Audience-Sensitivity of Political Discourse in the Legitimation of Repression

There is broad agreement within scholarship on autocracies and repression that legitimacy matters and, next to coercion and co-optation, may form one of the three pillars of autocratic regime stability (Gerschewski 2013). Nonetheless, we know little about how legitimation of repression works, and which aspects influence the formulation of legitimation discourses. To open the black box of legitimation discourses, I explore how repressive regimes adjust their language, narratives, symbols and framing to the audiences they speak to. Drawing on the literature of repression and authoritarianism research, securitisation, framing, discourse analysis and specific knowledge from the field of linguistics, I develop a theoretical and analytical framework. Focusing on the case of Nicaragua after the violent repression of the 2018 mass protests and the ongoing process of autocratisation and oppression, I conduct a discourse analysis of speeches, interviews and documents by the state’s main actors. Especially, the inclusion of identity elements, and generation of fear but also rationalisation and normalisation of violence are identified in many discourses. I find that these factors are carefully adjusted to the targeted audiences to enhance the resonating of the discourses.