In contemporary democracies, the construction of political leadership is driven by communication strategies with greater emphasis on image over substance and personality over ideology. This article analyzes two countries, Italy and France, that have been recently characterized by a remarkable increase in the personalization and mediatization of politics. First, the article intends to identify some key features of the leadership that emerge and prove to be successful in mediatized democracies. Second, the article makes a comparison of Italian and French electoral campaigns, paying special attention to the role of the media in the construction of leadership. Finally, the article examines the cases of two leaders who have left their mark on recent electoral campaigns and are credited with remarkable expertise in political marketing and news management: Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Altheide, David L., and Robert P. Snow.1979. Media Logic. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
2.
Artufel, Claire, and Marlene Duroux.2006. Nicolas Sarkozy et la communication . Paris: Edition Pepper.
3.
Blondel, Jean.1987. Political Leadership: Toward a General Analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
4.
Bull, Martin, and James Newell.2005. Italian Politics: Adjustment Under Duress . Cambridge, UK: Polity.
5.
Butler, David, and Austin Ranney, eds. 1992. Electioneering. A Comparative Study of Continuity and Change. Oxford, UK: Clarendon.
6.
Calise, Mauro.2005. "Presidentialization, Italian Style." In The Presidentialization of Politics: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies , ed. Thomas Poguntke and Paul Webb.Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
7.
Campus, Donatella.2002. "Leaders, Dreams and Journeys: Italy’s New Political Communication." Journal of Modern Italian Studies7(2):171-91.
8.
Campus, Donatella, and Sofia Ventura.2009. "L’image et la communication de Nicolas Sarkozy: Tradition ou Innovation?" In La Communication politique de la presidentielle de 2007, ed. Philippe Maarek.Paris: L’Harmattan .
9.
Caprara, GianVittorio, ShalomSchwartz, CristinaCapanna, Michele Vecchione, and Claudio Barbaranelli .2006. "Personality and Politics: Values, Traits and Political Choice." Political Psychology27:1-28.
10.
Cheles, Luciano.2001. "Picture Battle in the Piazza: the Political Poster." In The Art of Persuasion, ed. Luciano Cheles and Luciano Sponza.Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
11.
Cheles, Luciano.2006. "From Ubiquitous Presence to Significant Elusiveness: Berlusconi’s Portraits 1994-2005." Journal of Contemporary European Studies14(1):41-68.
12.
Clift, Ben.2005. "Dyarchic Presidentialization in a Presidentialized Politics: The French Fifth Republic." In The Presidentialization of Politics: A Comparative Study of Modern Democracies, ed. Thomas Poguntke and Paul Webb.Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
13.
Croci, Osvaldo.2001. "Language and Politics in Italy: From Moro to Berlusconi ." Journal of Modern Italian Studies6(3):348-70.
14.
Dayan, Daniel, and Elihu Katz.1992. Media Events. The Live Broadcasting of History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
15.
Delli Carpini, Malcom X., and Bruce A. Williams .1996. "Let Us Infotain: Politics in the New Media Environment." In Mediated Politics, ed. W. Lance Bennett and Robert Entman.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
16.
Edelman, Murray.1988. Constructing the Political Spectacle. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
17.
Franklin, Bob.1994. Packaging Politics. Political Communication in Britain’s Media Democracy. London: Arnold .
18.
Gaffney, Jacques.2003. "The French Fifth Republic as an Opportunity Structure: A Neo-institutional and Cultural Approach to the Study of Leadership Politics ." Political Studies51(4):687-705.
19.
Gerstlé, Jacques2004. La communication politique. Paris : Colin.
20.
Hart, Roderick.1999. Seducing America: How Television Charms the Modern Voter . New York: Oxford University Press .
21.
Ivaldi, Gilles.2007. "Presidential Strategies, Models of Leadership and the Development of Parties in a Candidate-centred Polity: The 2007 UMP and PS Presidential Nomination Campaigns." French Politics5(3):253-78.
22.
Iyengar, Shanto, and Jennifer McGrady .2007. Media Politics. New York: Norton.
23.
Jost, François, and Denis Muzet.2008. Le téléprésident . Paris: Editions de L’Aube .
24.
Kaid, Linda, Jacques Gerstlé , and Keith Sanders, eds. 1991. Mediated Politics in Two Political Cultures. Presidential Campaigning in the United States and France. New York: Praeger.
