I Hate You, I Love You: The Sentimental Degradation of Contemporary Political Communication (and an Array of iIlustrations)

Abstract

Political communication, as emphasized by contemporary research in the human and social sciences, has always combined both rational and emotional dimensions. However, the contemporary «emotional habitus» increasingly manifests compelling indications that rational discourse and fidelity to empirical evidence are relegated or even delegitimized in favor of the primacy of emotional-sentimental components in current political discourse and public performances. Postmodern thought, delineated through successive waves of radicalization, have effectively permeated Western democratic societies, culminating in the developing of an «emotional capitalism» that exerts hegemony over substantial domains of public discourse, governmental actions, and the strategic underpinnings of political campaigns. The excesses of political sentimentality are primarily wielded by populist movements, but political marketing offers these strategies to any social actor, often with harmful consequences for democracy. From these core elements, the article develops a theoretical foundation in line with the concept of «Sentimental Democracy», coined by other authors for the new type of political environment. That is illustrated through a series of recent political communication cases (sentimental appeals by government presidents and other political leaders, sensationalist performances in the Congress of Deputies, judicial processes involving Eduardo Zaplana and Juana Rivas, etc.). As a conclusion, it is argued that defending democratic rationality and its balancing institutions requires incorporating efficient doses of emotion to sustain citizens’ attachment to the logical coherence of proposals and the primacy of empirically substantiated data over fanciful conjectures in political discussions and performances.