Beyond Rocking the Vote: An Analysis of Rhetoric Designed to Motivate Young Voters

Attempts to solve the continued problem of low youth voter turnout in the U.S. have included get out the vote drives, voter registration campaigns, and public service announcements targeting 18- to 25-year-old voters. Pay Attention and Vote added to this effort to motivate young voters in its 2006 campaign. This thesis analyzes the rhetorical strategies employed by the Pay Attention and Vote campaign advertisements, measures their effectiveness, and adds to the limited body of knowledge describing the attitudes and behaviors of young nonvoters. This thesis applies a mixed method approach, utilizing both rhetorical criticism and quantitative method. The results of both analyses are integrated into a discussion which critiques current strategies of addressing the youth voter turnout problem and offers suggestions for future research on the topic.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2007

Author dc:creator

• Brewer, Angela

Contributors dc:contributor

• Anderson, Karen A.
• Allison, John M., Jr.
• Lain, Brian A.

• youth vote
• rhetoric
• quantitative method
• vote drives
• political communication.
• Youth -- United States -- Political activity.
• Voting -- United States -- History -- 21st century.
• Political participation -- United States -- History -- 21st century.
• Elections -- United States -- History -- 21st century.
• United States -- Politics and government -- 2001-

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Brewer, Angela
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 235104953
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5209/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc5209

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc5209