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George Bush, <Human Rights>, and American Democracy
Author(s) -
STUCKEY MARY E.,
RITTER JOSHUA R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2007.02618.x
Subject(s) - presidency , mythology , democracy , political science , human rights , presidential system , rhetoric , law , george (robot) , presidential campaign , politics , philosophy , theology , history , art history
This article examines the role the ideograph plays in George W. Bush's presidential rhetoric. By strategically wielding throughout his presidency, and by using it to amplify his use of association and dissociation, Bush connects his actions in important ways to the foundational myths of American democracy. In so doing, he provides powerful warrants for his actions, which undermine the very practices he claims to be supporting. That is, by using as a way of tapping into the myth of America as the synecdochic representation of freedom in the world, Bush rhetorically reaffirms that myth while acting in ways that also subvert it.