Playing (To) the Crowd: Linguistic Adaptation as Performance

Citizens feeling represented matters, both for fostering trust and for closing the gap between politicians and citizens. True representation, however, goes beyond categorical identity and political messaging into the performance of the representative. An understudied aspect of this performance is the linkage between representation and the way in which a politician speaks. This study investigates how a politician’s use of linguistic strategies—such as dialect and simple language—shapes their political communication. How do politicians adapt their language to their audiences? How do they adjust their speech across contexts, and what motivates these choices? Furthermore, how do they employ language as a tool to foster an image of either closeness or competence? Drawing on in-depth interviews with 82 MPs and top politicians from Flanders, Belgium, this study investigates how political actors describe their own language adaptation strategies across various communicative contexts, from the floor of the parliament to the campaign trail. Special attention is given to the use of regional accents, dialects, and informal registers, and to how politicians perceive citizens’ reactions to these choices. The paper maps the range of approaches politicians adopt toward linguistic flexibility and explores how differing motivations—fostering closeness, authenticity, and professionalism—shape these strategies. It demonstrates that politicians, regardless of their approach, feel judged by citizens on how they speak as much as on what they say. It also shows how a politician's mastery of different language registers constrains the strategies available to them, and reveals a clear geographic dynamic: the impact of linguistic adaptation differs significantly between representatives of "peripheral" versus "core" dialect regions. In doing so, it offers new insights into how linguistic strategy mediates the symbolic relationship between politicians and citizens.