| Abstract: |
This study examined the influence of affective politics on voter perception of
selected political party candidates during the 2023 Delta State gubernatorial
election. The study was motivated by the increasing use of emotional appeals in
political campaigns and the limited empirical attention given to their impact on
voter perception in gubernatorial elections in Nigeria. The study adopted a
qualitative research design using in-depth interviews as the sole method of data
collection. According to INEC's final voter register, Delta State had 3,221,697
registered voters for the 18 March 2023 governorship election. Therefore, based on
the population and Taro Yamane sample size calculation with 10% margin of error,
the sample size for the study was 100. These participants were purposively selected
from the three senatorial districts of Delta State, including party representatives,
youth and women leaders, community leaders, traditional rulers, civil society
actors, media observers, campaign actors, and politically active citizens. Data were
collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis.
The findings revealed that candidates employed emotional appeals such as hope,
trust, fear, anger, loyalty, pride, and messages of continuity and change to influence
voters. The study further found that affective politics significantly shaped voter
perception by influencing how voters evaluated candidate credibility, competence,
trustworthiness, and leadership qualities. In addition, party loyalty was found to strengthen the influence of affective politics, as emotionally attached supporters
were more likely to accept favourable messages about their preferred candidates
while dismissing opposing viewpoints. The study concluded that affective politics
remains a powerful determinant of voter perception and electoral behaviour in
Delta State. It recommends the promotion of issue-based campaigns, responsible
media reporting, and voter education programmes aimed at encouraging critical
evaluation of political messages beyond emotional appeals. |
