Mitt Romney's \"47%” speech drew substantive media criticism for its unabashed description of those individuals who do not pay income tax as \"entitled,” and guaranteed to vote for Barack Obama. The study argues that the speech, which, when released, had a meaningful impact on polls in swing states and likely voters, appeals to the narrative of the welfare queen, a longstanding social narrative about entitlement spending. By using Walter Fisher's (1984) Narrative Paradigm as a lens of critical analysis, I argue that Romney's appeal to a particular narrative was a persuasive decision based on his limited audience. By appealing to the welfare queen narrative, however, Romney furthers an existing stereotype that is ultimately damaging for both future policy actions, and individuals on entitlement spending.
","abstract_html":"<p>Mitt Romney's "47%” speech drew substantive media criticism for its unabashed description of those individuals who do not pay income tax as "entitled,” and guaranteed to vote for Barack Obama. The study argues that the speech, which, when released, had a meaningful impact on polls in swing states and likely voters, appeals to the narrative of the welfare queen, a longstanding social narrative about entitlement spending. By using Walter Fisher's (1984) Narrative Paradigm as a lens of critical analysis, I argue that Romney's appeal to a particular narrative was a persuasive decision based on his limited audience. By appealing to the welfare queen narrative, however, Romney furthers an existing stereotype that is ultimately damaging for both future policy actions, and individuals on entitlement spending.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Coker, Calvin Richard"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in Communication","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Communication","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Elizabeth Dudash"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:06Z","subjects":["Mitt Romney","narrative paradigm","welfare queen","47% speech","Walter Fisher","Communication"],"languages":[],"rights":["© Calvin Richard Coker"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1060","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Elizabeth Dudash"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Coker, Calvin Richard"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in Communication"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Mitt Romney","narrative paradigm","welfare queen","47% speech","Walter Fisher","Communication"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© Calvin Richard Coker"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1060"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Mitt Romney's \"47%” speech drew substantive media criticism for its unabashed description of those individuals who do not pay income tax as \"entitled,” and guaranteed to vote for Barack Obama. The study argues that the speech, which, when released, had a meaningful impact on polls in swing states and likely voters, appeals to the narrative of the welfare queen, a longstanding social narrative about entitlement spending. By using Walter Fisher's (1984) Narrative Paradigm as a lens of critical analysis, I argue that Romney's appeal to a particular narrative was a persuasive decision based on his limited audience. By appealing to the welfare queen narrative, however, Romney furthers an existing stereotype that is ultimately damaging for both future policy actions, and individuals on entitlement spending.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The New Welfare Queen: A Narrative Analysis of Mitt Romney's 47% Speech"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Elizabeth Dudash"],"dc:creator":["Coker, Calvin Richard"],"dc:description.abstract":["Mitt Romney's \"47%” speech drew substantive media criticism for its unabashed description of those individuals who do not pay income tax as \"entitled,” and guaranteed to vote for Barack Obama. The study argues that the speech, which, when released, had a meaningful impact on polls in swing states and likely voters, appeals to the narrative of the welfare queen, a longstanding social narrative about entitlement spending. By using Walter Fisher's (1984) Narrative Paradigm as a lens of critical analysis, I argue that Romney's appeal to a particular narrative was a persuasive decision based on his limited audience. By appealing to the welfare queen narrative, however, Romney furthers an existing stereotype that is ultimately damaging for both future policy actions, and individuals on entitlement spending.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1060"],"dc:rights":["© Calvin Richard Coker"],"dc:subject":["Mitt Romney","narrative paradigm","welfare queen","47% speech","Walter Fisher","Communication"],"dc:title":["The New Welfare Queen: A Narrative Analysis of Mitt Romney's 47% Speech"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in Communication"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:06Z"}