Hyun Soo Albert Jung

J 413 Capstone Proposal Final

The “Left” Wing? Analyzing Politics in the West Wing

I. Introduction

During the 1990s, the Americans were enjoying one of the most prosperous era in the history of the United States. The Cold War was over, the United States was experiencing the longest period of economic expansion, and there was no major challenge against the United States’ position as the sole superpower in the world and its role as the police of the World. The only issues the Americans cared were domestic problems such as the Lewinsky scandal. That was when The West Wing was born.

As a television political drama began in the late 1990s, the first few seasons of The West Wing reflected what people at that time were hoping to see. For example, the President in the show, Josiah Bartlet, is portrayed as a devoted family man, in comparison to real life President Clinton, who ruined his reputation during the Lewinsky scandal. In addition, The West Wing addressed many social issues left untouched by the Clinton administration, such as gay rights. Although the show’s creator, Aaron Sorkin, said that The West Wing is purely an entertainment[1], the show’s strong political tone indubitably influenced its viewers, and consequentially caused controversies. Throughout the show’s run, many conservatives criticized The West Wing as “The Left Wing” for strong liberal values it advocated[2]. Even when the show’s political tone became more moderate after Sorkin left the show[3], conservatives didn’t change their opinions.

Was The West Wing really a political drama that advocated only liberal values? Even if it did advocate liberal values, does that mean the show is not worth watching if you’re not liberal? The question might seem irrelevant considering it has been 6 years since the show ended. However, there are many potential usages of the show. For example, Jack Holland examined The West Wing’s potential as an educational tool on 9/11[4]. Michael Popejoy researched The West Wing as a supplemental teaching material for undergraduate political science courses[5]. As one of the few, if not the only one, television dramas that portray the American political process correctly while being entertaining at the same time, The West Wing has a unique potential as entertainment-education tool. The range of subjects The West Wing examined throughout its 7 years of run also strengthens its potential as entertainment-education tool. For example, The West Wing used a debt ceiling crisis, which the Americans experienced in 2011, as its main plot in In God We Trust[6].

To examine The West Wing’s potential usages, it is necessary to clarify whether or not The West Wing is advocating liberal values, to what extend it does, and what are its merits even if the show does advocate liberal values. As a result, this research will analyze the contents of The West Wing, how they are presented, and what are the implications on its potential usages as an educational tool and other purposes.

II. Research Questions

1. How did The West Wing begin, who created it, and who influenced its direction?

2. What kind of values does The West Wing advocate? Are they neutral or biased?

3. How does The West Wing present various political views, both the views it supports and the views it opposes?

4. To what extend The West Wing can be used in teaching political science, if at all?

III. Method / Course of Research

For the first research question, the research will use interviews and journalistic articles featuring the show’s creators. In addition, I’m hoping to use some political and historical analyses of the Clinton administration to illustrate how The West Wing began as a reflection on the Clinton administration. For the second and third questions, the research will heavily rely on analyses of actual episodes of The West Wing, using various literatures on definitions of political views. For the last question, the research will mainly focus on other academic researches on The West Wing to illustrate its potential as an entertainment-education tool. In the end, the contents analyses will be combined with other academic researches to examine validity of using The West Wing as an educational material.

IV. Outline

a. Introduction

i. Background – How the West Wing began.

ii. What creators wanted it to be, and what viewers actually perceived it to be.

b. Contents Analyses

i. Plotline Analyses – What are the main political views it advocates?

ii. Political Science Perspectives – To what degree are they liberal?

c. Presentation Analyses

i. Main Character Analyses – Portrayal of Liberals in the Show

ii. Supporting Character Analyses – Portrayal of Conservative in the Show

iii. Implications

d. Conclusion

i. Potential as an Educational Material

ii. Other Possible Usages

V. Interests / Relevant Courses / Target Audiences

As a strong fan of The West Wing, I’ve always thought that The West Wing would make a great educational tool. It has a very strong entertainment value that will attract potential viewers, and has political values that we could adapt. As a political science student who has moderate political views, I don’t agree with most critics who see The West Wing as “The Left Wing” a show that advocates liberal values and portrays conservative values as evil. I believe that The West Wing advocates values everyone could admire, and that using it as a teaching tool could have a positive outcome. As a result, I’d like to examine The West Wing’s contents critically from the political science perspectives to see whether or not it has merits as an educational material.

