engleski

Values extolled in the European presidential addresses

In this research we identify the values emphasized in inaugural addresses of selected European Union countries’ presidents. These presidents are presidents of France: Chirac 1995, Sarkozy 2007 and Hollande 2012 ; presidents of Germany: Herzog 1994, Rau 1999, Köhler 2004, Wulff 2010 and Gauck 2012 ; presidents of Italy: Scalfaro 1992, Ciampi 1999, Napolitano 2006 and Mattarella 2015., and presidents of Croatia: Tuđman 1997, Mesić 2000 and 2005 and Josipović 2010. We assume that for most countries of the European Union, the figure of president is one of the highest moral authorities and that the values he promotes contribute to his credibility. The overall goal of the inaugural addresses is creating an atmosphere of unity, as well as presenting the main guidelines of domestic and foreign policy in the upcoming presidential term. Therefore, we attempt to find out which values are used more often by all presidents, whether some values can be considered national, which values are considered to be common values, as well as whether certain values emphasized by European presidents differ from those emphasized by American presidents extolled in Kinnier’s (2004) study. First results show following values presidents mention more often (from 37 to 116 times) in the analyzed addresses: patriotism, democracy, freedom, solidarity, justice and human rights.

Epideictic ; Presidential Inaugural Speech

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