Performance, theatricality and the US presidency : the currency of distrust / Julia Peetz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Peetz, Julia, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Presidents--United States--Public opinion.

Presidents.

Performance art--Political aspects--United States.

Performance art.

Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States.

Rhetoric.

Political campaigns--United States--History--20th century.

Political campaigns.

Political campaigns--United States--History--21st century.

Suspicion--United States.

Suspicion.

United States--Politics and government--1989-.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 206 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2023.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

The erosion of trust in politicians and political institutions is a major challenge in early twenty-first-century democratic politics, not least in the United States. This book argues that, rather than being a flaw or corruption, the potential for political distrust must be understood as an essential feature of representative democracy because representation works through performance. The book explores performance as a constellation of factors: scripts, embodiment, ideas of selfhood, and historical norms and ideals. It draws on key scholarship of political representation, rhetoric, and populism; on theories of performativity, theatricality, and acting; and on interviews the author conducted with political speechwriters spanning presidential administrations and campaigns from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama to demonstrate both that distrust is inherent in representative politics and that in mainstreamed populism distrust becomes a focal point around which the theatre of politics revolves.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Obama's Tears

CHAPTER 1 PERFORMANCE AT THE CORE OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

CHAPTER 2 PERFORMING THE US PRESIDENCY

CHAPTER 3 CULTIVATING LEGITIMACY THROUGH PERFORMANCE

CHAPTER 4 THE CURRENCY OF DISTRUST IN PRESIDENTIAL PERFORMANCES SINCE WATERGATE

AFTERWORD: THE PENDULUM AND THE SLOPE

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 07 Mar 2025).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-3995-1000-2

OCLC:

1390751329