David Zarefsky

President Johnson's war on poverty : rhetoric and history

Analyzes the success or failure of the antipoverty programs in terms of their own discourse.

President johnson's war on poverty: The rhetoric of three “establishment” movements

Movement studies typically assume that movements are insurgent campaigns for change. This assumption is challenged through a counter‐example. Implications of this analysis for theory and criticism are considered.

A skeptical view of movement studies

Rhetorical studies of social movements may be considered as either primarily historical or primarily theoretical in basic orientation. The first type of studies are rich in potential insight and ought to be pursued. The second, based on the assumption that social movements are a distinct rhetorical form, or are grounded in distinct rhetorical situations, is not likely to be productive.

The great society as a rhetorical proposition

The Great Society programs of President Lyndon Johnson reflected commitment to the quality of life, the idea of affirmative action, and governments role as stimulus and guarantor of social change. Obstacles to adopting the programs were overcome by employing conservative themes, claiming a moral imperative to act, and distinguishing the Great Society from older programs.

Conspiracy Arguments in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates

The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 prominently feature conspiracy arguments—allegations that one’s political opponent is part of a plot to bring about a loathsome result. After contextualizing the debates, the essay examines the major conspiracy arguments, ranging from the charge that Lincoln was plotting to convert both Whig and Democratic parties to abolitionism, to the charge that Douglas was seeking to spread slavery all over the country. The evidence from the debates is drawn upon to consider under what circumstances conspiracy charges become credible and what techniques of argumentation are employed to produce that result.

Martin Luther King, the American dream and Vietnam: A collision of rhetorical trajectories

This essay explores the rhetorical complexity of Martin Luther Kings dual role as political and moral leader, particularly during his last years when he was attacked for his opposition to the Vietnam War. By: 1) discussing and developing the theoretical value and critical possibilities associated with the term “rhetorical trajectories,”; 2) tracing the trajectories present in Kings rhetoric in order to set the context for a speech he gave in 1967 at Riverside Church, and 3) analyzing the text of that speech, the essay offers insight into Kings rhetorical impact, and, as a result, into the possibilities and limitations for combining pragmatic and moralistic discourse in American society.

From “conflict” to “constitutional question”: Transformations in early American public discourse

The American Constitution functions both as a condensation symbol and as a set of essentially contested concepts. The former function is the result of constructive ambiguity which produces broad social consensus; the latter function reflects the fact that Constitutional symbols are given meaning in specific controversies which produce dissensus. This seeming contradiction is contained by removing the battle for Constitutional interpretation from the public forum and assigning it to the specialized forum of the Supreme Court. Before the Civil War, however, the principle of judicial review was not yet established. Constitutional issues instead were the province of the same public forum which adjudicated the substantive questions. As a result, questions of expediency were transformed into Constitutional questions. Three case studies (the Alien and Sedition Acts, the nullification crisis, and the secession controversy) illustrate both the gradual evolution of Constitutional issues and the rigidity which these...

Persistent Questions in the Theory of Argument Fields

The concept of a “field” of arguments, introduced by Stephen Toulmin in 1958 with little explanation, seemed to scholars in the late 1970s and early 1980s to be a promising way to imagine standards for arguments that were context-specific. Although several authors explored the topic, little agreement emerged as to what constituted a field or how theorists and critics would use the “field” concept to analyze or evaluate arguments. This essay examines some of the key questions.

Lincoln's 1862 Annual Message: A Paradigm of Rhetorical Leadership

A president exercises rhetorical leadership by simultaneously respecting and challenging situational constraints. In his 1862 Annual Message, Lincoln advocates colonization of freed blacks outside the United States, yet also subtly subverts this appeal and opens rhetorical space for considering emancipation. Multivocality in this text, typified by its peroration, enables Lincoln to extend the limits of the possible.

Civil rights and civil conflict: Presidential communication in crisis

In the aftermath of the 1960s riots, President Lyndon Johnson appealed to the value of law and order, balanced this call with a call for support of civil rights, stressed that the preservation of peace was a local responsibility, and appointed a study commission to search for solutions. Each of these rhetorical appeals was flawed, but the constellation reveals the value system of American liberalism at a time of impasse.