Rise of the Rhetorical Presidency in Bulgaria under Rumen Radev

The rhetorical presidency framework has long been used to study the expansion of presidential influence and institutional power in government. Although its application has only been used in the context of the US government, this framework could provide valuable insights on institutional power dynamics and the effects of executive rhetoric if applied to other governments, particularly ones that are similar to the US model. This paper attempts to be the first to adapt the rhetorical presidency framework to a foreign government model – namely, Bulgaria’s government as a parliamentary representative democratic republic. It will specifically focus on presidential rhetoric used by former President Rumen Radev and its potential to strengthen executive authority, promote deliberation within the public, and activate other constitutive or instrumental effects. This paper will use former Bulgarian President Rumen Radev’s public statement on supporting a eurozone referendum as a case study for applying the rhetorical presidency framework. The method will be Rhetorical Political Analysis (RPA) with a focus on deliberative stasis theory.