Abstract
dc:description.abstractThe purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific dimension of the veteran policy discourse in academic and news articles published during the Second World War. I conduct a textual analysis and apply frame theory to structure my study of 45 academic articles taken from JSTOR and 314 news articles taken from ProQuest. My findings reveal three distinct frames that represent veterans themselves as a social problem and/or threat. One frame suggests that a mass influx of WWII veterans into the US economy would cause an economic catastrophe similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Another frame indicates that veterans have been indoctrinated into military life and that they had values and beliefs that were incompatible with American society and democracy. The third frame claims that policies which provide public benefits to veterans exclusively could create a privileged political class that could undermine democracy and meritocracy. My research adds value to current studies of American veterans by emphasizing the extreme fear that has character- ized elite political discourse on WWII veteran reintegration and how that discourse related to veteran policy proposals during that time.
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Level thesis:degree_level
- doctoral
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- Public Administration/Public Affairs
- Department dc:contributor.department
- Government and International Affairs
- Grantor dc:publisher
- Virginia Tech
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2025
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- McDonald, Todd Allen
- Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
-
- Dull, Matthew Martin
- Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
-
- Hult, Karen M.
- Roberts, Patrick S.
- Pencek, Bruce
Subjects
dc:subject × 5Rights
dc:rights- Statement dc:rights
-
- In Copyright
- Licence dc:rights.uri
- Language dc:language.iso
- en
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Dc Identifier Other
- vt_gsexam:41743
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/124290