POPULISM, TWITTER, AND POLITICAL COMMUNICATION: an analysis of Jair Bolsonaro’s tweets during the 2018 election campaign

MANGEROTTI, PAULO; RIBEIRO, VASCO; GONZÁLEZ-ALDEA, PATRICIA

doi:10.25200/BJR.v17n3.2021.1415

PAULO MANGEROTTI

Universidade do Porto – Porto – Portugal. E-mail: paulomangerotti@gmail.com

PAULO MANGEROTTI. Journalist, holds a degree in Social Communication and a post-graduate degree in Digital Communication from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais. He holds a Master’s degree in Communication Sciences/Political Communication from the University of Porto and dedicates his studies to the relationship between social networks and politics. Collaboration in this article: producing the reference framework on populism, using it as a matrix for the quantitative and qualitative analysis in this article, collecting and analyzing all the tweets, results discussions, review and approval of the final version of the work. E-mail: paulomangerotti@gmail.com

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2515-3620

VASCO RIBEIRO

Universidade do Porto – Porto – Portugal. E-mail: vribeiro@letras.up.pt

VASCO RIBEIRO. Ph.D. in Communication Sciences from the University of Minho, a Master from the University of Porto Faculty of Letters, and a degree in Journalism from the Journalism School of Porto. University professor and researcher at the University of Porto, since 2001, he has been a lecturer of “Communication Strategies”, “Journalism Studies”, “Political Communication”, “Public Relations”, and “Media Relations”. Collaboration in this article: providing methodological and theoretical support, results discussions, review and approval of the final version of the work. E-mail: vribeiro@letras.up.pt

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8182-9395

PATRICIA GONZÁLEZ-ALDEA

Universidad Carlos III – Madrid – Spain. E-mail: pgaldea@hum.uc3m.es

PATRICIA GONZÁLEZ-ALDEA. Journalist and professor of journalism at Carlos III University from Madrid. She holds a degree in Information Science (Journalism), a master’s degree in Radio, and a doctorship in International Relations, both in Complutense Madrid University. González main research line is dedicated to international organizations and migratory processes in Central and Eastern Europe countries. Collaboration in this article: assisting the construction of the theoretical basis of social networks and populism, results discussions, review and approval of the final version of the work. E-mail: pgaldea@hum.uc3m.es

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1606-6034

Desk Review Editor: Tania Rosas-Moreno

PAULO MANGEROTTI. Journalist, holds a degree in Social Communication and a post-graduate degree in Digital Communication from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais. He holds a Master’s degree in Communication Sciences/Political Communication from the University of Porto and dedicates his studies to the relationship between social networks and politics. Collaboration in this article: producing the reference framework on populism, using it as a matrix for the quantitative and qualitative analysis in this article, collecting and analyzing all the tweets, results discussions, review and approval of the final version of the work. E-mail: paulomangerotti@gmail.com

VASCO RIBEIRO. Ph.D. in Communication Sciences from the University of Minho, a Master from the University of Porto Faculty of Letters, and a degree in Journalism from the Journalism School of Porto. University professor and researcher at the University of Porto, since 2001, he has been a lecturer of “Communication Strategies”, “Journalism Studies”, “Political Communication”, “Public Relations”, and “Media Relations”. Collaboration in this article: providing methodological and theoretical support, results discussions, review and approval of the final version of the work. E-mail: vribeiro@letras.up.pt

PATRICIA GONZÁLEZ-ALDEA. Journalist and professor of journalism at Carlos III University from Madrid. She holds a degree in Information Science (Journalism), a master’s degree in Radio, and a doctorship in International Relations, both in Complutense Madrid University. González main research line is dedicated to international organizations and migratory processes in Central and Eastern Europe countries. Collaboration in this article: assisting the construction of the theoretical basis of social networks and populism, results discussions, review and approval of the final version of the work. E-mail: pgaldea@hum.uc3m.es

Characteristic	Framework (what it represents)
Personify the people’s pain	Placing oneself as the sole moral spokesperson/defender of the “people’s” repressed interests. Representing the desire of a supposed majority, to rescue what was taken by the elites; discrediting plurality.
To be antipluralist	To suppress, ignore or devalue interests and opinions that do not conform to one’s own, whether in political or sociocultural terms. Ostracizing the “others”. The “others” tend to be minorities or people of non-indigenous origin such as immigrants; also includes people who hold other sexual or religious beliefs or people from other ethnic or cultural backgrounds.
Blame the elites	Opposition politics, being contrary, antagonistic to the political agents of the current system, media, and institutions.
Trigger society’s fears	Nostalgically motivated defense of a morally ideal society, to regain the supposedly lost values of the nation. It is not necessarily linked to nationalism, but it opposes the sociocultural direction the country is taking.

