Abstract

This proposal emerges from Sartori’s postulate about the primacy of the image. On the basis of this initial idea, the transcendence of the visual image is acknowledged in the perception of the political scene. The objective is to apply this idea to the social network Instagram. We study the conjunction between visual and verbal framing in the content published by five candidates for the presidency of the Government of Spain; data retrieval began with the call for elections in 2015 and continued until the final inauguration session in October 2016. Our study aims to verify a hypothesis centered on the fact that leaders share videos and photographs to humanize their figure. Furthermore, the content analysis of 885 images reveals a growing process of celebrification of politicians active in Instagram, allowing for the discovery of dichotomies that operate in such a process.

Abstract

International power structures present a pattern of transition, where the United States is no longer able to consolidate its power globally. The slogans of Donald Trump: “Make America great again” or “America first” are an example of the media interest of the American president in that his electors think that it’s possible to gain the lost hegemony. This article examines Donald Trump’s bilateral encounters with politicians Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Shinzō Abe, Theresa May, Justin Trudeau, Giuseppe Conte, and Jean-Claude Juncker. Meetings marked by extravagant greetings and politically out of place behaviors that seem more like a reality show than a bilateral encounter between political leaders. Using data results from Google Trends platform, we study the resonance of the meetings between Donald Trump and the heads of state of the G7 countries to examine the variations in Trump’s popularity after these meetings.

Abstract

The discourses of the political leaders about the Covid-19 pandemic have become central to many television networks. Many citizens follow these press conferences, as they can be affected by the government’s measures against the virus. Due to its importance, analyzing how these individuals perceive their political leaders in these television appearances is relevant to determining their influence. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the perception of the ex-President of the United States (Donald Trump), the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Boris Johnson), and the President of the Government of Spain (Pedro Sánchez) in television conferences devoted to battling against the Covid-19 pandemic. After watching two videos of each leader, a gender-balanced sample of 360 citizens of these three countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain) evaluated the politicians’ attractiveness, credibility, and persuasiveness as well as the influence of these factors on the public’s attitude toward them and voting intention using an online survey. The results showed that the Spanish President, Pedro Sánchez, was considered the most attractive, credible, and persuasive leader with the most favorable attitude toward him and the highest voting intention, followed by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the American politician, Donald Trump. Therefore, the most physically and vocally attractive leader with the highest credibility and persuasiveness achieved the most favorable attitude and the highest voting intention. The most influential variables of the structural model analyzed in this study were persuasiveness and credibility, which mainly affected the attitude toward the politician and, to a lesser extent, voting intention.