This study analyzes American presidential campaign posters from 1828 to 2012 using the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse. It advances the theory by investigating a hitherto unexplored medium, posters; more importantly, visual elements (e.g., the bald eagle) were analyzed along with words. Acclaims were more frequent than attacks; no difference occurred in the functions of early and recent posters. Visual symbols used acclaims even more than verbal symbols. Character was a more frequent topic than policy; the relative proportion of these two topics did not change over time. Visual symbols discussed character even more than verbal symbols.
CITATION STYLE
Benoit, W. L. (2019). A Functional Analysis of Visual and Verbal Symbols in Presidential Campaign Posters, 1828–2012. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 49(1), 4–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12503
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