From “Dignity” to “Screw Them”: Shifting Appeals in Chile’s Televised Constitutional Plebiscite Campaigns
Abstract
From “Dignity” to “Screw Them”: Shifting Appeals in Chile’s Televised Constitutional Plebiscite Campaigns
Abstract
Weak political parties, widespread institutional distrust, and growing disdain for political elites complicate electoral communication in many Latin American democracies. While previous research has examined the origins of these conditions, less is known about how they shape the messages campaigns use to reach voters. This article addresses that question by analysing television advertisements from three Chilean constitutional plebiscite campaigns and drawing on original interviews with the creative and political teams that produced them. It compares the issues emphasised by opposing sides and their use of partisan, policy-based, generic, and emotional appeals.
In the absence of partisan messaging, the campaigns initially relied on policy-based appeals, shifted towards more generic appeals, and ultimately adopted antipolitical messaging. The analysis attributes this shift to the expansion of the electorate and growing distrust of the Constitutional Convention. It also finds that campaigns defending the status quo were more likely to use negative emotional language than those advocating change. The findings show how shifts in the electorate and in trust towards a constitution-making body can reshape the language campaigns use to mobilise voters.
Keywords — Chile, constitutional plebiscites, televised campaign advertising, emotional appeals, antipolitical messaging, institutional distrust.
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