On behalf of the people? Perceptions, usage and effects of references to the people in political communication

Communication between politicians and the people is a crucial part of the democratic process. Politicians need to know the will of the people in order to act as their representatives, and people need to know that their elected representatives are working on their behalf and with their interests in mind. References and appeals to the people are commonly used as a tool for communicating this representation. They are also the communicative core of populism and populist rhetoric. Using a combination of interview data, content analysis and experiments, this dissertation examines the communicative construction of the term ‘the people’ and takes a closer look at references to the people as a communication strategy. It addresses the link between people-centrism and representation by examining (1) how the term ‘the people’ is understood and used by politicians in a broad political context, (2) how it is manifested in (social) media, and (3) how references to the people are perceived on the side of the receiver (i.e., the people themselves). This dissertation makes some key contributions to research in (populist) political communication by isolating a central communicative element traditionally associated with populist communication and examining this element unconfined by ideology or political party. Results indicate that references to the people are a deliberate and effective communication tool and that these references affect people’s feelings of representation.