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The Heroic Framing of US Foreign Policy

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The Heroic Framing of US Foreign Policy The Heroic Framing of US Foreign Policy By Emily D. Shaw A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Laura Stoker, Chair Professor Ron Hassner Professor Kate O’Neill Professor Steven Weber Fall 2010 Abstract The Heroic Framing of US Foreign Policy by Emily D. Shaw Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science University of California, Berkeley Professor Laura Stoker, Chair This dissertation concerns the US presidential use of heroic framing in connection with foreign policy. I identify “heroic framing” as speech which describes policies in terms evoking the heroic narrative, either explicitly or implicitly through references to heroic characters. The technique of heroic framing both encourages audiences to view a situation in terms of stark moral absolutes and normalizes casualties and violence as an aspect of these heroic conflicts. This rhetorical technique thereby combines appeals to fear with elements of inspiration and reassurance. In defining heroic framing, I draw primarily on Jungian archetype, social psychology, organizational leadership and feminist international relations theory. My ultimate aim is to see whether the president's heroic framing of foreign policy heightens domestic support of and foreign attention to those policies. Extending Samuel Kernell's theory of “going public” and James Fearon's theory of audience costs, I hypothesize that presidents use heroic framing as a multivocal signal. First, presidents use heroic framing to increase domestic support for politically contentious policies. Second, by speaking forcefully about a subject in heroic terms, presidents also cue foreign leaders to the seriousness of their intentions. To test the hypothesis that presidents use heroic framing strategically and gain greater domestic and foreign attention as a result, I employ a multi-modal research design. I first use a content- analytic, statistical approach to measure the impact of this form of presidential rhetoric on the media, on congressional action, and on public opinion polls for every month from 1981 through 2005. I then perform two historical case studies to examine the impact of the president's use of heroic imagery on domestic and foreign response to US foreign policies. Along the way to testing my main hypotheses, I use my database of the presidents’ use of heroic rhetoric to explore differences in their use of heroic imagery across individual presidents, across policy domains, in response to presidential popularity crises, and in the context of war. Through my statistical analyses, I determine that the president's use of heroic imagery does increase domestic attention to foreign policy subjects. Similarly, presidential speech patterns suggest that foreign policy targets would do well to respond to the US president's increased use of heroic framing, since it does generally signal commitment to conflict. These statistical findings of the significance of 1 heroic framing are supported by an examination of the cases of 1983 and 2001-2004. In 1983, Ronald Reagan's use of heroic framing for policy advocacy and for public reassurance was misinterpreted by the USSR as a signal of conflict commitment - a misperception which very nearly led to nuclear war. Meanwhile, in the period 2001-2004 George W. Bush made extensive use of heroic framing to promote the War on Terror and the Iraq War. Through an analysis of opinion polls, I determined that even after the US failed to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Bush’s intensive use of this technique led to an increase in domestic support for his Iraq War policy, which provided a critical boost to his 2004 re-election effort. 2 To Leigh and Duncan i Acknowledgments As one might imagine, the theme of the long and arduous hero’s journey feels quite resonant on the path to completing a dissertation. However, just like the mythical hero, no successful grad student is ever out on their journey alone. That’s especially lucky for me, since my own doctoral journey spanned a near-Odyssean nine years. My Athena and committee chair, Laura Stoker, offered critical support and encouragement during some of my darkest periods of uncertainty about my direction and abilities. My other advisors made a number of useful concrete contributions to the development of certain themes in my project. However, since my exodus to Maine took me so far off campus, many of their most important influences occurred during this project's formative stages. Performing as a GSI for Ron Hassner's War class, for example, gave me the opportunity to become well-versed in feminist writing on war as well as introducing me to Tim O'Brien and the war memoir genre. The Summer Institute in Political Psychology at Ohio State University similarly provided me with important intellectual material, helping me establish a cohesive grounding for my thinking about presidential rhetoric and public opinion. I also greatly appreciated a thought-provoking meeting with Matthew Baum during the early stages of this project’s development and consultation from Henry Brady and Kevin Wallsten regarding statistical methods. A big thank you to Ali Bond, Andrea Rex, and Ryan Phillips for the assistance with filing from a distance (and to Ali also for the gift of her friendship, which was a treasured constant in my years away from campus.) While all advice and encouragement from Berkeley was very useful, my very most important companions lived here in Maine. My parents, Barbara and Peter Shaw, provided unstinting support throughout my seemingly endless graduate experience, never doubting (within my hearing, at least) that I would finish or that this represented a good use of my time. I am beyond delighted to have been able to prove their belief justified. Finally, thank goodness I didn't really have to leave home on my own odyssey, since I would never have made it without the daily presence of my husband, Leigh, and our son, Duncan. The intense joy of having them in my life made it possible for me to find the calm that permits intellectual inspiration and the persistence to see long journeys through to the end. ii Table of Contents Chapter 1: An Introduction to Heroic Framing...........................................................1 Chapter 2: The Mechanics of Heroic Framing...........................................................12 Chapter 3: Observing Heroic Rhetoric.......................................................................36 Chapter 4: Subjects of Heroic Rhetoric......................................................................64 Chapter 5: Uses of Heroic Framing: Persuasion, Signaling, and Reassurance...........86 Chapter 6: Effects of Heroic Framing........................................................................107 Chapter 7: 1983..........................................................................................................131 Chapter 8: Mission Accomplished? The War on Terror and the 2004 Election........163 Bibliography...............................................................................................................194 Appendix A: Reference Texts Used in Dictionary Creation......................................212 Appendix B: Validating the Heroic Rhetoric Dictionary...........................................229 Appendix C: Correlations Among Annual Presidential Country Mentions...............231 Appendix D: Top 25 Countries Mentioned Per Year.................................................237 Appendix E: Impulse Response Function Graphs......................................................240 iii Chapter 1: An Introduction to Heroic Framing A troubled and afflicted mankind looks to us, pleading for us to keep our rendezvous with destiny; that we will uphold the principles of self-reliance, self-discipline, morality and, above all, responsible liberty for every individual that we will become that shining city on a hill. (Reagan 1979) Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun. This campaign may not be finished on our watch; yet, it must be and it will be waged on our watch. We can't stop short. If we stop now, leaving terror camps intact and terrorist states unchecked, our sense of security would be false and temporary. History has called America and our allies to action, and it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom's fight. (Bush 2002a) Although aligned in political outlook, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush had very different reputations as speakers. Reagan was known as “the Great Communicator” and was famous for his persuasive oratory. Bush, on the other hand, was known for making frequent linguistic mistakes which listeners found either endearing or infuriating. While these presidents differed in eloquence, they nonetheless both made frequent and effective public use of a rhetorical technique I call “heroic framing.” By “heroic framing” I mean speech which identifies a contemporary political event with the heroic narrative, an ancient storytelling model found within the myths and stories of all major cultures and religions. Without even saying the word “hero” both presidents nonetheless lay out the familiar touchstones of the heroic narrative in these examples above. Both the Bush and Reagan quotation are filled with words which evoke a heroic destiny, a call to action, the requirement to perform a difficult task – perhaps at the risk of serious sacrifice
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