The Postmodern Presidency
The Postmodern Presidency

Author: Steven E. Schier

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2012-02-15

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9780822972204

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Choice Outstanding Academic Book. As America’s first truly postmodern president, Bill Clinton experienced both great highs and stunning lows in office that will shape the future course of American politics. Clinton will forever be remembered as the first elected president to be impeached, but will his tarnished legacy have lasting effects on America’s political system? Including the conflict in Kosovo, the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, and new developments in the 2000 presidential campaign, The Postmodern Presidency is the most comprehensive and current assessment of Bill Clinton’s presidency available in print. The Postmodern Presidency examines Clinton’s role in redefining the institution of the presidency, and his affect on future presidents’ economic and foreign policies. The contributors highlight the president’s unprecedented courtship of public opinion; how polls affected policy; how the president gained “celebrity” status; how Clinton’s “postmodern” style of public presidency helped him survive the 1994 elections and impeachment; and how all of this might impact future presidents. This new text also demonstrates how the Clinton presidency changed party politics in the public and in Congress, with long-term implications and costs to both Republicans and his own Democratic party, while analyzing Clinton’s effect on the 1990s “culture wars,” the politics and importance of gender, and the politics and policy of race. This text is a must for anyone who studies, teaches, or has an interest in the American presidency and politics.

Political Satire, Postmodern Reality, and the Trump Presidency
Political Satire, Postmodern Reality, and the Trump Presidency

Author: Mehnaaz Momen

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-12-11

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 1498592759

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This book attempts to grasp the recent paradigm shift in American politics through the lens of satire. It connects changes in the political and cultural landscape to corresponding shifts in the structure and organization of the media, in order to shed light on the evolution of political satire on late-night television. Satire is situated in its historical background to comprehend its movement away from the fringes of discourse to the very center of politics and the media. Beginning in the 1990s, certain trends such as technological advances, media consolidation, and the globalization of communications reinforced each other, paving the way for satire to claim a prized spot in the visual media—a tendency that only gained strength after September 11. While the Bush presidency presented itself as an apposite target for satirists, their stronghold on American television was made possible by a number of transitions in broader culture, which are encapsulated in the shrinking space available for political engagement under neoliberalism. This largely underestimated development can be understood through the framework of postmodernism, which focuses on the relationship between language, power, and the presentation of reality. These trends and transitions reached a climax in the 2016 election where President Trump was elected, embodying what can only be considered a significant turning point in American politics. The bigger narrative contains various subplots represented in the rise of the neoliberal economy, the acceptance of postmodernism as the dominant cultural code, and the role of the voyeur superseding that of the engaged citizen. It is only through understanding each of these pieces and connecting them that we can comprehend the current political transformation. The present moment may feel like a golden age of satire, and it may well be, but this book addresses the hardest questions about the realities behind such a claim: what can we conclude about when and how satire is effective, judging by the history of this genre in its various incarnations, and how can the “apolitical” postmodern media landscape be reconciled with what the best of this genre has had to offer during times of political duress?

Deconstructing Obama
Deconstructing Obama

Author: Jack Cashill

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2011-02-15

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 1451611137

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Did Obama write his own books and is the story they tell true? “I've written two books,” Barack Obama told a crowd of teachers in July of 2008. “I actually wrote them myself.” The teachers exploded in laughter. They got the joke: lesser politicians were not bright enough to do the same. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama supporters pointed to the first of those two books, the 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father, as proof of Obama’s superior intellect. Time magazine called Dreams “the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician.” The Obama campaign machine traded on the candidate’s literary reputation, encouraging volunteers to “get out the vote and keep talking to others about the genius of Barack Obama.” There was just one small flaw, as writer and literary detective Jack Cashill discovered months before the November 2008 election: nothing in Obama’s history suggested he was capable of writing either Dreams or his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope. In fact, as Cashill continued his research, he came to the shocking conclusion that the real craftsman behind Dreams was terrorist emeritus Bill Ayers. “This was a charge,” David Remnick admits in his definitive Obama biography, The Bridge, “that if ever proved true, or believed to be true among enough voters, could have been the end of the candidacy.” Deconstructing Obama tells the story of what happens when a citizen journalist discovers a game-changing reality that the media refuse to acknowledge. Despite their rejection, Cashill expanded his research into Obama’s literary canon. As he came to see, if Dreams serves as sacred text, the poem “Pop” is the Rosetta stone, the key to deciphering Obama’s shrouded past, his fragile psyche, and his uniquely cryptic political life. In unlocking that past, Cashill discovered that the story that Obama has been telling all his life varies from the true story in ways big and small. In fact, much of Obama’s life story appears to be a wholly constructed fabrication, one that Jack Cashill “deconstructs” to show the world just who Barack Obama really is.

Constructing Clinton
Constructing Clinton

Author: Shawn J. Parry-Giles

Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13:

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This book examines Clinton's image as it was produced by visual representations in The Man from Hope, The War Room, Primary Colors, MTV's Biorhythms, and PBS' The American President. The book uses the language of postmodernism in an attempt to make a metaphysics out of what was once just plain old propaganda. The authors teach political communication at the University of Maryland. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

By Invitation Only
By Invitation Only

Author: Steven Schier

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2000-01-27

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780822957126

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Steven Schier examines the shift in U.S. politics to activation—the political variant of niche marketing. This method encourages only a strategically selected few to get involved, resulting in a decline of majority rule in American politics.

