Presidential Rhetoric and Public Agenda
October 12, 2009
Cohen, Jeffrey. “Presidential Rhetoric and Public Agenda.” American Journal of Political Science. 39 (1995); 87-107
From 1953-1999, Cohen discusses the affect the presidential State of the Union Address has on the United States. Cohen hypothesizes that the more attention given to certain policies in their state of the union address; the more the citizens become concerned with these policies. For his research, he uses a time series regression analysis from State of the Union Addresses given in the past. This study reveals how presidential and political rhetoric become synonymous with the issues that concern American citizens.
This article is used to make the connection between the comic books of the bronze age and the American rhetoric at the time. Cohen’s article emphasizes important subject matter within the American society that was reflected in comic rhetoric. The article references the war on drugs, as well as civil rights issues which were highlighted in comic book rhetoric at that time. Cohen’s piece helps to bridge the connection between the bronze age rhetoric found in the graphic novel with the issues being addressed within America at that point in time and how it influenced comic book rhetoric.
