Computational Scaling of Party Cohesion in Social Media: A Case Study on Twitter Campaigns in Brazil
(2022) STVK12 20221Department 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:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9081576
- author
- Baker, Emma Olivia LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- STVK12 20221
- year
- 2022
- 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}}, }