With words minds are changed, votes acquired, enemies labeled, alliances secured … Through words some of the most potent forces of modern politics are wheeled into motion.

(Rodgers 1987: 4)

Every government policy begins with a story; the choices made by policymakers depend on the stories they tell themselves and others. Their stories have immense power. They create the narrative framework within which U.S. policy is enacted, explained, rationalized, and justified.

(Chernus 2006: ix)