National Identity as a Political Battlefield. Conflicting Narratives of the 2004 American Presidential Election Campaign.

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The official rhetoric of American Presidents is viewed by many non-Americans as somewhat ridiculous and unduly pompous and self-righteous. Vanessa Beasley, on the other hand, has argued that the constant references to the superiority of the American nation in the rhetoric of its presidents have been required in order to keep the extremely diversified nation together. Starting from a constructivist philosophy of science and using a narrative theory of identity construction, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the role of national identity in American politics and how it?s leading politicians use and contributes to the construction of such an identity. It does so by analyzing the central speeches of the National Conventions of the 2004 Presidential election. The result of the analysis is supportive of Beasley?s conclusions and shows the importance of national identity in U.S. politics. Both parties use references to such an identity in order to defend or oppose different policy practices. The stories used to define how a true American is supposed to act are taken from the overall theme of the civil religion of America used by presidents since the foundation of the nation. These are then, in line with the...