Wuthering Political Heights: How the Media Frames Informal Presidential Powers

The informal powers of presidents have been investigated extensively from the perspective of how these are used, obstacles and favorable contexts, or their consequences. However, we know very little about how the media presents to the public the actions reflecting presidential informal powers. Understanding the framing can inform about challenges and opportunities that the media provides to political actors, how they seek to influence citizens, and can help predicting people’s future behaviors (e.g. supporting incumbent presidents vs. challengers). This paper seeks to address this gap in the literature and aims to identify how both traditional and online media in Romania frame the informal powers of the country presidents between 2004 and 2022. Our qualitative analysis focuses on the presidents’ informal powers in relation to the Cabinet, to the legislature, and to their former political parties.