MIGRATION AS A POLITICAL TOOL: A STUDY OF SLOVAK PARTY MANIFESTOS

Abstract

The issue of migration has recently become one of the most important issues communicated by politicians to the electorate. In the context of the Slovak Republic, this issue has even become a relevant cleavage that divides the political spectrum into groups. For this reason, it makes sense to examine the position of political parties regarding migration in their electoral manifestos and to determine the stance of individual actors. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyze how relevant political parties address the issue of migration in their manifestos for the 2023 election. Both the scope and content of how this issue is addressed are monitored. To capture the
content of these manifestos, four thematic categories are created. The results show that there are certain differences between the selected political parties on this issue. The differences are manifested in both scope and content of treatment. The political
parties SMER-SD and SNS, which form the government, address this issue the least. In terms of content, only one category was covered by all political parties: the category that focuses on migration in a negative perception, viewing it as a threat or an undesirable phenomenon. At the same time, this is the area where there are the greatest similarities between the parties. The other categories are covered in different ways, with only three parties addressing all four categories in their manifestos.