25.
King, Anthony, ed. 2002. Leaders’ Personality and the Outcomes of Democratic Elections. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
26.
Kotler, Philip, and Neal Kotler.1999. "Political Marketing: Generating Effective Candidates, Campaign and Causes." In Handbook of Political Marketing, ed. Bruce Newman.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27.
Louw, Eric.2005. The Media and Political Process. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
28.
Maarek, Philippe.2001. Communication et marketing de l’homme politique . 2nd Edition. Paris: Litec.
29.
Maarek, Philippe.2007. "The Evolution of French Political Communication: Reaching the Limits of Professionalisation?" In The Professionalisation of Political Communication, ed. Ralph Negrine , Paolo Mancini, Christina Holtz-Bacha, and Stylianos Papathanassopoulos.Chicago: Intellect.
30.
Maarek, Philippe, and Stephane Wahnich .2009. "Entretien avec Franck Louvrier responsible de la communication et de relation presse de la campagne de Nicolas Sarkozy." In La communication politique de la présidentielle de 2007, ed. Philippe Maarek.Paris: L’Harmattan.
31.
Mancini, Paolo.2007. "Political Professionalism in Italy." In The Professionalisation of Political Communication, ed. Ralph Negrine, Paolo Mancini , Christina Holtz-Bacha, and Stylianos Papathanassopoulos.Chicago : Intellect.
32.
Mancini, Paolo.2008. "Non son solo berlusconate." Presented at the SISP Conference, Pavia, Italy, Sept. 4-6.
33.
Manin, Bernard.1996. Principes du gouvernement representative. Paris: Flammarion.
34.
Marletti, Carlo, and Franca Roncarolo .2000. "Media Influence in the Italian Transition from a Consensual to a Majoritarian Democracy." In Democracy and the Media, ed. Richard Gunther and Anthony Mugham.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
35.
Mastropaolo, Alfio.2005. La mucca pazza della democrazia. Nuove destre, populismo e antipolitica. Turin, Italy: Bollati Bollinghieri.
36.
Mazzoleni, Gianpietro.1995. "Towards a Videocracy? Italian Political Communication at a Turning Point." European Journal of Communication10(3):291-319.
37.
Mazzoleni, Gianpietro.1996. "Patterns and Effects of Recent Change of Political Democracy in Italy." In Politics, Media and Modern Democracy, ed. David Swanson and Paolo Mancini.Westport, CT: Praeger.
38.
Mazzoleni, Gianpietro, and Winfried Schulz .1999. "Mediatization of Politics: A Challenge for Democracy." Political Communication16:247-61.
39.
Musso, Pierre.2008. Le Sarkoberlusconisme. Paris: Editions de L’Aube.
40.
Newman, Bruce.1999. The Mass Marketing of Politics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
41.
Pasquino, Gianfranco.2007. "The Five Faces of Silvio Berlusconi: The Knight of Anti-Politics ." Modern Italy12(Feb.):39-54.
42.
Patterson, Thomas.2000. "The United States: News in a Free-Market Society." In Democracy and the Media, ed. Richard Gunther and Anthony Mugham.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
43.
Pezzini, Isabella.2001. "Advertizing Politics on Television: the Party Election Broadcast." In The Art of Persuasion, ed. Luciano Cheles and Luciano Sponza.Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
44.
Pfetsch, Barbara.1998. "Government News Management." In The Politics of News: the News of Politics, ed. Doris Graber , Dennis McQuail, and Pippa Norris.Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.
45.
Poguntke, Thomas, and Paul Webb.2005. The Presidentialization of Politics . Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
46.
Salmon, Cristian.2007. Storytelling. Paris: La Découverte.
47.
Sarkozy, Nicolas.2006. Témoignage. Paris: XO Editions.
48.
Stanyer, James.2007. Modern Political Communication. Cambridge , UK: Polity.
49.
Surel, Yves.2003. "Berlusconi, leader populiste?" In La tentation populiste au coeur de l’Europe, ed. Olivier Ihl, Janine Chene, Eric Vial, and Ghislain Waterlot.Paris: Editions la Découverte .
50.
Swanson, David, and Paolo Mancini, eds. 1996. Politics, Media and Modern Democracy. Westport, CT: Praeger .