I’ll draw materials from PS 225 Political Ideologies, PS 353 Campaigns and Elections, PS 470 Constitutional Law, J 467 World Documentaries, J 467 Communications in Developing World, and J 412 Digital Freedom. Materials from political science courses will be used in analyzing the contents of The West Wing. Materials from J 467 World Documentaries will be used in analyzing how The West Wing presents its contents. Materials from J 467 Communications in Developing World and J 412 Digital Freedom will be used to explore The West Wing’s potential as an entertainment-education.

The target audiences will be academic scholars. I’m hoping to publish my research on television communication journal or political science journal, so someone can expand upon my findings to maximize The West Wing’s potential.

VI. Proposed Timeline

Week 1: Collect and research additional sources.

Week 2: Continue collecting sources. Explore library resources.

Week 3: Finalize sources. Write bibliography.

Week 4: Begin writing introduction. Start analyzing individual episodes.

Week 5: Continue analyzing individual episodes.

Week 6-7: Write main body section and conclusion.

Week 8: First draft review.

Week 9: Second and/or final draft review.

VII. Bibliography

Armstrong, Stephen. “The War on Culture.” New Statesman, May 21, 2007. http://www.newstatesman.com/arts-and-culture/2007/05/west-wing-sorkin-television (accessed April 22, 2012).

Beavers, Staci L. “The West Wing as a Pedagogical Tool.” Political Science and Politics 35, no. 2 (2002): 213-16.

Crawley, Melissa. Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington: Shaping the President On Television's the West Wing. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, 2006.

Holbert, R. Lance, David A. Tschida, Maria Dixon, Kristin Cherry, Keli Steuber, and David Airne. “The West Wing and Depictions of the American Presidency: Expanding the Domains of Framing in Political Communication.” Communication Quarterly 53, no. 4 (2005): 505-22.

Holland, Jack. “‘When You Think of the Taliban, Think of the Nazis’: Teaching Americans ‘9/11’ in NBC’s the West Wing.” Millennium - Journal of International Studies 40, no. 1 (September 2011): 85-106.

McDonald, Nell. “The Best President America Never Had.” Quadrant 50, no. 10 (October 2006): 78-80.

Medvic, Stephen K. Campaigns and Elections: Players and Processes. Boston, MA.: Wadsworth Publishing, 2010.

Parry-Giles, Trevor, and Shawn J. Parry-Giles. The Prime-Time Presidency: the West Wing and U.S. Nationalism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006.

Popejoy, Michael W. “Teaching Special Topics in Public Administration Using Select Episodes of NBC's West Wing to Support and Supplement Class Lecture and Textbook Readings.” Public Voices 11, no. 1 (March 2010): 33-40.

Prior, Markus. Post-Broadcast Democracy: How Media Choice Increases Inequality in Political Involvement and Polarizes Elections. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Roggeveen, Sam. “Hollywood and the President.” Quadrant 46, no. 4 (April 2002): 64-65.

Rollins, Peter C., and John E. O'Connor, eds. The West Wing: the American Presidency as Television Drama. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 2003.

Skewesa, Elizabeth A. “Presidential Candidates and the Press On the West Wing and in the Real World.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 26, no. 2 (2009): 131-42.

Spitzer, Gabriel. “Rich Are Different. They Watch 'West Wing.'.” Media Life Magazine, May 2001.http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2001/may01/may14/1_mon/news2monday.html (accessed April 22, 2012).

Williams, Rebecca. ““This Is the Night TV Died”: Television Post-Object Fandom and the Demise of The West Wing.” Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture 9, no. 4 (2011): 266-79.

Wolff, Michael. “Our Remote-Control President.” New York Magazine, December 2000.http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/media/features/4134/ (accessed April 22, 2012).