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T!IlS IS YOUR MOVEMENT

"This is Your Movement":

An Ideological Critique of Bernie Sanders 2016 Presidential Campaign Ideograph

Loyola Marymount University Dr. Charmaine Kaimikaua

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Running head: THIS IS YOUR MOVEMENT

Abstract

This paper examines Bernie Sanders' 2016 Presidential campaign website using the Ideological criticism. The system of meanings, related perceptions, and system of artifacts in combination with ideographs are used to critically examine the message within his campaign. The three main issues examined within the paper are wage and income inequality, racial justice, as well as college tuition and debt. This is done to help people understand Bernie Sanders' background and why he fights for these things.

Keywords: Ideological Criticism, Ideographs, Racial Justice, Wage and Income Inequality, College, Tuition, Debt

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THIS IS YOUR MOVEMENT

"This is Your Movement":

An Ideological Critique of Bernie Sanders 2016 Presidential Campaign Ideograph

Voting within the United States has been one of the biggest privileges for citizens of the country, as it does not matter how much or little money a person makes. So far, the 2016 presidential race has proved to be one of the most enticing races in recent memory. As the race comes to an end, all of the attention has been given to four candidates: Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Ted Cruz. Each candidate has implored different techniques such as taking jabs at other candidates, in order to gain the most votes and be elected the 45th president of the United States. There is a belief among many people that this has been one of the worst portrayals of how presidential candidates should hold themselves, as many of the debates have turned into nothing more than shouting matches. Along with this, the United States has lost a lot of respect in the international realm because of the comments that the current candidates have made about citizens in other countries, specifically when looking at Mexico and countries within the Middle East.

In this essay, I will examine current Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders' campaign

website. This will be done by describing his website in terms of the words, pictures, and colors displayed on the pages. After, the ideological criticism will be explained by examining what the v critical approach to rhetoric is and how ideographs help unite people under a common viewpoint.

Following this, Sanders' campaign website will be examined by exploring three issues that are centerpieces to his campaign. Finally, the effectiveness of the Ideological criticism when used to critique Bernie Sanders' will be highlighted in the contribution to rhetoric section. By the end of the paper, the reader should be able to understand the mission and motives of Bernie Sanders and why he believes he is a good candidate.

Description of the Artifact

The article that will be examined in this essay is Bernie Sander's campaign website for the 2016 presidential election. When the website is searched for on Google, the title of the link is "Bernie Sanders for President; Contribute to Bernie Sanders" with a description that states the link will take viewers to the official campaign website for United States Senator Bernie Sanders. When the link is clicked, viewers are taken to a donations homepage, which shows Sanders

smiling and pointing to supporters at a rally with the slogan "This is your movement" and an explanation that states thousands of people have donated and the viewer could be the next /

contributor. This slogan can be found in the top left comer with an interactive table beneath it that allows supporters to donate money to his campaign. When scrolling to the bottom of the nage, there is a list of terms of conditions that must be met in order for people to donate money to his campaign. The terms include that donors are not federal contractors, the donor is over eighteen years old, and donors are U.S. citizens. If a viewer decides not to donate money, he or she may click on the "skip to the site" tab and is taken to the websites main homepage.

On the main homepage of the website, there are seven tabs that allow viewers to explore

the different sections further. The background of the homepage is composed of people who support Senator Sanders, showing that he reaches a large audience with diverse backgrounds. As

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people scroll down the page, the slogan "This is your movement" appears again and under it, there is a statement that says "They have the money, but we have the people, if everyone who visits our website joins our movement, there's nothing we can't accompilsh together". Following this, there is a question that asks, "Ready to Start a Political Revolution?" which is followed by three buttons that allow supporters to find where Senator Sanders will be, share with friends that they are supporting Sanders, and volunteer for Sanders. As viewers get near the end of the page,

there is a short bio for Bernie Sanders that introduces him and explains the roles he has had in government as well as what he has accomplished throughout his career that spans from the 1960s to 2010s. There is also a section to that allows supporters to purchase merchandise such as stickers, shirts, and magnets. At the very bottom of the page, Senator Sanders states in a small text box that his website is paid for by "Bernie 2016" and "not the billionaires".

Description of the Rhetorical Criticism

In order to understand the ideological criticism, one must fust examine the critical approach to rhetoric. Critical studies are a group of theories that are critical in attitude, methodological, concerned with power, and interventionist (Borchers, 2011). This theory is interested in looking beneath the surface of a rhetoric text and believes that things are often

1ff ! t th n '1/h t th y .c:e e m on the surface. Critical theories are designed to investigate the ,,,. meaning of a rhetorical text and the complex relationship it has to its context as well as make judgments about the meanings or influences of the text (Borchers, 2011). With the critical approach, theorists aim to examine how a message influences individuals and how it benefits people. In many ways, the critical approach focuses on social justice and finding the best solution to benefit the greatest amount of people. From the critical approach, the ideological criticism was developed.

The ideological criticism centers around the concept of an ideology. According to Borchers, an ideology is an interrelated system of meanings that are generated by the systemof artifacts that compromise a culture (2011). The ideological criticism is formed from three main parts: system of meanings, system of artifacts, and culture. Meanings are based off of perceptions, which are very subjective. This means that two people can view the same event but still express it in a different way. A system of artifacts refers to a set of symbols that have

powerful meanings for a group of people (Borchers, 2011). These symbols unite people under a common purpose and help form a culture. Culture is an ideology held by a group of people who are similar in some way (Borchers, 2011). The United States is an example of an ideological

culture because there are unspoken communication rules when interacting with people. Another

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aspect of the ideological criticism are ideographs which can be described as "slogan-like terms

that frequently masquerade as technical political terms, and enter everyday discourse as expressions of personal motive" (Connelly, 2012). Examples of ideographs include the American flag as well as the Statue of Liberty. Both of these objects express the freedom that is provide to each citizen within the United States.

Bernie Sanders uses ideographs through his campaign slogans such as "Feel the Bern" c1_nd "This is yonr movement". Both of these ideographs place the power of his campaign in the hands of his supporters especially with the phrase "This is your movement". Bernie has focused on taking down large corporations and to do this, he has expressed the importance of getting as many people together to demand that corporations show how much money they are making.

Analysis

Income and Wealth Inequality

The disproportionate distribution of income has been one of the biggest issues in this years race for President. Television news has shaped an environment favorable to tax policies that exacerbate economic inequality in the United States (Bell & Entman, 2011). It is very hard i for people in America to watch television and avoid hearing broadcasters talk about taxes as well as whether or not the wealthy should be taxed more. The distribution of income in America has shifted toward the very wealthy over the past thirty years (Luttig, 2013). On Sanders' campaign website, he states that "America now has more wealth and income inequality than any major

developed country on Earth... the gap between the very rich and everyone else is wider than the during the 1920s" (Bernie, 2016). This is an eye opening statistic for many people because Sanders is claiming that the wage gap is worse than it was during the Great Depression. To solve this issue, Sanders wants large corporations to "pay their fair share in taxes" and will not alJow companies to move overseas to avoid paying U.S. income taxes (Bernie, 2016). Sanders also believes that it is important to raise the minimum wage from $7.50/hour to $15/hour by 2020 because no person can live on such a small income. Finally, he wants to invest $1 trillion dollars to give over thirteen million Americans an opportunity to work. Sanders' view on income and wealth inequality fits his ideology because he believes that the American people, who are working everyday should have the most power instead of large corporations that prey on people who <lo not make enough money for a living wage and are simply being greedy.

Racial Justice

The belief that America is living in a post-racial society is very far from the truth. In 2016, 319 people have been killed by police (Washington Post, 2016). This means that just under four people have been killed each month this year. This number should also be alarming considering that we have not even gotten halfway through the year. Many of these people are of color and Bernie Sanders has taken notice. On his website, he advocates for policies that advocate for "affirming the value of its people of color... it starts with addressing the five central types of violence against black, brown, and Indigenous Americans: physical, political, legal,

economic, and environmental" (Bernie, 2016). This section of Sander's website helps supporters understand that racial injustice did not happen overnight, but rather has become ingrained in hegemonic beliefs about how America is run. Within America, discussions on diversity are filled with tensions surrounding "invisible" norms and race-based expectations about interactions

TIDS IS YOUR MOVEMENT

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(Norander & Galanes, 2014). Sanders has come under a lot of scrutiny for advocating for racial justice in America because he has been viewed as doing it simply to gain the "black" vote.

However, there are countless amounts of videos that shows a young Sanders in many protests during the Civil Rights era. Sanders' depth on the issue of racial justice as well as using pictures of people from multiple cultures on his website show that he is not simply doing it for the votes, but rather because he understands that for America to progress forward, each person must be given equal rights.

