Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20901/pp.15.1.03
Speech analysis of the televised confrontation during the parliamentary elections in Croatia in 2024
Dominik Omerović
orcid.org/0009-0002-5939-3454
; Univesity of Zagreb, Faculty of Croatian Studies
*
Krešimir Dabo
orcid.org/0000-0001-9260-7384
; Institute for Migration Research, Zagreb
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
This paper analyzes the rhetoric of the participants in televised confrontations during the parliamentary elections in Croatia in 2024, with a special emphasis on the use of verbal and non-verbal communication. In a year marked as a „super-election” year, parliamentary, European and presidential elections are held, and rhetorical skills and well-executed televised confrontations can play an important role in the victory of a certain political option. With the power of modern media and the speed of information dissemination, as well as the ability of every voter to get detailed information, the room for mistakes in politicians’ public appearances is significantly reduced. The research results show how representatives of political parties used different rhetorical strategies during the confrontation, depending on their political goals and positions. Opposition parties, such as SDP, Mozemo!, Most and the Homeland Movement, mostly used offensive strategies, while HDZ representatives used defensive strategies to emphasize their results and minimize criticism. The conducted research gave answers to the question of how party representatives want to make a better impression on the viewer with their performance, which issues are the biggest debates, and what discrediting the opponent looks like. The research results indicate that the performances of political representatives did not deviate significantly from the achieved election results. Also, the results showed that reasoned debates between political actors of different ideological orientations and party affiliations are possible, which can ultimately influence undecided voters.
Keywords
rhetoric; television debates; political campaign; political communication
Hrčak ID:
332990
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2025.
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