Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Computational Scaling of Party Cohesion in Social Media: A Case Study on Twitter Campaigns in Brazil

Baker, Emma Olivia LU (2022) STVK12 20221
Department of Political Science
Abstract
This thesis explores party cohesion in politicians’ social media campaigns
in the context of Brazil. It highlights the importance of studying the interaction
between digitalisation of political communication and the party
system in developing democracies. Brazil makes an interesting case as it
is known for its exceptionally unstable party system. This study utilises
theories from party discipline and personalisation of politics literature to
explain possible cross-party and individual-level variations in party cohesion
in social media. It measures party cohesion on social media using the
concept of rhetorical cohesion – referring to politicians’ similarity in their
use of language and speech. Moreover, this thesis uses a... (More)
This thesis explores party cohesion in politicians’ social media campaigns
in the context of Brazil. It highlights the importance of studying the interaction
between digitalisation of political communication and the party
system in developing democracies. Brazil makes an interesting case as it
is known for its exceptionally unstable party system. This study utilises
theories from party discipline and personalisation of politics literature to
explain possible cross-party and individual-level variations in party cohesion
in social media. It measures party cohesion on social media using the
concept of rhetorical cohesion – referring to politicians’ similarity in their
use of language and speech. Moreover, this thesis uses a quantitative research
design utilizing a computational scaling algorithm (Wordfish) and
statistical data analysis to investigate rhetorical cohesion in a dataset retrieved
from Twitter. The findings of the thesis indicate that there is no
clear ideological determinant for party cohesion in social media campaigns
in Brazil. However, the Worker’s Party (PT) continues to demonstrate
relatively high level of party cohesion, indicating that this finding, aligning
with previous studies, also applies in the context of social media. Additionally,
this thesis finds strong evidence that presidential candidacy is a
positive individual-level predictor of rhetorical cohesion with one’s own
party. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Baker, Emma Olivia LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK12 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
party cohesion, Brazil, social media, political campaigns, Wordfish
language
English
id
9081576
date added to LUP
2022-07-03 08:48:06
date last changed
2022-07-03 08:48:06
@misc{9081576,
  abstract     = {{This thesis explores party cohesion in politicians’ social media campaigns
in the context of Brazil. It highlights the importance of studying the interaction
between digitalisation of political communication and the party
system in developing democracies. Brazil makes an interesting case as it
is known for its exceptionally unstable party system. This study utilises
theories from party discipline and personalisation of politics literature to
explain possible cross-party and individual-level variations in party cohesion
in social media. It measures party cohesion on social media using the
concept of rhetorical cohesion – referring to politicians’ similarity in their
use of language and speech. Moreover, this thesis uses a quantitative research
design utilizing a computational scaling algorithm (Wordfish) and
statistical data analysis to investigate rhetorical cohesion in a dataset retrieved
from Twitter. The findings of the thesis indicate that there is no
clear ideological determinant for party cohesion in social media campaigns
in Brazil. However, the Worker’s Party (PT) continues to demonstrate
relatively high level of party cohesion, indicating that this finding, aligning
with previous studies, also applies in the context of social media. Additionally,
this thesis finds strong evidence that presidential candidacy is a
positive individual-level predictor of rhetorical cohesion with one’s own
party.}},
  author       = {{Baker, Emma Olivia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Computational Scaling of Party Cohesion in Social Media: A Case Study on Twitter Campaigns in Brazil}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}