Global Political Campaign Communication: Framing Analysis of Elizabeth Warren and John Mahama’s Presidential Primary Announcement Videos

Abstract

This study offers a critical comparative examination of the presidential exploration announcement video of Elizabeth Warren (United States) and John Mahama’s (Ghana) declaration of intent video during the presidential primaries of two leading democracies in Africa and North America in 2018. Ghana has often been touted as an exemplar of democracy in Africa while the United States is viewed as a paragon of western and global democratic practice. The present comparative analysis makes important contributions to national and international democratic studies by analysing the campaign communication of two major candidates in the presidential primaries of their respective parties in both countries. This international comparative framework expands the field of campaign communication research, presents potential lessons, while testing the scope of theoretical and practical applications. The research is grounded within the widely applied concept of communication framing and the functional theory of political communication. Textual analysis was used as the major methodological approach. Three major frames were identified in former President Mahama’s video announcement: (a) “One Ghana agenda & infrastructural continuity, (b) “righting wrongs and ending suffering” and (c) “shared prosperity”. The study also revealed four frames from Elizabeth Warren’s video: (a) “Inspiration, American values and heritage”, (b) “life story”, (c) “economic justice”, (d) “Fighter and Wall Street Sherriff”.