Men of the people a comparative analysis of the 2019 mayoral election campaigns in Istanbul and Budapest

In illiberal settings, the defeat of long-standing populist governments by opposition parties presents a significant challenge. In this dissertation, I explore the party strategies that resulted in opposition victories in the 2019 mayoral elections in Istanbul and Budapest using three methodologies. The central methodology of the study is an integrated quantitative content analysis (N = 14,668) capturing various aspects of election campaign rhetoric, including issues such as policies, populism, and character, as well as tone. Aligned with the content analysis findings, I conduct four in-depth qualitative studies on election campaigns. Finally, I introduce the Dynamic Polarization Model, employing time-series analysis on elite rhetoric to observe the emergence of affective polarization and analyze how parties leverage various issues to delineate in-group and out-group dynamics. I argue that, lacking office experience, the opposition leverages strategic communication to defeat entrenched populist incumbents. This involves selectively emphasizing salient issues distinct from government agendas. As a result, elite confrontation shifts towards populist issues rather than policies. This process also tends to draw opposition parties towards populism. However, unlike governments, they emphasize people-centric approaches over anti-elitism to establish credibility and ownership of selected policy issues. Furthermore, the opposition's choice of issues boosts positive communication, while their outreach to diverse voter bases shapes their strategies in confronting the respective governments. The study concludes that while these tactics aid opposition victories over populist incumbents, they can also exacerbate partisan divides and impede democratization efforts in these contexts.