Award Date
May 2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communication Studies
First Committee Member
David Henry
Second Committee Member
Sara VanderHaagen
Third Committee Member
Tara Emmers-Sommer
Fourth Committee Member
John Tuman
Number of Pages
134
Abstract
On the issue of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, many in the public view President George W. Bush as the primary actor in its execution. Yet Bush explicitly sought congressional approval before employing military force. In doing so, he elevated Congress’ role in the Iraq crisis. A plethora of academic research exists on how Bush attempted to persuade the public that invading Iraq was the correct choice. However, a dearth of scholarship exists on how Congress, specifically the Senate, deliberated on this decision. As a chamber often labeled the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body,” the Senate carries constitutionally-unique responsibilities in matters of foreign affairs. The 107th Senate and the debate on the 2002 Iraq resolution constitute the focus of this thesis. Often viewed by scholars as highly influential in foreign policy matters, the Senate only dedicated five days to debate one of the most expansive military authorizations in recent American history. A close textual analysis of Senate's speeches, selected from the Congressional Record, was conducted so as to trace the arguments that the Senators made. This analysis yielded three metaphorical clusters that help illuminate the Senators’ speech structure: FORCE, TIME, and STATUS. As federal representatives of the American public, it is crucial to understand how our Senators argued, and ultimately passed, a momentous resolution costing more than one-and-a-half trillion dollars and resulting in the third longest war in American history.
Keywords
107th Congress; deliberation; invasion of Iraq; rhetoric; Senate; Senate Joint Resolution 46
Disciplines
Communication | Public Policy | Rhetoric
File Format
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Castillo, Henry Russell, "The "World's Greatest Deliberative Body" and the Decision to Invade: The Rhetoric of Senatorial Debate on S.J.Res. 46" (2016). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 2650.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/9112043
Rights
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