Political Communication

Against prior expectations the 2017 General Election proved to be particularly dramatic, repeatedly stunning commentators from its surprise calling right through to its frenetic conclusion. In seven weeks a hitherto dominant Prime Minister saw her once seemingly unassailable lead in the polls eroded as support for her previously beleaguered rival surged. The subsequent restoration of two-party dominance contributed to the return of a hung parliament with profound consequences for both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. Political Communication in Britain, the tenth volume in a series that began nearly four decades ago, revisits a momentous election by providing unique insights from the vantage point of those who fought, reported and researched a campaign that is likely to live long in the public imagination.

This edited collection explores the intersections of populist communication, performative leadership and international politics. It investigates the mechanisms and dynamics connecting these core conceptual fields and offers empirical examples. Together, the contributors to the volume argue that populist communication, i.e. the language, deliberation and discursive performance of populist ideas, has a profound and lasting impact not only on domestic politics, but in terms of foreign policies as well as the conduct of international politics writ large. First, populist communication shapes how global, regional and transborder issues are debated and strategically used for political purposes domestically. Second, populist communication changes when and how states and other actors in turn formulate responses and policies vis-a-vis, for example, migration, global health, climate change, trade, or war. Finally, populist communication affects the nature of international politics.

This book offers new and compelling insight into the orientations that shape the cultures of political communication in nine Western democracies. It is a truly comparative account of the views of 2500 political elites and media elites between Helsinki and Madrid on their relationship and their exchanges.