Papers by Richard DeShay Elliott
The Tea Party is an contemporary American political movement that combines elements of mainstream... more The Tea Party is an contemporary American political movement that combines elements of mainstream Republican ideology, such as support for the War on Drugs and lowering taxes; libertarianism, such as drastically shrinking the state and opposing the unionization of workers; and anti-immigrant, pro-Medicare/Social Security populism to form a political nexus that has not been seen before in American political history. From the movement’s “birth” in 2009 to today, the Tea Party has had an active role in changing American politics, particularly in the 2010 congressional elections and the 2016 presidential election. With Tea Party backing, 44 congressional candidates won election in 2010, including 5 Senators, 4 Senators in 2012, and multiple Governors between 2010 and 2016. Despite the end of the House’s Tea Party Caucus and with only a few dozen still in Congress, the Tea Party has reshaped the Republican Party, facilitating a rapid shift in American conservatism and propelling Donald Trump to the White House.
In this paper, I will analyze the factors that led to the rise of the Tea Party, their political ideology and stances, the makeup of their voting bloc, their connection to organizations that are openly bigoted and hostile to the federal government, an analysis of several of prominent Tea Party politicians, how the bloc of Tea Party voters contributed to the popularity surge for 2016 Republican candidate Donald Trump, and how the Tea Party’s bloc of voters influenced the Trump presidency while their tactics influenced the anti-Trump Resistance.
The United States, home to 5% of the world's population & 25% of the world's incarcerated populat... more The United States, home to 5% of the world's population & 25% of the world's incarcerated population, is the largest hotspot of mass incarceration in human history. Many factors have contributed to rising incarceration rates over the past 50 years, including the War on Drugs and the 1994 crime bill. One piece of legislation with impact on policing in the United States is the Law Enforcement Officer's Bill of Rights (LEOBOR) , which serves to minimize accountability and transparency within police departments by granting rights to police officers that aren't In this study, I seek to examine the difference in rates of incarceration, police spending, police salaries, on-duty shooting of civilians, the number of officers who have been charged for an on-duty shooting, and the number of decertified officers between states with and without LEOBOR in effect. These statistics will give a detailed comparison of accountability and transparency in states that do and do not have LEOBOR in effect.
Political Behavior: Voting & Public Opinion eJournal, 2019
Both Baltimore, Maryland and Lowndes County, Alabama were areas with high black populations that ... more Both Baltimore, Maryland and Lowndes County, Alabama were areas with high black populations that faced various hurdles to democracy and black political representation. White candidates used racial animus, whether coded in rhetoric or openly, as a cudgel of support in both areas and politics became an extended battle as to who was considered “acceptable” as a neighbor. Lowndes County was overruled by white supremacists without democratic legitimacy that were supported by a violently hostile white population who controlled the area’s economy while Baltimore’s white, particularly white working class, community worked to limit black opportunity by supporting City Council and gubernatorial candidates who opposed open-housing, coalescing to support William Schaefer in the 1971 election, and hindering the evolution of Baltimore from a majority-black population to a majority-black government to represent it through gerrymandering and powerful white political clubs in majority-black areas. What made the two distinct was that the Southern system of segregation was enforced through extrajudicial violence and intimidation while Baltimore’s segregation and hostility to black opportunity and black neighbors was done mostly behind the curtains of polling booths and in political clubs.
National Conference of Undergraduate Research, 2017
This study analyzes the correlation of rhetoric usage by members of Congress who were supported ... more This study analyzes the correlation of rhetoric usage by members of Congress who were supported by the Tea Party political movement with changes in mainstream conservative political discourse. The rhetoric of these politicians after the Tea Party’s ascendance in the 2010 congressional elections was compared to the rhetoric used by the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Republican nominees to understand the correlation with other changes in conservative discourse. I studied this discourse shift using speech analysis to code for instances of negative discourse and establish a comparison
between these election years while also noting rhetorical shifts evident among mainstream conservative politicians.
Political Behavior: Politics of Race eJournal, 2019
The Tea Party is an interesting political movement in contemporary America. Combining populist ... more The Tea Party is an interesting political movement in contemporary America. Combining populist fervor with elements of the mainstream Republican establishment, such as support for the War on Drugs and opposition to immigration, and some elements of libertarian ideology such as opposition to the unionization of workers, they form a political nexus that has not been seen before in American political history. From the movement’s “birth” in 2009 to today, the Tea Party has had an active role in changing American politics, particularly in the 2010 congressional elections. In this paper, I will analyze the factors that led to their rise, their political ideology and stances, the makeup of their voting bloc, their connection to organizations that are openly bigoted and hostile to the federal government, an analysis of several of prominent Tea Party politicians, and how they are contributing to the popularity surge for 2016 Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Political Theory: Citizenship eJournal, 2019
In this study, I conducted a discourse analysis of Malcolm X's descriptions and usage of citizens... more In this study, I conducted a discourse analysis of Malcolm X's descriptions and usage of citizenship, membership, & related concepts within his speeches to better understand his usage of these highly contested terms, specifically how it compares to the usage by other scholars and Black American civil rights activists in the 1960s. This study will be conducted by analyzing how many times he used these words in various speeches, interviews, and debates and how his usage and context of these terms evolved as his political philosophy evolved from Nation of Islam orthodoxy to Pan-African socialism.
Vol. 6, Issue 14 of the Rhetoric & Public Discourse eJournal, 2017
This study analyzes mainstream liberal political discourse, specifically from Barack Obama, Hilla... more This study analyzes mainstream liberal political discourse, specifically from Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders, to code for the usage of specific hopeful rhetorical styles that were used principally by Barack Obama in 2008 to assess if there was an increase in Hillary Clinton’s usage of these rhetorical strategies between 2008 and 2016. I studied this discourse shift using rhetorical analysis to code for instances of these hopeful rhetorical styles. By studying this, I intend to show that Hillary Clinton changed her rhetoric between these election cycles because it was successful for her challengers in the primary season. I also studied how gendered notions of political speech harmed her. To study this, I did a word count of each speech to see if Hillary Clinton, following the theory that female politicians are often derided for long speeches, had shorter speeches than her male counterparts.
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Papers by Richard DeShay Elliott
In this paper, I will analyze the factors that led to the rise of the Tea Party, their political ideology and stances, the makeup of their voting bloc, their connection to organizations that are openly bigoted and hostile to the federal government, an analysis of several of prominent Tea Party politicians, how the bloc of Tea Party voters contributed to the popularity surge for 2016 Republican candidate Donald Trump, and how the Tea Party’s bloc of voters influenced the Trump presidency while their tactics influenced the anti-Trump Resistance.
between these election years while also noting rhetorical shifts evident among mainstream conservative politicians.
In this paper, I will analyze the factors that led to the rise of the Tea Party, their political ideology and stances, the makeup of their voting bloc, their connection to organizations that are openly bigoted and hostile to the federal government, an analysis of several of prominent Tea Party politicians, how the bloc of Tea Party voters contributed to the popularity surge for 2016 Republican candidate Donald Trump, and how the Tea Party’s bloc of voters influenced the Trump presidency while their tactics influenced the anti-Trump Resistance.
between these election years while also noting rhetorical shifts evident among mainstream conservative politicians.