Leaders and Symbols: Constructing Political Images of Presidents in the United States and Russia

• In Event: The Visual in Politics: Rhetorics, Frames, Effects

Abstract

The management of political image as one of the most important activities in modern political communication allows to manipulate the public’s understanding of relationships between authority and citizens and perceptions of an ideal leader. This study explored how political images of the presidents of the United States and Russia are constructed on their official websites. Visual rhetoric guides this study’s theoretical approach while textual analysis serves as the method for the analysis of symbolic communication. This study extends application of visual rhetoric as a theoretical perspective to discover how leaders of the countries with distinct political cultures use symbolic means to communicate their political images to their constituents. This study revealed similarities and differences in how the political images of the presidents are constructed by supporting aspects of participant (democratic) and subject (authoritarian) political cultures and how it reflects the understandings of who a strong leader is in these countries.

Author

• Tatsiana Karaliova, Univ of MO