Populism as Rhetoric Strategy of Miloš Zeman

Proposed paper will be focused on populist strategies of the Czech president Miloš Zeman in his first presidential term. Methodologically speaking, this paper will be conceived as a CAQDAS of dataset, which is made up of complete interviews, statements, speeches, and other expressions made by Miloš Zeman. The dataset will be processed using MAXQDA11+, Voyant-tools and COOA software. Throughout the course of his whole political career, Miloš Zeman has been known for generating strong statements often made on a personal level. He has handed out various labels to his political opponents, which have often been border-line or blatantly vulgar. After his election to the post of president, Zeman gained additional opportunities to use these strategies to a wholly new extent. From the speeches Zeman gave after his election, we can deduce from them three “islands of deviation” (extremism, media, corruptiom) that present a problem to Czech society. These speeches can be seen as main contribution to creation of “presidential discourse”. The main goal of proposed paper is to provide interpretation of how Zeman uses “isles of deviation” to create aura of self as a “fighter against social badness in the name of common folk”.