Comparative Analysis of Nonverbal Political Communications of Presidents in Two Democracies

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Abstract

Political communication is apparently an indispensable veritable tool, so much so that its importance underlies and is also underlined by massive government investment in public communication. Presidential communication is rooted in,
influenced, and limited by certain (un)written codes. The objective of the paper was to decipher nonverbal communications of presidents in two cross-continent democracies, and then determine the appropriateness and effectiveness of nonverbal communication. Thesis problem was deciphering nonverbal presidential political
communication of Barack Obama and Olusegun Obasanjo and how they projected their political leadership mandate, as well as promote national development, or how they affected the polity to which they communicated. This study fitted into two models, using two political communication theories, mainly ‘Aristotelian Political Rhetoric’ and ‘Constructivism’ as theoretical guides. Using original communications of two presidents, this comparative and historical study – requiring qualitative methodology – bridged the sparse scholarship on comparative nonverbal
presidential political communication. Purposively selected sample population were collated, analysed and interpreted, using majorly content and discourse analyses chosen for their effectiveness at measuring predetermined variables. Besides selected published verbal presidential communications obtained from secondary sources,
120 still presidential pictures, 60 each, were purposively selected for study collated, analysed and interpreted, deploying multiple instruments, majorly content and discourse analyses chosen for their effectiveness at measuring predetermined variables. Main findings are that their nonverbal communications were primarily
reflective of their culture and society, and promotive of their national interests. While Obama was more diversified, occasionally weird, and occasion-compliant, Olusegun Obasanjo was conservatively cultural, but seldom wild