Incentives to cultivate a diaspora vote and rhetorical involvement in foreign elections

Lessons from Colombian politicians’ involvement in the 2020 US presidential election

Bibliographic Data

ID12972135
AuthorsTaishi Muraoka (0000-0003-0304-4677, Mount Sinai Hospital, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume21
Issue4
Pages465-478
Publication date2023-11-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Information Technology & Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1933-169X • E-ISSN: 1933-1681
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19331681.2023.2278541
OpenAlexW4388530248
LanguageEN
References cited47

What explains politicians’ involvement in foreign elections? Understanding this behavior is important not only because it has received little scholarly attention but also because it could undermine public faith in electoral integrity in target countries. In this study, I consider an electorally based explanation, which suggests that politicians’ electoral incentives to appeal to expatriate voters in a foreign country can explain their rhetorical involvement in that country’s elections. I test this argument in the context of the 2020 US presidential election, where more than 50 Colombian MPs extensively promoted or attacked Joe Biden and Donald Trump on social media. My analysis indicates that whether Colombian MPs competed for Colombian Americans’ votes and their popularity in the US are the systematic correlates of how much they got involved in the 2020 US election. The findings highlight how diaspora enfranchisement is important to understand elite online communication that cuts across national borders

Appeal · Argument (complex analysis · Context (archaeology · Diaspora · Economics · Elite · Expatriate · Incentive · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Popularity · Presidential election · Presidential system · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Media and Politics

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