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MEASURING POPULIST DISCOURSES IN THE 2014 ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Lect.univ.dr. Adriana Ştefă[email protected]

New Perspectives on Populist Political Communication Workshop and Launch Event of the COST Early Stage Researchers Think Tank

26 to 30 January, Zurich, Switzerland

Parties should be eliminated completely as institutions of power. [...] In this country, virtually without exception, parties have become more of a hindrance to democracy; our current system is designed to empower party oligarchy, not citizens.Cătălin Avramescu Democracy without parties, Bursa, November 6th 2007

One’s populism is another's democracy Ralf Dahrendorf

New Perspectives on Populist Political Communication

A Brief History of the Romanian Populism


Populism roots can be trace in the very first act of creation of the Greater Romania in 1918 but find its apogee in the Corneliu Zelea Codreanu’s Archangel Michel League (1927) and in its (quasi) military side, the Iron Guard (1930).

During communist, populism shift from right to left by simply conceal the People under the Workers label, but keep governing in the name of the same privileged and unmediated connection between the leader and the masses.

Democracy versus Populism in the Post-communist Romania


The unforeseen fall of the communist regime in Romania was followed not by the instant institute of democracy but by a slow, complicated and uncertain process which distant many from the pluralist values.

Soon after the revolution, a significant part of thepopulation begin to look with a greater distrust upon the individualism and liberal parliamentary and easily accept the alternative discourse, apparently similar, of populism.

The National Salvation Front (FSN): a Populist Movement


FSN imposed itself by skilfully manipulating the Conspiracy myth, the exaltation of Solidarity theme and the exceptionality of the Leader.

The Ethnic turn of the Romanian Post-communist Populism

In 2000 the flag of nationalist-populism was held up solely by Vadim Tudor; regardless of their ideological orientation all democratic politicians and intellectuals banded against him.

Traian Basescu: Mainstreaming the Populist Discourse


Traian Basescu was imposing himself as a Champion of the People, appealing to those at the bottom who could look up to him for assistance in time of need.



The simple fact that he was reinstall in office be a massive popular vote give Traian Băsescu’s populist discourse scope and substance.



The main target of his criticism were the political system as a hole, along with the Parliament, defined as a stronghold of corruption.



At the end of his two mandates, one might say that the true legacy of Traian Băsescu is the popularisation of the populist rhetoric

Talking about Populism or Speaking Populism?


The Latin American point of view:There is no populism in the absence of generous economic politics directed toward the poor.

We define populism as an ideology that pits a virtuous and homogeneous people against a set of elites and dangerous ‘others’ who were together depicted as depriving (or attempting to deprive) the sovereign people of their rights, values, prosperity, identity, and voice.

Daniele Albertazzi, Duncan O’Donnell (2008)

Populist discourse: a strategy of persuasion that pits a virtuous and homogeneous people against a set of elites and dangerous ‘others’ who were together depicted as depriving (or attempting to deprive) the sovereign people of their rights, values, prosperity, identity, and voice.

The Thurstone scale applied in Discourse Analysis

The Thurstone scale: a set of statements about a certain subject that can be measured on an ordinal scale

RPD (The Romanian Populist Discourse ) scale: a set of statements about the politicians discourses that can be measured on an ordinal scale:


Very often often rare Very rareCentral core

Peripheral system

Selecting Items of the Scale

The Thurstone scale: experts method

RPD scale: experts method, not directly but meta-analysis of the papers writhen on populism

Every identified item was rated on a 1 to 15 scale (1 not important, 15 very important) considering the author point of view. If an item did not exist in an article, it was rated with 1.

we used mean to ordinate the items and standard deviation to exclude the ambiguous ones.

Corpus of meta-analysis:

15 articles and book chapters about Romanian Populism/Romanian Populist discourse, published in peer reviewed journals and A class publishing houses in Romania, between 2010-2014


RPD scale:

7. Appeal to the People

6.Denouncing the Corrupt Elite(s)

5. Exceptionality of the Leader

4. A crisis situation

3. A vigilante attitude of the Leader

2 Hostility of democratic mechanisms

1. Preference for radical solutions

Items with high standard deviation:1.Referendum as a ruling tool (ϭ=2,64)2.Replacing politicians with technocrats (ϭ=2,48)3.Restoring Romanian’s lost dignity (ϭ=2,32)


Corpus of analysis:

3 Candidates:

11 electoral debates and talk-shows:

2 final debates between Klaus Iohannis and Victor Ponta

3 talk-shows (1XRealitatea TV, 1XDigi 24, 1XTVR1) with Klaus Iohannis

3 talk-shows (1XRealitatea TV, 1XDigi 24, 1XTVR1) with Victor Ponta

3 talk-shows (2XDigi 24, 1XTVR1) with Monica Macovei


Those excluded from the political decision

The People (as a collective personality) or parts of the People (the retirees, the teachers, etc.)

In order to be label as populist, the People must be a vague, low conceptualised, homogenized category


We will coded as populist the following expressions:

the People (or the Romanians, the retirees, the teachers, etc.) wants…, the People expects…,the People are… BUT ONLY IN OPPOSITION WITH

the Elite as a corrupt and unitary groupthat deliberate disregards what

People wants, expects, etc.



Klaus Iohannis

Victor Ponta

Monica Macovei

Very often

Very often

Often

Often

Rare

Rare

Rare

Very rare

Very rare

Very rare


Often

KI: Mr. Ponta, we live in a democratic country. Everyone is entitled to vote. You have suppressed the right to vote, for these people (...) Romanian citizens were roughed up by police in other states when they have asked for their right to vote (Realitatea TV, final debate)

KJ: (reading) I am a priest living for 7 years in France; I was simply humiliated, we can not vote! or I seven hours spent with my husband and my two young children. In front of the consulate to get the chance to vote (…) Mister Prime minister, I leave you these. Maybe you will delegate someone to write to these people, and let them know why they have been humiliated

Those who have power: political elite, economic elite, journalists

In order to be label as populist, the Elite must be a vague, low conceptualised, homogenized category, trans-partinic and having bad intentions when the People in concern.

