Supranational systems and cross-national online communication in Wallonia and Quebec
Positive ramifications of the integration of the European Union have been studied since the supranational institution was founded. In the twenty-first century, Europe has been faced with a migration crisis that has lead to a rise in xenophobia, anti-immigration movements, and far-right parties. This research seeks to learn more about far-right party social media communication tactics in the EU, and how parties can benefit from the interconnected political geography that exists in the EU. In order to do this, this study compares the Facebook communication tactics of the EU example of Wallonia (Belgium) to a similar, non-EU example of Quebec (Canada). These two regions have many similarities and present themselves as great candidates to use the most-similar case design. 250 Facebook posts are analyzed from a far-right party in each of the two regions: La Meute from Wallonia and Démocratie Nationale from Quebec. Quantitative analysis provides some basic differences between the two groups. Critical discourse analysis is used to find deeper meanings in the Facebook posts. This research found that La Meute does not benefit from a similar interconnected political geography like Démocratie Nationale does with the European Union. Thus, La Meute’s Facebook posts referenced their own party at a much higher rate than Démocratie Nationale’s posts. It was also found that Démocratie Nationale mentions and shares content form other countries at a much higher rate than La Meute.
Political Geography, Far-right Parties, Supranational System, Cross-National Communication, Wallonia, Quebec, Party Cooperation, Party Proximity, European Union
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign