Political contradictions : discussions of virtue in American life

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dc.contributor.advisorHart, Roderick P.en
dc.contributor.committeeMemberJarvis, Sharon E.en
dc.contributor.committeeMemberMcCombs, Maxwellen
dc.contributor.committeeMemberSparrow, Bartholomew H.en
dc.contributor.committeeMemberStroud, Natalie J.en
dc.creatorLaVally, Rebeccaen
dc.date.accessioned2011-01-26T15:55:07Zen
dc.date.accessioned2011-01-26T15:55:16Zen
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-11T22:21:07Z
dc.date.available2011-01-26T15:55:07Zen
dc.date.available2011-01-26T15:55:16Zen
dc.date.available2017-05-11T22:21:07Z
dc.date.issued2010-05en
dc.date.submittedMay 2010en
dc.date.updated2011-01-26T15:55:16Zen
dc.descriptiontexten
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation asserts that American political culture faces a crisis of virtue and explores the role of citizens, journalists and politicians in fostering it. The historic election of Barack Obama on a platform of hope and change in 2008 suggests that Americans yearn for an infusion of virtue into political life. I assert, however, that we have lacked a lexicon of political virtue, or any systematic understanding of which virtues we value and which matter most to us. Nor have we understood whether groups who constitute key elements of our democracy—citizens, journalists, politicians, men and women, Democrats and Republicans—value virtues in politics similarly or differently. Without a working knowledge of the anatomy of virtue in the body politic, what is to prevent us from having to change again? By charting the virtue systems of these key groups, I have made explicit what is implicit to reveal that political virtue is more valued—and more present—than Americans likely realize. This exploration, I believe, contributes to the scholarship of political communication by enabling a fuller and more useful understanding of American political culture—and of the contradictions, curiosities, and surprises that enrich it.en
dc.description.departmentCommunication Studiesen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2010-05-963en
dc.language.isoengen
dc.subjectAmerican politicsen
dc.subjectParty politicsen
dc.subjectPolitical virtueen
dc.subjectNewspapersen
dc.subjectM. Jodi Rellen
dc.subjectChristopher Dodden
dc.subjectJohn Baldaccien
dc.subjectOlympia Snoween
dc.subjectKathleen Sebeliusen
dc.subjectSam Brownbacken
dc.subjectDianne Feinsteinen
dc.subjectArnold Schwarzeneggeren
dc.subjectPolitical ethicsen
dc.subjectPolitical capitalen
dc.subjectMasculine virtueen
dc.subjectFeminine virtueen
dc.subjectLetters to the editoren
dc.subjectPolitical websitesen
dc.subjectPolitical integrityen
dc.subjectPolitical likingen
dc.subjectFemale politiciansen
dc.subjectWomen politiciansen
dc.subjectNews framesen
dc.subjectMedia moresen
dc.subjectMedia normsen
dc.subjectCelebrity politicsen
dc.subjectAmerican public lifeen
dc.subjectPolitical journalistsen
dc.subjectPolitical reportingen
dc.subjectMedia agenda settingen
dc.subjectPolitical campaignsen
dc.subjectCrisis of virtueen
dc.subjectPolitical immediacyen
dc.subjectPolitical androgynyen
dc.subjectRhetoricen
dc.titlePolitical contradictions : discussions of virtue in American lifeen
dc.type.genrethesisen

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