What have you heard about terrorism lately? According to a recent study of speeches and public statements from the last two administrations, the answer is probably, not much.
The American Presidency Project analyzed the speeches of government officials from the last two administrations–everyone from Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to their secretaries of states, press secretaries and cabinets. They wanted to study rhetoric — what these figures were talking about and how they did so.
Their analysis showed that the use of the word “terror” along with cognates such as “terrorism” and “terrorists” spiked immediately after 9/11, as one would expect, as well as during the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections. Usage topped during October of 2004.
Once Obama took office, however, the use of the term plummeted. To some extent, this is what one would expect to see. After all, Bush’s first term was defined by his response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In fact, as FiveThirtyEight reported in a recent article, “the 2001-2004 period was marked by constant news conferences about terrorism threats and changes in the terror alert level,” which increased the frequency with which the terms were used. This pattern fell off as popular opinion of the Iraq war fell.
Numbers show that the pattern holds true for Congress as well. Fewer speeches on the House and Senate floors are mentioning terrorism now, according to the Sunlight Foundation’s Capitol Words project.
Some of this change was the result of a conscious decision on the part of Obama to define his presidency with issues other than counterterrorism. However, FiveThirtyEight notes that the data also reflects a shift in the nation’s focus. While counterterrorism was a top focus for Americans just after 9/11, current poll data shows that Americans are far more concerned about protecting their civil liberties than their physical safety.
“Terrorism has become remote — at least in terms of vividness and relevance to the average citizen,” said Bryan Jones, the director of the Policy Agendas Project at the University of Texas at Austin told FiveThirtyEight.
The trouble is, terrorism is still out there, whether or not people want to talk about it.
