The impact of populism in foreign policy discourse : A qualitative text analysis of the Brazil-China bilateral relationship before and after the election of Jair Bolsonaro

Sammanfattning: This study seeks to examine the how populism impacts foreign policy discourse. The study applies role theory to the empirical case of the Brazil-China bilateral relationship in order to observe changes within role conceptions or role prescriptions before and after the election of populist leader Jair Bolsonaro. The research question put forward is   As a result of the election of populist president Jair Bolsonaro, in the case of the bilateral relationship between Brazil and China, has 1)    the role conception of Brazil’s own role changed, and if so, how? 2)    the role prescription of Chinas role changed, if so, how?    3 hypotheses are developed, based on the chosen definitions of populism, and tested on the material. The chosen materials for the study are speeches and tweets by incumbent presidents or other high-ranking officials. The data has been collected from Brazil’s ministry of foreign affairs website, or the official government website of Brazil. The chosen methodology is a qualitative text analysis. The study finds support for two out of the three hypotheses. These relate to anti-pluralism and anti-elitism as central aspects of populist discourse. The study does not find bad manners to be a key aspect of populist foreign policy discourse. The analysis reveals that the role conception has changed in some ways whilst the role prescription has remained strikingly similar.