DOMINANT IDEOLOGY IN THE 2008 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

This study is about the dominant ideology in the 2008 presidential debates, especially in the Barack Hussein Obama arguments. This objective of the study is to analyze the structural elements of the 2008 U.S. presidential debates and identify the dominant ideology, which is reflected in the 2008 U.S. presidential debate especially in the Barack Hussein Obama’s arguments based on critical discourse analysis theory. Teun A van Dijk Theory was used to answer the problem of the study. The study is descriptive qualitative research whose the data are taken from the transcripts of 2008 U.S. presidential debates which was issued by Commission on Presidential Debates. The data collecting technique is library research, while the data analyzing technique is descriptive. The result of the study shows the following conclusion. First, based on structural analysis the writer delivered the reflection of ideology in the debates. Second based on the critical discourse analysis theory, the dominant ideology of Barack Hussein Obama is democracy. Third, the social condition of American society in 2008 and the background of Democratic Party influence the dominant ideology of Barack Hussein Obama.