Talk of the Party

Sharon E. Jarvis is assistant professor of communication studies and associate director of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation at the University of Texas at Austin.

This book provides a much-needed dissection of critical markers of partisanship in campaign discourse and discussions of governance over the last fifty years. It is the perfect complement to recent and more long-standing efforts to map the linguistic terrain of politics by scholars such as George Lakoff and Murray Edelman. This volume will be of interest to students and scholars, politicians and pundits, offering new insights in the dynamics that have shaped the current language of politics. Jarvis paints a vivid portrait of how terms such as 'liberal' have come under attack, whereas critiques of 'conservative' have been forestalled. This is an important book for anyone interested in understanding political discourse in the twentieth century and beyond.

• Chapter 1 Introduction: Parties and PowerChapter 2 1 Political Branding, 1948–2004Chapter 3 2 What Are Parties Worth?Chapter 4 3 The Enduring PartyChapter 5 4 The Evolving PartyChapter 6 5 The Conflicted PartyChapter 7 6 The Two Major Parties and Everyone ElseChapter 8 7 Brand Dominance: Consistency Prevails