Publication details

The 2020 Belarusian Presidential Campaign : Crisis Performance as a Pillar of Lukashenka’s Communication Strategy

Authors

HOLZER Jan

Year of publication 2025
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Journal of Belarusian Studies
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Social Studies

Citation
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.30965/20526512-BJA10024
Keywords Authoritarianism; elections; mass media; communication strategy; Critical Discourse Analysis
Description Research on the communication strategy of Aliaksandr Lukashenka shows that the ‘performing of crisis’ was a pillar of his 2020 presidential campaign. The politician actively disseminated the idea of existential threat in the state-owned media, mostly on television, to sow fear and secure a strong image and potential support. The approach used in this research is Critical Discourse Analysis. The results indicate that Lukashenka used classical populist schemata, such as tipping point, high modality, stigmatization, and others. Based on current data of surveys, it is explained some unfavorable for Lukashenka’ campaign sociological trends: significant reducing of TV audience in favor of the Internet and lack of demand for a strong leadership within Belarus.
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