Entelechial and Reformative Symbolic Trajectories in Contemporary Conservatism: A Case Study of Reagan and Buchanan in Houston and Beyond

Abstract

This essay uses a close analysis of addresses by former President Ronald Reagan and Pat Buchanan at the 1992 Republican National Convention to sketch two possible trajectories for contemporary conservatism. The trajectory apparent in the Buchanan speech leads toward anti-government extremism, while that in Reagan's address ironically leads back to traditional liberalism. Implications for the status of conservatism and for the process of rhetorical analysis are developed.

Constrained by Duality: Third-Party Master Narratives in the 2016 Presidential Election

“…despite the ominousness of the outcome” (p. 19). As Rowland and Jones (2001) summarized, this compulsion tends to “take one’s terminology to the end of the symbolic line” (p. 57), polarizing audiences and demonizing opponents, proving to be not only extreme and disruptive but potentially disastrous.…”

“…123). Johnson’s use of the term “classic liberal” meant he was tying himself to the tradition “out of which the contemporary liberal and conservative movements emerged” (Rowland & Jones, 2001, p. 66). Classical liberals, Rowland and Jones explained, “embraced individual liberty, a sense of community based on ideals of freedom and democracy, support for free markets, and a belief in limited government” (p. 66).…”

Memories of Movement in a Postfeminist Context: Conservative Fusion in the Rhetoric of Tammy Bruce and “Dr. Laura” Schlessinger

“…This contradiction-defying rhetoric is materialized by the authentic feminists who choose to advocate for, and thus support, a traditional gendered order, either by practicing (and speaking out for) personal liberty against the establishment (as in Bruce's NAI), or by personally choosing an essentially feminine life (as in Schlessinger's New True Woman). 8 While conservative rhetors have been practicing such ''fusionism'' for some time (see Rowland & Jones, 2001), the blending of traditionalism and libertarianism into ''authentic feminism'' is striking. It ''complements postfeminism's contention that liberal and radical feminism'' are irrelevant (Rodino-Colocino, 2012b, p. 458), while claiming that the mainstays of conservatism-domestic femininity, personal freedom, and ''less government''-are actually feminist positions.…”

Aesthetics as Weapons in the “War of Ideas:” Exploring the Digital and Typographic in American Conservative Web Sites

“…Because the so-called paleoconservative traditionalists desire a society built upon ''religious belief or prescriptive tradition'' (Schneider, 2003, p. 169), and because they are suspicious of laissez-faire capitalism and individual freedoms, they are often at odds with classically liberal neoconservatives (Francis, 2003). Other rhetorical critics have explored how conservative orators have patched over, or deepened, the right's main ideological division (Rohler, 1999;Rowland & Jones, 2001). In addition, based on the Web sites analyzed, media aesthetics may lessen the divergence between paleo-and neoconservatism by finessing different orientations to meaning-making and power.…”