methodology, the study examines the subjective differences in political meanings of 148 male and female delegates attending their respective Democratic and Republican national conventions in 1984. The data do not indicate that a unique male or female subjective political culture exists. Both Republican men and Democratic women comprehend a politics of connectedness. They differ in terms of the nature, purposes, and type of connectedness.

CONCEPTIONS OF REPRESENTATION

Using Q-technique, we examined conceptions of representation among a sample of delegates to the 1984 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Analysis of the data revealed four perspectives on representation in the sample: the “trustee,” the belief that group interests should be represented, the belief that representation is a matter of the representative's conscience, and the “delegate-servant.” Surprisingly, no delegates saw themselves as representatives of party officials or presidential candidates. We conclude that representation is a subjective process and should be examined from that perspective.

Congress busy with variety of key bills

Congress managed to cram a lot of activity into its brief session between the Democratic and Republican national conventions. Appropriation bills were being passed right and left. Rewrites of major environmental laws, once irrevocably mired in dispute, got new leases on life, as did a number of patent bills. On the money front, Congress cleared a fiscal 1985 appropriation of $124 million for the National Bureau of Standards. That budget figure is an increase of 7% over current funding levels, but 2% less than the Administration had requested. The House, on the other hand, approved a funding level of $4.8 billion for the National Institutes of Health—14% more than current levels and 12% more than requested. The Senate shortly will be voting on a $5.1 billion NIH funding bill. The Department of Energy's fossil R&D program would get $260 million under a House-passed appropriations bill, including $26 million earmarked for basic industry research ...

Political Scientists and the Republican National Conventions

During the early 1960s, political scientists were afforded an opportunity to serve as participant-observers at both national party conventions under the convention fellowship program of the old National Center for Education in Politics (NCEP). With NCEP sponsorship, political scientists attached themselves to state delegations, convention committees and candidate organizations to observe at first hand the work of the conventions. A significant segment of our knowledge of conventions was derived from the writing of these NCEP fellows (see, for example, Paul Tillet, editor,Inside Politics: The National Party Conventions, 1960, which was cited frequently in the early editions of such standard texts as Polsby and Wildavsky'sPresidential Elections. The NCEP fellows' work also provided a basis for more sophisticated research. Although the NCEP has lapsed, its national convention and national committee fellowship programs resulted in continuing participation by political scientists at Republican national conventions.Involvement at the staff level in Republican conventions by political scientists has been most extensive in the work of the Committee on Resolutions (Platform). Arthur L. Peterson, formerly of Ohio Wesleyan University and now Dean at Eckard College, was a key staff member (Executive Director in 1964, 1968, 1972) of the Platform Committees between 1960 and 1976.