Abstract:
This study offers a critical comparative examination of the presidential
exploration announcement video of Elizabeth Warren (United States) and
John Mahama’s (Ghana) declaration of intent video during the presidential
primaries of two leading democracies in Africa and North America in
2018. Ghana has often been touted as an exemplar of democracy in Africa
while the United States is viewed as a paragon of western and global
democratic practice. The present comparative analysis makes important
contributions to national and international democratic studies by analysing
the campaign communication of two major candidates in the presidential
primaries of their respective parties in both countries. This international
comparative framework expands the field of campaign communication
research, presents potential lessons, while testing the scope of theoretical
and practical applications. The research is grounded within the widely
applied concept of communication framing and the functional theory of
political communication. Textual analysis was used as the major
methodological approach. Three major frames were identified in former
President Mahama’s video announcement: (a) “One Ghana agenda &
infrastructural continuity, (b) “righting wrongs and ending suffering” and
(c) “shared prosperity”. The study also revealed four frames from
Elizabeth Warren’s video: (a) “Inspiration, American values and
heritage”, (b) “life story”, (c) “economic justice”, (d) “Fighter and Wall
Street Sherriff”.