{"id":51603,"date":"2016-09-30T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/supreme\/legal-commentary\/considering-presidential-rhetoric-as-a-window-into-national-identity.html"},"modified":"2016-09-30T11:27:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T16:27:00","slug":"considering-presidential-rhetoric-as-a-window-into-national-identity","status":"publish","type":"supreme","link":"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/legal-commentary\/considering-presidential-rhetoric-as-a-window-into-national-identity.html","title":{"rendered":"Considering Presidential Rhetoric as a Window Into National Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/a><\/td>\n\n<\/tr>\n\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n—-

Considering Presidential Rhetoric as a Window Into National Identity:<\/h1><\/span>
A Review of Defining Americans<\/span>
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By G.J. RUSSELLO <\/h2>
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Friday, Oct. 29, 2004
\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n G.J. Russello, Considering Presidential Rhetoric as a Window Into National Identity: A Review of Defining Americans<\/i> (University Press of Kansas, 2004)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In a democracy, political speech is a way to convey common ideals. Unlike in an aristocracy, where power is reserved for an elite, or in countries like the former Afghanistan that were until recently ruled by a theocratic cabal, citizens in a democracy expect their leaders to speak to them as equal participants in the political process. <\/p>

The role of political language is especially important in the United States, where debates over the nation’s identity have been a feature of political life since the founding. Because Americans do not share a common religious or ethnic heritage, discussion and argument have been a primary means that Americans have expressed their self-understanding. <\/p> \n\n