Concepts People and Power in Russian and Spanish Electoral Discourse

Abstract

Political communication becomes particularly intense in the pre-election period. Democracy  receives criticism aimed to protect the interests of citizens. It is political parties that are responsible for a constructive discussion of their positions and motivating citizens to participate in the election campaign. Te electoral language is usually an emotional, connotative language, which resonates with citizens. Political electoral discourse is characterized by certain basic concepts, such as “politics”, “election”, “electoral programs”, “electorate”, “people”, “power” and others. “People” and “power” are the key ones, since they reflect the features of political process and are inextricably linked to each other during all electoral period. Tis article focuses on the study of the people / power opposition in the Russian and Spanish electoral discourse and identifes conceptual structures and signs of these concepts.