Date of Thesis

Spring 2026

Description

Political representation in the United States depends not only on who the officeholders are, but on how they publicly perform identities such as gender, race, class, religion, and profession in ways that shape trust and legitimacy. Existing work on descriptive representation and performativity explains why shared identities matter, but it often treats identity too much like a fixed demographic category rather than a strategic and audience-sensitive rhetorical practice, leaving the question of how politicians actually deploy identity across different political settings unexplored. This project addresses that gap by showing that identity claims are best understood as deliberate performances that vary by venue, audience, and political stakes, revealing how politicians use selectively emphasized identities to build credibility, relatability, and support. To do so, I use content analysis of systematically selected debate transcripts and speeches from two congressional case studies, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and two presidential case studies, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, coded for references to political interests, group membership, and advocacy for historically marginalized groups across comparable campaign and governing moments. The findings show that Ocasio-Cortez leans on a working-class New Yorker identity, Greene performs conservative womanhood and Christianity and moral language, Clinton builds trust through explicit repetition of middle-class, maternal, and faith based identity claims, and Harris relies more on implicit racial identity while foregrounding class and her experience as a prosecutor. Together, these cases demonstrate that identity in American politics is not a static reflection of demographic background but as flexible tools for managing trust, signaling authenticity, and navigating the distinct demands of congressional and presidential representation.

Keywords

American Politics, Representation, Elections, Identity Politics

Access Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Type

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Political Science

Minor, Emphasis, or Concentration

Women's and Gender Studies

First Advisor

Christina Xydias

Second Advisor

Michael James

Third Advisor

Udayan Dhar

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