The social construction of target groups during the presidential election debates

This master thesis empirically tests Schneider and Ingram’s theory on the social construction of target groups in the context of the televised presidential election debates in the United States. The theory proposes that the power and the social construction of target groups leads to patterns in the allocation of benefits and burdens for the four types of target groups. Schneider and Ingram mention various factors which may influence this process, but they do not go into detail into how and what influence politicians have. Political parties are imperative to politics in the United States; the expectation is that party affiliation is a variable in how politicians partake in the process of social construction. The underlying question is how and in what manner are target group populations socially constructed and presented by Democratic and Republican candidates running for presidency during the televised presidential debates in the United States. The televised presidential election debates convey direct dialogue between politicians of the two major political parties. The debate setting is likely to showcase the difference between the candidates and their parties, making it very suitable to this research. The assumptions derived from the theory on target group populations and party politics in the United States are examined by taking the spoken word of presidential candidates during the televised presidential election debates in the United States. This was done by making use of a qualitative analysis, coding and subsequently analyzing the transcripts of selected debates making use of the computer assisted data analysis software Atlas.ti. The conclusion of this study is that the social construction of target group populations by politicians during the presidential election debates is influenced by the context within which it occurs. Candidates strive to be elected, and this drive is the center of what they say and propose regarding target groups. The vantage point is how this will be perceived by the public and what is likely to appease most voters and offend the least voters. The two parties each have distinct patterns in who and how they construct target groups in line with their core beliefs and assumptions.