The place of the Elite is placed behind close doors, plotting and mocking the people.


We will coded as populist the following expressions:

Local baronsWretched system (system ticalosit)Puppets for capital holders BUT ONLY WHEN

this system in trans-partinic

Klaus Iohannis

Victor Ponta

Monica Macovei

Very often

Very often

Often

Often

Often

Rare

Rare

Rare

Very rare

Very rare

Very rare



There are references in his speech to corruption, but corruption is clearly associated with a person Traian Basescu and with the PDL party. Corruption cases are dealt differently: the corruption in his own party is used to show intransigence while the corruption in the opposition is used to highlight Klaus Johannis’s double language.

I am only for two years in national politics. I had no time to be in the Microsoft corruption case or in the EADS corruption cases. I am an outsider but I know it, and I can change it (Digi 24)

Soon after winning the elections Mr. Ponta, let them out. He will sticks amnesty law and clemency, he will takes them all out of prison and sends them out into society. That is the future that Mr. Ponta preparing for us. Pardoned all corruption. society (...) A young politician comes with old tactics of FSN and PDSR because he is pushed from behind by local barons (Digi 24)

We have a political class howling from morning to night on television, and solutions are not (...) we should be more calm people, but we should solve problems once for the name of God! (Digi 24)

Every politician during campaign is imposing him/her self as exceptional.

In order to be label as populist, discourse, the exceptionality of the Leader must have a Saviour dimension.


We will coded as populist:

mythological construction of the Savior, the one marked by fate and destiny to embody the moral virtues, usually those that generally lacks: he/she is faithful in a world that has lost faith; he/she is modest while other are opulent; he/she is professional in a amateurism world; his/her careers is influenced by competence not by network of relationships; he/she is firmly in the world of negotiations and compromise.

Klaus Iohannis

Victor Ponta

Monica Macovei

Very often

Very often

Often

Often

Often

Rare

Rare

Rare

Very rare

Very rare

Very rare



MM: Die Spigal wrote 22 millions of Romanians must thank Monica Macovei for Eu integration

Monica Macovei decaloque with 10 commandments for politicians and 100 solutions for the People

The populist discourse, following the Manichean logic of binary opposition, favors tension of decision.

The decision must be: here and now



Any references to a crises (economical, moral, societal) that the People are ask to decide wright here, wright now.

BUT ONLY WHENThe crisis is not between two ideology,

or two economical ideas, (in)equally legitimated in the public sphere

Klaus Iohannis

Victor Ponta

Monica Macovei

Very often

Very often

Often

Often

Rare

Rare

Rare

Very rare

Very rare

Very rare


KI: talk about the right way to vote and the wrong way to vote.

VP: use the term crises often, when he talk about the moment of the vote and the importance of resolving this crisis by voting him.

MM: I am the only one who will move Romania forward. Both Victor Ponta and Klaus Iohannis, will get Romania back. The first with 25 years, the second with 10 years.


Often



• For populist discourse the justice system is created (by politicians) to escape corruption by endless processes and procedures confusing for the uninitiated.

• The populist discourse favors the law of the land, simple and easy to apply.


Any vigilante attitudeClear and prior judgements regarding who is corrupt or not

Klaus Iohannis

Victor Ponta

Monica Macovei

Very often

Very often

Often

Often

Often

Rare

Rare

Rare

Very rare

Very rare

Very rare



MM: there are nets of corruption in the parties. One must shredded this net. Quietly. Not let them time to vote laws against this (action) and build institutions to cover their tracks (Digi 24)

Called lack of patience in politics and the tend to look light and radical solutions.

Paradoxically, this hostility to democracy fits perfectly on appeal to the need for more democracy and a more representative democracy.



Any talk about short-cuts where the democratic mechanisms are concern


Klaus Iohannis

Victor Ponta

Monica Macovei

Very often

Very often

Often

Often

Often

Rare

Rare

Rare

Very rare

Very rare

Very rare


KI: If you are man enough, Mr. Ponta, let us go tomorrow in the Parliament and drop of the amnesty law. (…) and since we are there, let’s vote for lifting immunity for all the corrupt politicians.

The populist twist of this topic is that Klaus Iohannis is not a member of the Parliament.


The exceptionality time required exceptionality solutions.

In the time of crisis required radical measures, often undemocratic; recourse to verbal and symbolic violence is justified.



any discursive elements deviating from democratic political language;labeling the speaker, not the idea;and verbal violence and expressions of type cut the flesh, break them gang etc


Klaus Iohannis

Victor Ponta

Monica Macovei

Very often

Very often

Often

Often

Often

Rare

Rare

Rare

Very rare

Very rare

Very rare



KI: stop. Reset the game. Start over!

MM: I am the only honest candidate (…) We turn the page. There is an other type of democracy, more participative (TVR1)

Calculated the populist discourse index:

RPD scale value Klaus Iohannis Victor Ponta Monica Macovei

Appeal to the People 7 2 1 4

Denouncing the Corrupt Elite(s) 6 3 2 4

Exceptionality of the Leader 5 2 2 3

A crisis situation 4 2 2 4

A vigilante attitude of the Leader 3 2 2 4

Hostility of democratic mechanisms 2 2 1 1

Preference for radical solutions 1 2 1 4

Total (0:1 scale) 0,55 0,41 0,90


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