Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Leadership Studies
First Advisor
Dr. Bo Yun Park
Abstract
How did the party affiliation of the speaker affect the rhetoric used to talk about abortion in the 2016 American presidential election? Using computer-assisted qualitative analysis and coding for instances of framing, metaphors, and bridging rhetoric, I look at debate transcripts during the election cycle from the American Presidency Project, tracing both Democratic and Republican primaries into the general election. I argue that across all debates and speeches, Democrats invoke the“morality as empathy metaphor and the Nurturant Parent model in their arguments more than Republicans. In contrast, I argue that Republicans invoke the“morality as strength" metaphor and the Strict Father model in their messaging.
Recommended Citation
Hayes, Ella, "Divided Discourse: Analyzing Abortion Rhetoric in the 2016 Presidential Debates" (2024). Honors Theses. 1786.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/1786