Research Guides
- University of Washington Libraries
- Library Guides
- UW Libraries
- Communication Studies
- Political Communication
Communication Studies: Political Communication
This subject guide is a starting point for communication-related research, including mass media, speech communication, and more.
1999 photograph by Douglas Graham of a Democratic unity event. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Encyclopedias
Selection of encyclopedias dealing with political rhetoric. Many include sample speeches.
Collections of Speeches
Presidential Speeches & Libraries
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States currently contains the papers and speeches covering the administrations of Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. For more recent administrations see the Compilation of Presidential Documents. Also see Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States (currently through Trump). Many presidential libraries also include speeches & remarks.
Book Sampler
These are a sampling of books on the topic of political communication. To find additional books use UW Libraries Search.
Communicating the Future by
We are facing an unprecedented environmental crisis. How can we communicate and act more effectively to make the political and economic changes required to survive and even thrive within the life-support capacities of our planet? This is the question at the heart of W. Lance Bennett's much-anticipated book. Bennett challenges readers to consider how best to approach the environmental crisis by changing how we think about the relationships between environment, economy, and democracy. He introduces a framework that citizens, practitioners, and scholars can use to evaluate common but unproductive communication that blocks thinking about change; develop more effective ways to define and approach problems; and design communication processes to engage diverse publics and organizations in developing understandings, goals, and political strategies. Until advocates develop economic programs with built-in environmental solutions, they will continue to lose policy fights. Putting "intersectional" communication into action requires acknowledging that communication is not only an exchange of messages, but an organizational process. Communicating the Future is important reading for students and scholars of media and communication, as well as general readers concerned about the environmental crisis.
Nonverbal Communication in Political Debates by
Nonverbal Communication in Political Debates presents a framework for understanding and analyzing the multiple ways that nonverbal behavior functions in political debates. In addition to addressing the ways in which politicians are presented and present themselves in debate broadcasts, the framework considers a wide array of strategic objectives and unintended consequences of candidates' nonverbal behaviors. Along the way, the book examines theory and research from both humanistic and social scientific approaches, as well as an immense range of factors that influence how nonverbal behavior is enacted and portrayed. Scholars of communication, political science, psychology, and public relations will find this book particularly useful.
The Only Constant Is Change by
Over the course of American political history, political elites and organizations have often updated their political communications strategies in order to achieve longstanding political communication goals in more efficient or effective ways. But why do successful innovations occur when they do, and what motivates political actors to make choices about how to innovate their communication tactics? Covering over 300 years of political communication innovations, Ben Epstein shows how this process of change happens and why. To do this, Epstein, following an interdisciplinary approach, proposes a new model called "the political communication cycle" that accounts for the technological, behavioral, and political factors that lead to revolutionary political communication changes over time. These changes (at least the successful ones) have been far from gradual, as long periods of relatively stable political communication activities have been disrupted by brief periods of dramatic and permanent transformation. These transformations are driven by political actors and organizations, and tend to follow predictable patterns. Epstein moves beyond the technological determinism that characterizes communication history scholarship and the medium-specific focus of much political communication work. The book identifies the political communication revolutions that have, in the United States, led to four, relatively stable political communication orders over history: the elite, mass, broadcast, and (the current) information orders. It identifies and tests three phases of each revolutionary cycle, ultimately sketching possible paths for the future. The Only Constant is Change offers readers and scholars a model and vocabulary to compare political communication changes across time and between different types of political organizations. This provides greater understanding of where we are currently in the recurring political communication cycle, and where we might be headed.
The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication by
Since its development shaped by the turmoil of the World Wars and suspicion of new technologies such as film and radio, political communication has become a hybrid field largely devoted to connecting the dots among political rhetoric, politicians and leaders, voters' opinions, and media exposure to better understand how any one aspect can affect the others. In The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication Kate Kenski and Kathleen Hall Jamieson bring together leading scholars, including founders of the field of political communication Elihu Katz, Jay Blumler, Doris Graber, Max McCombs, and Thomas Paterson,to review the major findings about subjects ranging from the effects of political advertising and debates and understandings and misunderstandings of agenda setting, framing, and cultivation to the changing contours of social media use in politics and the functions of the press in a democratic system. The essays in this volume reveal that political communication is a hybrid field with complex ancestry, permeable boundaries, and interests that overlap with those of related fields such as political sociology, public opinion, rhetoric, neuroscience, and the new hybrid on the quad, media psychology. This comprehensive review of the political communication literature is an indispensible reference for scholars and students interested in the study of how, why, when, and with what effect humans make sense of symbolic exchanges about sharing and shared power. The sixty-two chapters in The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication contain an overview of past scholarship while providing critical reflection of its relevance in a changing media landscape and offering agendas for future research and innovation.
Political Speech As a Weapon by
Provides a penetrating examination of how political rhetoric from public officials creates tensions via microaggression cues due to changing demographics, campaign rhetoric, and the use of social media. What are microaggression cues, and what are examples of those cues in political rhetoric? How have microaggression cues from former presidents, elected officials, political candidates, and former candidate, now President, Trump led to further polarization of America's citizens? What are the connections between these microaggression cues, the demographic shift of the United States, and the growing fear among longtime majority populations? Political Speech as a Weapon: Microaggression in a Changing Racial and Ethnic Environment answers these questions and helps readers understand related topics such as nativism, the transformation process of the U.S. population and cultural norms, and how Americans can best respond to evolving conditions to meet these challenges. Author Sylvia Gonzalez-Gorman addresses a blind spot in the field of American politics and connects hostile rhetoric by public officials to the effect of such rhetoric, which leads to the marginalization of groups and a polarizing cultural environment. The book specifically focuses on the role of political rhetoric as a microaggression cue and clearly illustrates how these cues are a well established--and damaging--component of U.S. political culture. Explains how hostile rhetoric by public officials can lead to the marginalization of groups and a polarizing environment Suggests that political discourse is used to accentuate cultural differences due to changing demographics in the United States Illustrates that microaggression cues are a pervasive and damaging component of the U.S. political culture Appropriate reading for anyone interested in or students of modern social movements, U.S. media and politics, race and ethnicity, political behavior, social psychology, and Latino American or African American studies
President Donald Trump and His Political Discourse by
President Donald Trump and His Political Discourse brings together a diverse collection of perspectives on President Trump's Twitter rhetoric. Truly unique in its in-depth exploration, the volume demonstrates the ways in which international and U.S. relations, media and "fake news," and marginalized groups, among other things, have been the subject of President Trump's tweets. It also features qualitative-quantitative analyses, evaluating tweet patterns, broader language shifts, and the psychology of President Trump's Twitter voice. The purpose of this collection is not only to analyze the language used but also to consider the ramifications of the various messages on both individual and global levels, for which Trump is both celebrated and criticized. Interdisciplinary in approach, this collection is a useful resource for students in political rhetoric and communication, international relations, linguistics, journalism, leadership studies, and more.