Making of the Postmodern Presidency
Making of the Postmodern Presidency

Author: John F Freie

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-11-17

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1317256441

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Throughout American history presidents have been accused of being liars, of deceiving others for political gain, of being corrupt, or of violating the Constitution. Such criticism is, to some extent, a facet of our political culture. Yet, in recent years the intensity and depth of hostility coming from news reporters, political pundits, and even academics seems unprecedented. It is the argument of "The Making of the Postmodern Presidency" that something more fundamental is occurring other than personal mendacity, character failures, or political errors; that, in fact, the model we have used to explain presidential behavior no longer works.The dominant paradigm used to assess presidential behavior-the modern presidency-is no longer an adequate explanatory model. Nonetheless, those who study the presidency continue to use it to explain behavior. This book claims that the more relevant paradigm that should be used today is the postmodern presidency model. This book traces the origins and development of the postmodern presidency.The heart of the book is composed of an examination of the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to show how each has contributed to the evolution and formation of the postmodern presidency. A penultimate chapter analyzes the 2008 presidential election through the lens of postmodernism. The book concludes with speculation on the challenges that face the Obama presidency in light of the postmodern presidency and American democracy.

Václav Havel
Václav Havel

Author: James F. Pontuso

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 9780742522565

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More than any other public figure, VOclav Havel has reflected on the opportunities and dilemmas facing humankind as a result of the collapse of Communism. In VOclav Havel: Civic Responsibility in the Postmodern Age, James F. Pontuso argues that Havel's life as a dissident and political leader, his political philosophy, and his plays must be understood as connected to one another. Pontuso skillfully explores these connections and explains Havel's prescriptions for political life.

Preaching to a Postmodern World
Preaching to a Postmodern World

Author: Graham M. Johnston

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2001-07-01

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1441201505

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While growing churches dot our urban centers and country landscapes, church-goers and students today are actually less likely to maintain a Christian worldview than in the past. In fact, the majority of society does not even believe in objective truth. A minister out of touch with this culture is like an uninformed missionary trying to teach in a foreign country. To communicate God's Word effectively in the twenty-first century, teachers need to know how to connect with and confront an audience of postmodern listeners. In Preaching to a Postmodern World, Johnston shows pastors, seminary students, professors, lay teachers, and church leaders can reach the present age without selling out to it. The book discusses how to: • distinguish between modernism and postmodernism • understand postmodern worldviews • change the style of preaching without compromising the substance • take advantage of new opportunities provided by the cultural shift • show an inattentive society the relevance of God's truth The author's keen insights into contemporary pop and media culture also help equip speakers to address today's listeners with clarity and relevance.

Debating the Obama Presidency
Debating the Obama Presidency

Author: Steven E. Schier

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2016-09-22

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 1442261250

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This is the first book to present both the arguments for and against Barack Obama’s presidency and its policies. In it, prominent political scientists and Washington think tank scholars address Obama’s domestic, economic and foreign policies and his political legacy. Contrasting perspectives assess the consequences of the large aspirations of the Obama presidency and the political and policy challenges Obama encountered in the pursuit of those aspirations. Barack Obama’s project in the White House involved installing lasting changes in national policy and politics. Institutionally, the Obama administration sought to preserve control of Congress through maintenance of reliable partisan Democratic majorities, and enhance influence over the federal courts through a steady stream of liberal judicial appointees. The administration sought increased autonomy over the executive branch by a reorganizations spawned by a national economic crisis and an ambitious domestic policy agenda. Politically, the Obama administration sought the entrenchment of consistent Democratic electoral majorities. Such large ambitions have generated enduring controversies surrounding his presidency, controversies that receive a full airing and debate in this volume. Contributions by Alan I. Abramowitz, Emory University; Andrew E. Busch, Claremont McKenna College; Peter Juul, Center for American Progress; Lawrence Korb, Center for American Progress; William G. Mayer, Northeastern University; Ruth O’Brien, City University of New York Graduate Center; John J. Pitney Jr.. Claremont McKenna College; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Daniel E. Ponder, Drury University; Steven E. Schier, Carleton College; Raymond Tatalovich, Loyola University Chicago; and John Kenneth White, Catholic University of America.

Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America
Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America

Author: James Poniewozik

Publisher: Liveright Publishing

Published: 2019-09-10

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1631494430

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New York Times Book Review • Notable Book of the Year Washington Post • 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction in 2019 NPR.org • NPR 2019 Concierge Slate • 10 Best Books of the Year Chicago Tribune • Best Books of the Year Publishers Weekly • 10 Best Books of the Year Audience of One reframes America’s identity through the rattled mind of an insomniac, cable-news-junkie president.New York Times chief television critic James Poniewozik offers a “darkly entertaining” (Carlos Lozada, Washington Post) history of mass media from the early 1980s to today, demonstrating how a volcanic, camera-hogging antihero merged with America’s most powerful medium to become our forty-fifth president. In charting the seismic evolution of television from a monolithic mass medium into today’s fractious confederation of spite-and-insult media subcultures, Poniewozik reveals how Donald Trump took advantage of these historic changes by constantly reinventing himself: from a boastful cartoon zillionaire; to 1990s self-parodic sitcom fixture; to The Apprentice reality-TV star; and finally to Twitter-mad, culture-warring demagogue. Already lauded as a “brilliant and daring” (Annalisa Quinn, NPR) work that defines a generation, Audience of One emerges as a classic in cultural criticism.