International Identity: A View of the World from the American Presidency, 1934-2008

• In Event: Political Communication: A Global Perspective

Abstract

Scholars have focused considerable attention on how U.S. presidents construct national identity in their speeches. We introduce a related concept, international identity, that focuses on how presidents construct American identity in relation to foreign entities. We then explore the contours of international identity by content analyzing every mention of a foreign entity in presidents’ State of the Union addresses over the past 74 years.

Authors

• Rico Neumann, University of Arizona

• Kevin Coe, University of Arizona