Political Low Roads: The Rhetoric of Twentieth-Century American Demagoguery and the Rise of the New Right
"The dissertation's central thesis is that a major transformation occurred in the course of twentieth-century demagoguery. Molded in the rhetorical tactics of Southern-demagogue Ben Tillman of South Carolina, this peculiar art form of mass politics persisted without regard to region or party, a concept developed in studies of Democrat Curley (Massachusetts) and Republicans McCarthy and Goldwater (Wisconsin and Arizona), thus encompassing the South, Northeast, Midwest, and West. Each subject, of course, practiced demagoguery on an individual basis. By the middle and late 1970s, however, the once-Old Right of the Republican Party---inspired by Goldwater's 1964 rhetoric on national ""morality"" and racial scapegoats; and inspired as well, though to a lesser extent, by McCarthy's rhetoric---metamorphosed as the ""New Right."" Through its politicians, think tanks, and well-financed political action committees, the movement spoke as a unified and collective voice, using precisely the same demagogic rhetorical techniques once exploited only by individual politicians. In short, during the twentieth century the practice of demagoguery moved from a personal to party-wide basis."
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign