Abstract

BORJA-OROZCO, Henry. Delegitimization of the Oponent and Ideological Orientation: Analysis of Publications of Two Colombian Political Leaders on Twitter. Act.Colom.Psicol. [online]. 2024, vol.27, n.1, pp.1-.  Epub May 28, 2024. ISSN 0123-9155.  https://doi.org/10.14718/acp.2024.27.1.2.

Through various traditional and digital media, leaders and groups that opt for social and political control disseminate their discourses with the aim of promoting and strengthening ideological visions of the social world in which extreme positions of political ideology are exacerbated. However, the political assessment of the left-right ideological spectrum is not generalizable, as the positive or negative emphasis depends on the social and political context. This article describes the ideological characteristics of the discourse of two political leaders recognized in Colombia for their left (Gustavo Petro) and right (Álvaro Uribe) ideological orientations, and the association with strategies of delegitimization of the other. For this purpose, a descriptive linguistic study was conducted to compare in context the linguistic patterns of opposing political leaders who publish on the digital platform Twitter (now X). The results allow us to identify that the lexical profile of Uribe's account is related to issues of the economy, political violence, defense of a conservative ideology, delegitimization of the opponent (Petro) and delegitimization of guerrilla groups. On the other hand, Petro's account profile is made up of words associated with progressive ideology, delegitimization of the opponent (Uribe), and delegitimization of paramilitary groups. It is concluded that the political orientation depends on the social context and has as an associated referent a political opponent (and illegal group in the Colombian case) against whom the strategy of delegitimization is directed with the aim of legitimizing or challenging the established social order.

Keywords : Delegitimization; political behavior; political ideology; electoral law.

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