THE IMPACT OF IDEOLOGICAL POSITIONING ON THE COMMUNICATIVE STYLES EMPLOYED BY GOVERNMENTS

Abstract

The present study analyses the relationship between ideological self-positioning and leadership styles communicated on Instagram by twelve female politicians. The research employs content analysis of 1,290 posts made during 2023. The present study examines the correlation between the politicians' self-perceived ideological positioning and the following variables: 1. the nature of the information communicated (soft information/politainment vs. hard information/political), 2. the projected leadership style (conciliatory/soft vs. firm/hard), and 3. the level of personalisation in their communications. The findings indicate that female government leaders who align with the right-wing ideological spectrum tend to utilise a greater number of politainment strategies, adopt a more conciliatory leadership style, and employ personalised communication techniques.