College Tuition and Debt

According to The Institute for College Access & Success, class of 2014 graduates from LMU averaged over thirty thousand dollars in debt with nearly sixty-percent of the class

1Jff ring from it (2016). Bernie Sanders has always stressed the importance of getting everyone an equal education. He states, "it is insane and counter-productive to the best interests of our country and our future, that hundreds of thousands of bright young people cannot afford to go to college, and that millions of others leave school with a mountain of debt that burdens them for decades" (Bernie, 2016). To deal with this issue, Sanders has proposed a six step plan that he will implement if elected president to make college affordable and debt free. The steps include making public colleges and universities free, stop the federal government from making profits off of student loans, as well as cutting student loan interest rates. He believes that public institutions can be free to students because other countries, such as Germany, Norway, and Sweden, have done this already and it has been proven to be successful. It is important to understand that the path to college starts long before students enter college and sometimes as early as kindergarten (Hirsch, 2008). With this, the wealthier the family of a child, the more likely that he/she will be given the opportunity to go to college. Overall, Sanders' perception on

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THIS IS YOUR MOVEMENT

college debt and tuition fits with his ideology because he wants to take power away from large corporations and empower people who are not given the opportunity on a daily basis.

Contribution to Rhetoric

Overall, the campaign website for Bernie Sanders was very successful with displaying the ideologies that he believed in. It is obvious that he centers his campaign around giving citizens of the United States the ability to create change by demanding that large corporations be transparent as the first three issues on his website are: income and wealth inequality, making college free and reducing debt, and getting "big money" out of the government. The three issues examined within this paper: income and wealth inequality, racial justice, and college tuition and reducing debt are all very important to Sanders as it is displayed through the amount of information g:iven as well as the potential plans that he has proposed. Each issue had its own section that was displayed through a series of numbered and bulleted lists as well as Bernie Sanders' input on the issue. While there are over thirty issues listed on his website, I found that these were some of the most important to focus on because they affect me on a daily basis. The issue that I found most important was on the topic of racial justice because I as well as other family and friends have been victims of the inequality within this country.

The language as well as the pictures throughout the website helped me understand

Sanders' ideograph, which is his first name written in a normal script with a star to dot the "I" in his name. Underneath are two wavy lines with 2016 written under that does not take away attention from his name. His ideograph is very simple, which allows people to focus on his message instead of his name. Another ideograph that is commonly associated with his campaign is the phrase "Feel the Bern". This slogan connects with the idea that he wants the American

people to start a political revolution and demand more from the government by being more transparent.

Conclusion

This paper analyzes Bernie Sanders' campaign website through the ideological criticism.

The criticism is interested in examining artifacts, such as his website, and the ways Bernie Sanders is trying to brand himself to the American people. To do this, the fundamental issues of wage inequality, racial justice, and college tuition and debt were examined. When on this website, it is very obvious what his goals are as he runs for president. While there is a lot of information on the website, it is user friendly as it is easy to navigate and find the information that is most important for the viewer's needs. Overall, his website was very effective with communicating his message as well as his goals if he is elected president.

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References

Bell, C. V., & Entman, R. M. (2011). The media's role in america's exceptional politics of inequality: Framing the Bush tax cuts of2001 and 2003. International Journal Of Press/Politics, 16(4), 548-572. doi:10.1177/1940161211417334

Bernie. (2016). Retrieved from https://beruiesanders.com

Borchers, T., (2011). Rhetorical theory: An introduction. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Connelly, E. (2012). State secrets and redaction: The interaction between silence and ideographs. Western Journal of Communication, 76(3), 236-249. doi:10.1080/10570314.201l.653470

Hirsch, D. (2008). Access to a college degree or just college debt? Moving beyond admission

New EnglandJournal of.Higher Education23(2). 17-I8..

Luttig, M. (2013). The structure of inequality and Americans' attitudes toward redistribution.

Public Opinion Quarterly, 77(3), 811-821. doi:10.1093/poq/nft025

Norander, S., & Galanes, G. (2014). "Bridging the gap": Difference, dialogue, and community organizing. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 42(4), 345-365. doi:10.1080/00909882.2014.911939

The Institute for College Access & Success (2016). Project on student debt: State by state data.

Retrieved from http://ticas.org

Washington Post (2016). Fatal force. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com