Online Archive of University of Virginia Scholarship
Has the Rise of Spoken-Word Mass Media Transformed Modern Congressional Speech?407 views
Author
Malkovich, Leah, Government - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Virginia
Advisors
Kirkland, Justin, University of Virginia
Abstract
What is to blame for the decline in congressional compromise? Is it a rise in polarization, or is there more to the story? In this paper, I argue that a growing lack of compromise in Congress is due to a surge in emotionality and resulting disconnect in speech: when one party is especially negative, the other is especially positive. I posit the claim that this increasing divergence was precipitated by the rise of spoken-word mass media (radio and television), in which emotionality is rewarded. Working with a dataset consisting of every floor speech from 1873 to 2017, I utilize sentiment analysis to determine the level of emotionality in each year’s Congress. As a result of my analysis, I find significance at my expected breakpoints.
Degree
MA (Master of Arts)
Language
English
Rights
All rights reserved (no additional license for public reuse)
Malkovich, Leah. Has the Rise of Spoken-Word Mass Media Transformed Modern Congressional Speech?. University of Virginia, Government - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, MA (Master of Arts), 2019-11-29, https://doi.org/10.18130/v3-9t3n-w934.