Source: authors’ own, based on the following authors: Bartlett (2014)Bartlett, J. (2014). Populism, Social Media and Democratic Strain. In C. Sandelind (Ed.), European Populism and Winning the Immigration Debate (pp. 99–114). Retrieved from https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/104297/1/Korr%20igen.pdf
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/104297/1... ; Bell (1992)Bell, J. (1992). Populism and Elitism, politics in the Age of Equality. Washington, DC: Regnery Gateway.; Boyte and Riessman (1986)Boyte, H. C., & Riessman, F. (1986). The New Populism: The Politics of Empowerment. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.; Engesser et al. (2017)Engesser, S., Ernst, N., Esser, F., & Büchel, F. (2017). Populism and social media: how politicians spread a fragmented ideology, Information. Communication & Society, 20(8), 1109–1126. DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2016.1207697
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.12... ; Ernst et al. (2017)Ernst, N., Engesser, S., Büchel, F., Blassnig, S., & Esser, F. (2017). Extreme Parties and populism: an Analysis of Facebook and Twitter across six countries, Information. Communication & Society, 20(9), 1347–1364. DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2017.1329333
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2017.13... ; Fernández-García and Luengo (2018)Fernández-García, B., & Luengo, Ó. G. (2018). Populist Parties in Western Europe. An analysis of the Three Core Elements of Populism. Communication & Society, 31(3), 57–76. DOI: 10.15581/003.31.3.57-74
https://doi.org/10.15581/003.31.3.57-74... ; Fitzi et al. (2019)Fitzi, G., Mackert, J., & Turner, B. S. (2019). Populism and the Crisis of Democracy, Politics, Social Movements and Extremism (Vol. 2). New York: Routledge.; Galito (2018)Galito, M. S. (2018). Populism as a political phenomenon. JANUS.NET E-journal of International Relations, 9(1), 53–69. DOI:10.26619/1647-7251.9.1.4
https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.9.1.4... ; Matthews-Ferrero (2018)Matthews-Ferrero, D. (2018). Populismo europeo contemporáneo y la vuelta de la historia. Revista CIDOB D’Afers Internacionals, (119), 85–112. DOI:10.24241/rcai.2018.119.2.85
https://doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2018.119.2... ; Mudde (2004)Mudde, C. (2004). The Populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition, 39(4), 541–563. DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00135.x
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004... ; Müller (2016)Müller, J.-W. (2016). What is populism. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.; Panizza (2005)Panizza, F. (2005). Populism and the Mirror of Democracy. London: Verso.; Retamozo (2014)Retamozo, M. (2014). Populismo en América Latina: Desde la teoría hacia el análisis político. Discurso, sujeto e inclusión en el caso argentino. Colombia Internacional, (82), 221–258. DOI: 10.7440/colombiaint82.2014.09
https://doi.org/10.7440/colombiaint82.20... ; Tormey (2019)Tormey, S. (2019). Populismo uma breve introdução. São Paulo: Editora Pensamento-Cultrix Ltda.; Wieviorka (1993)Wieviorka, M. (1993). A Democracia à prova. Nacionalismo, Populismo e Etnicidade. Lisboa: Instituto Piaget..

Characteristic	Definition
Government proposals and candidate profile	Positions, ideas, and topics included in the proposed government program and/or introduce the candidate.
Acknowledgments	Response to demonstrations and visits by supporters.
Campaign actions	Organizing and participating in committees and popular mobilizations.
International relations	Dialogue with leaders/politicians from other countries, and topics of international interest.
Dissemination of personal material or third-party material on other media and/or formats	News, reports, and videos which do not include enough text to analyze.
Others	Separate images and videos, emojis, social media marks, and message greetings (good morning, good afternoon, good night).

[1] Desk Review Editor: Tania Rosas-Moreno

Brasil

Brasil

POPULISM, TWITTER, AND POLITICAL COMMUNICATION: an analysis of Jair Bolsonaro’s tweets during the 2018 election campaign

POPULISMO, TWITTER E COMUNICAÇÃO POLÍTICA: análise dos tweets de Jair Bolsonaro durante a campanha eleitoral de 2018

POPULISMO, TWITTER Y COMUNICACIÓN POLÍTICA: análisis de los tuits de Jair Bolsonaro durante la campaña electoral de 2018

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