Fear and Loathing in Populist Campaigns? Comparing the Communication Style of Populists and Non-populists in Elections Worldwide. Issue 2 (3rd April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nai, Alessandro
• Is Part Of: Journal of political marketing. Volume 20:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 219
• Page End: 250
• Publication Date: 2021-04-03
• Subjects: attack politics -- comparative political communication -- emotional messages -- enthusiasm -- fear -- negative campaigning -- populism; Campaign management -- Periodicals; Political campaigns -- Periodicals; Marketing -- Political aspects -- Periodicals; 324.7305
• DOI: 10.1080/15377857.2018.1491439
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1537-7857

Abstract

Abstract : Populists are often described as using a more aggressive, offensive, and anxiety-fuelled rhetoric than non-populists. Yet, little systematic evidence exists that this is the case. This article presents the first large-scale systematic study comparing the communication style of populists and non-populists worldwide, and introduces an original dataset based on expert ratings. The dataset contains systematic information for 195 candidates having competed in 40 national elections worldwide between June 2016 and June 2017. Results highlight that, controlling for "usual suspects" that drive negativity and emotional campaigns, populist campaigns are 15% more negative and contain 11% more character attacks and 8% more fear messages than campaigns of non-populist candidates.