Constructing representation: Political actors’ representative style on Facebook during European and national election campaigns

Abstract This study investigates contemporary forms of political representation by analyzing the Facebook communication of 110 political leaders from eight European countries during both national and 2024 European Parliament (EP) election campaigns. Based on constructivist theories of representation, we introduce the concept of ‘representational style’, defined as the specific combination of six communicative elements: policy focus, personalized communication, direct voter connection, appeals to social groups, references to a homogeneous people, and antagonism toward opponents. Using manual content analysis of 7,854 posts, the study identifies three distinct representational styles through inductive cluster analysis: People’s Policy Warriors, Technocratic-Pluralist Heroes, and (Wo)man of the People. The findings reveal substantial variation across political and national contexts. A clear East–West divide emerges with Western European leaders tending to adopt a Technocratic-Pluralist approach, while Central and Eastern European politicians more often represent themselves as responsive figures closely connected to the people.