| dc.description.abstract | Manifestos in political discourse are a key component of the democratic process regionally
and internationally. They play are used to present the candidates ideologies, present policy
packages and articulate the vision, values and policies of the political parties and the
candidates. Internationally campaign manifestos are used to present the party’s ideological
position and educate voters who make informed choices. Regionally campaign manifestos
are designed to allow candidates and parties to address issues common to the citizens. The
presidential candidates often design their campaign manifestos using creative language
which unravels the significance of discoursal strategies as a means of communicating
messages on the envisaged plans of developing the nation once elected to office. This study
explores the discoursal strategies employed in the manifestos of presidential candidates in
the 2022 general election in Kenya. Discoursal strategies are particularly key in manifestos
as they help the presidential candidates to express their commitment to specific policies,
and further convince the targeted voters on the viability of policies and visions of their
political parties. This study sought to explore how particular discoursal strategies are used
to frame political agenda and thus evoke specific emotional responses. This study was
guided by the following objectives : to describe discoursal strategies employed by the
presidential candidates in the 2022 general election in Kenya, determine the contribution
of discoursal strategies in the articulation of political agenda in the campaign manifestos of
presidential candidates in the 2022 general election in Kenya and examine the extent to
which the CDA accounts for the use of discoursal strategies to unravel power dynamics and
ideologies in the manifestos of the presidential candidates in the 2022 general election in
Kenya. The study applied the Critical Discourse Analysis, a theoretical framework by
Fairclough (2001), whose studies are geared towards uncovering, revealing or disclosing
what is implicit in relation to discursively enacted dominance or underlying ideologies.
The study adopted a descriptive research design. Qualitative data was collected from
printed manifestos, thematically classified and analyzed based on the CDA model.
Purposive sampling was used to select specific sections of manifesto texts with analyzable
discoursal strategies. Data was collected using a data extraction tool which was used to
extract discoursal strategies from the manifestos of the presidential candidates in the 2022
general election. Focus Group Discussions were also used to collect qualitative data for the
study. The data was coded into discoursal categories such as multi-textual levels of
persuasion discourse, metaphors, repetition and symbolism. The qualitative data was
analyzed thematically using textual analysis. The findings show that discoursal categories
are key in expressing ideologies, power dynamics and persuade the voters in manifestos
texts. The results also indicated that presidential candidates in the 2022 election in Kenya
used particular discoursal strategies in passing messages of nation building and opinions
on uplifting the welfare of the Kenyan citizens. This study points out the significance of
the use of figurative language, emotional appeals and the framing of promises. The
manifestos also manifest personal inclusion and exclusion, collective identity, action
oriented language and legitimation structures to unravel ideologies, power dynamics and
power realities in campaign ventures. The study also pointed out that discoursal strategies
contribute to the effectiveness in the presentation of messages and persuasion of voters.
The CDA as the theory underpinning then study centrally shapes ideologies and power
relations through language choices. This study makes a scholarly contribution in the field
of political discourse by underscoring the role of discoursal strategies in constructing
opinion shaping messages. The findings will help political actors design campaign
tools that provide a basis for presenting ideologies, educate the voters, help present
government projects to the citizens and persuade them to vote | en_US |
