Framing and storytelling

As previously posted here, the “You poll-watcher” is a campaign that is questioning the lack of accountability in the Brazilian elections. The campaign is being considered a success for its organisers, who were not expecting such mobilisation.

Brief recap: The campaign invited the voters to increase the accountability of the elections by photographing the extracts of the electronic ballot boxes in the Election Days (October 5, first round, and November 15, second round). According to the organizers, in the first round they received more than 15,000 extracts and in the second round, more than 8,000.

This success, as discussed in a previous post of this blog, may be explained by the tactic used: empowerment of the voters. However, with the aim of empowering, the first challenge was to convince people that the campaign was legitimate and that the organizers were trustable. In order to analyse how the organizers over came this first challenge, may be helpful to discuss the idea of frames and storytelling.

Frames are preconceptions through which an issue is perceived and characterised (New Economic Foundation, 2014). Polletta (1998) highlights its importance for campaigners, considering its use for persuasion and mobilisation, as well as for deconstruction of oppositional ideas. In the case of the Brazilian elections, the frame used by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) is that the security of the electronic vote is guaranteed:

“This is how it is inside the ballot box: your vote is closely kept secret.”

2014 TSE’s campaign

To refute this frame, it was necessary to use a counter-frame. Nevertheless, it was not enough just to say “No. The security of the electronic ballot box is not guaranteed!”. As pointed out for Polletta (1998) to objectify what is subjective, a frame (or a counter-frame) is better “exemplified through narratives” or, in other words, it is necessary to tell a story, which includes characters, a plot and a moral. Hence, in order to tell the story about the risk of the current system of electronic vote, the organizers produced a video. In it, it is possible to identify who is the protagonist (Professor Aranha) and who is the antagonist (TSE). On one hand, the protagonist is presented as a Professor of one of the most important universities of Brazil and, therefore, as an experienced researcher that has authority to evaluate the security of the ballot box. On the other hand, TSE is presented as an institution that is not transparent.

In relation to the plot, the story began in 2012, when the team coordinated by Professor Aranha identified vulnerability in the system. Since TSE have not promoted any further tests, the uncertainty about the solution of the problems prompted the Professor to start a campaign. It is important to notice that, in this plot, a sense of justice, rather than an academic curiosity, motivated the campaign. In addition, the sequence of events, as organized in this story, evidences that the fragility of the security of the system is real and, therefore, legitimates the campaign.

At last, the video presents the moral of the story, that is the need for increasing accountability of the Brazilian’s elections. In this sense, independently of the results of the campaign, the story can be repeated and retold. The message is simple: the Supreme Electoral Court must be more transparent.

Therefore, stories can be a way to legitimate campaigns and to convince people that its organizers are trustable. Through stories, the frames are exemplified, made concrete and its potential of persuasion is increased (Polletta, 1998). In this example, it is possible to notice that the campaign uses a counter-frame to refute the frame used by TSE, and presents this counter-frame in a well-structured story.

 _______________

Reference:

Polletta, F. (1998), Contending Stories: Narrative in Social Movements. Qualitative Sociology, Vol. 21, No. 4.

New Economics Foundation (2014) Framing the Economy: The Austerity Story. Available at: http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/entry/framing-the-economy-the-austerity-story