Examining the Culture of Dependency: An Analysis of the Rhetorical Implications of the Welfare Queen Trope in Political Discourse
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Keywords
welfare, politics, rhetoric, policy, history, communication, welfare queen, Reagan, analysis, president
Biography
Anna Williams is a double major in Communication Studies and English. She currently serves as Student Body Vice President for the University. Williams is a 2020 Truman Scholarship Finalist, a national scholarship recognizing leaders in public service. Upon graduating, Williams plans to study law, policy, and community planning.
Major
Communication Studies
Advisor for this project
Cam Brammer
Abstract
The purpose of this research article is to analyze the construction and enactment of the “welfare queen” trope in 21st century political discourse. A trope is the metaphorical use of an expression. In this case, the expression is “welfare-queen.” Analyzing this trope will seek to determine how the “welfare queen” impacts the targeted group of low-income, single, black mothers. By performing this critical analysis of political discourse, the negative impacts on the targeted groups access to public assistance, as well as the way the trope is translated throughout political discourse, will be revealed using Muted Group Theory Lens. This research will attempt to discover how the “welfare queen” trope has been constructed across eight decades of political discourse and to what effect have the rhetorical impacts of the trope harmed its targeted group in political discourse. Understanding this subject further is important to highlight inequities between individuals in need and political power structures. Specifically, highlighting the modern impacts of the “welfare-queen” trope on low-income, single, black mothers is important due to lack of depth and recency of scholarly research on this topic. To begin this research study, a literature review of the “welfare-queen” trope within policy will be conducted. Following the that, the analysis portion will examine the transcendence of the “welfare-queen” trope in 21st-century presidential politics. The discussion and conclusion section will compare 21st century rhetoric regarding the “welfare-queen” trope to its origins, draw final conclusions using Muted Group Theory, and determine the rhetorical impact of the trope on its targeted group.
Examining the Culture of Dependency: An Analysis of the Rhetorical Implications of the Welfare Queen Trope in Political Discourse
The purpose of this research article is to analyze the construction and enactment of the “welfare queen” trope in 21st century political discourse. A trope is the metaphorical use of an expression. In this case, the expression is “welfare-queen.” Analyzing this trope will seek to determine how the “welfare queen” impacts the targeted group of low-income, single, black mothers. By performing this critical analysis of political discourse, the negative impacts on the targeted groups access to public assistance, as well as the way the trope is translated throughout political discourse, will be revealed using Muted Group Theory Lens. This research will attempt to discover how the “welfare queen” trope has been constructed across eight decades of political discourse and to what effect have the rhetorical impacts of the trope harmed its targeted group in political discourse. Understanding this subject further is important to highlight inequities between individuals in need and political power structures. Specifically, highlighting the modern impacts of the “welfare-queen” trope on low-income, single, black mothers is important due to lack of depth and recency of scholarly research on this topic. To begin this research study, a literature review of the “welfare-queen” trope within policy will be conducted. Following the that, the analysis portion will examine the transcendence of the “welfare-queen” trope in 21st-century presidential politics. The discussion and conclusion section will compare 21st century rhetoric regarding the “welfare-queen” trope to its origins, draw final conclusions using Muted Group Theory, and determine the rhetorical impact of the trope on its targeted group.
