Frame, Set, Match! : Towards a model of successful crisis rhetoric

• This article explores the mechanisms behind the ability of political leaders to win praise and support in times of crisis by Studying one such case of crisis exploitation: the Swedish government’s communication during the 2008 financial crisis. Looking back at the first term in office for the centre-right Alliance government, the government was initially struggling with historically low results in the regular opinion polls and a new electoral victory seemed to be beyond reach. However, this trend changed completely in the midst of the financial crisis when the government and its most prominent ministers from the dominant Moderate Party regained public support and confidence, and were able to win the next national election in 2010. The article argues that in order to explain successful political communication in times of crisis both the frames advocated by the political actors themselves and the media need to be taken into account. Based on this assumption the article proposes that successful political communication in crisis depends on a three-step process with interrelated aspects: the actor’s ability for frame promotion, setting and matching. Frame selection here refers to actors’ ability to use active frames (herein managerial, moral and responsibility frames), their ability to set the frame contexts so that they create a coherent logic resulting in frame reinforcement and, finally, their ability to match the political frames with the media’s framing.

Nyckelord

crisis communication

financial crises

framing

political communication

strategic communication

Statsvetenskap med inriktning mot krishantering och internationell samverkan

Statsvetenskap med inriktning mot krishantering och internationell samverkan

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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