Political argumentation versus citizens' concerns: which issues did Sánchez and Feijóo cover during the 2023 election debate?

Abstract

Decades after the first televised presidential debates, their role and influence on citizens' voting decisions is still under discussion. The rise of different information channels, such as digital media and social networks, took of the role of television as a decisive tool for influencing public opinion. In the case of Spain, and after years of absence, the debates between the main candidates have at least helped to get to know and confront their main political ideas. This research analyses, through quantitative techniques, to what extent the issues addressed in the 2023 presidential debate between Pedro Sánchez, from PSOE, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, from PP, responded to the main concerns of citizens. To this end, it is studied whether there is a correspondence between the issues discussed, and their extension and repetition, with the incidence of the concerns expressed by citizens in the monthly polls carried out by the country's Sociological Research Centre (CIS). Data show that, although the most relevant issues were covered, other less pressing were also introduced by both candidates as a technique for building an argument to mobilising the like-minded voters of each party.