Lexical shifts, substantive changes, and continuity in State of the Union discourse, 1790-2014

Area of Science:

• Political Science
• Computational Social Science
• Historical Sociology

Background:

• The early 20th century marked a significant shift in American political discourse.
• Understanding historical shifts in political consciousness requires analyzing evolving language and concepts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify meaningful categories in historical textual corpora.
• To analyze the transition to modern American political consciousness.
• To develop a method for tracking discursive category changes over time.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel strategy for analyzing textual corpora across long historical periods.
• Employed computational methods to identify and track changing discursive categories.
• Focused on the concept of the 'discursive stream' to analyze continuity and change.

Main Results:

• The entry into World War I in 1917 was a pivotal moment, indexing a transition to modern American political consciousness.
• Identified new objects of political discourse and a faster pace of change.
• Demonstrated a fundamental reframing of governance tasks post-1917.
• The developed approach accounts for the fluidity and continuity of discursive categories.

Conclusions:

• The year 1917 represents a critical juncture in American political thought and governance.
• The study provides a robust methodology for analyzing historical discourse evolution.
• This approach facilitates understanding long-term political and social transformations.