European Parliament elections have often been defined second-order elections, focused on national rather than transnational issues. This paper investigates the combined impact of Eurosceptic populism and social media in the development of the campaign during the 2019 European Parliament elections. It evaluates how populist and non-populist politicians and parties campaigned for the European elections on Twitter by using the case study of Italy. Computer-assisted quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis of social media content are used to assess the relevance of Europe in political communication and the strategies used by different political actors. Findings show that the concept of nation plays a central role in the campaign, with Europe depicted either as an enemy (by nationalist populism) or a saviour (by pro-Europeans). Moreover, there is e tendency towards a “populist shift” in the communication style.

The 2019 European Elections on Twitter between Populism, Euroscepticism and Nationalism: The Case of Italy / Berti, Carlo; Loner, Enzo. - In: SOCIETÀMUTAMENTOPOLITICA. - ISSN 2038-3150. - 11:22(2020), pp. 275-288.

The 2019 European Elections on Twitter between Populism, Euroscepticism and Nationalism: The Case of Italy

Berti, Carlo;Loner, Enzo
2020-01-01

Abstract

European Parliament elections have often been defined second-order elections, focused on national rather than transnational issues. This paper investigates the combined impact of Eurosceptic populism and social media in the development of the campaign during the 2019 European Parliament elections. It evaluates how populist and non-populist politicians and parties campaigned for the European elections on Twitter by using the case study of Italy. Computer-assisted quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis of social media content are used to assess the relevance of Europe in political communication and the strategies used by different political actors. Findings show that the concept of nation plays a central role in the campaign, with Europe depicted either as an enemy (by nationalist populism) or a saviour (by pro-Europeans). Moreover, there is e tendency towards a “populist shift” in the communication style.
2020
22
Berti, Carlo; Loner, Enzo
The 2019 European Elections on Twitter between Populism, Euroscepticism and Nationalism: The Case of Italy / Berti, Carlo; Loner, Enzo. - In: SOCIETÀMUTAMENTOPOLITICA. - ISSN 2038-3150. - 11:22(2020), pp. 275-288.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
[SMP] The 2019 European elections on Twitter between populism, euroscepticism and nationalism - The case of Italy.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Versione editoriale (Publisher’s layout)
Licenza: Altra licenza (Other type of license)
Dimensione 1.05 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
1.05 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11572/297242
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact