Political Image as the Substance of the Political Communication in the Era of Post-Politics

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a research project which analyzed the commitments made by prime minister of Poland - Donald Tusk and his government in 2007 and 2008, and compares them with the content of articles published in “Rzeczpospolita” and “Gazeta Wyborcza” (the most opinion-forming newspapers in Poland) during the first 100 days as well as the first year of government. The author confronts two perspectives - classical, Schmittian sense of politics and the new one - post-politics (according to Z. Bauman, S. Žižek and J. Baudrillard). He proposes an aspectual definition of political communication which harmonizes with the idea of the Fourth Estate. Finally author assumes that the key term in the present era of post-politics is an image. What counts are the visions, hopes, dreams, desires, just the image (picture perfect, masking defects, emphazing the benefits), rather than facts, figures, statements and an electoral programmes. This seems to be one of the most important communication barriers in politics - in the present era of post-politics.