Many believe that the vulgarity in Nikol Pashinyan’s pre-election speeches is a sign of psychological instability, poor upbringing, or a narrow worldview. Or that he is simply trying to appeal to a lumpenized segment of his electorate. All of these explanations are probably true, but they are incomplete.
In reality, this behavior, in my view, is a consciously chosen political technology aimed at educated, thinking voters — those who try to find at least a grain of rationality in the electoral “show.” The goal is to disappoint them and thus reduce their turnout. For example, when footage appears online of Pashinyan, to put it mildly, eating in a crude manner, it provokes disgust not only toward the leader of the Civil Contract party, but toward the entire electoral process itself.
In psychology, this phenomenon has several names: “discrediting through association,” “negative affect transfer,” or “emotional generalization.” In all cases, negative attitudes are extended to the entire process — in this case, elections.
The objective is to shape the following mindset in as many people as possible: “they are all the same,” “I expect nothing good from anyone,” “this one is a thug, that one is a thief, the third is mentally unstable.” It hardly needs to be explained that such discourse benefits the ruling power. Informed citizens do not vote for Civil Contract, but as always, the authorities enjoy a significant advantage during elections through state institutions, the army, the police, and so on. In addition, in Pashinyan’s case, there is also a segment of people with low educational levels and heavily indoctrinated minds (who, however, do not make up the majority).
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As for those who are opposed to the authorities and could theoretically join the opposition electorate, many of them instead exclaim: “ugh, politics,” or “I’m not interested in politics.” They believe that such a stance is a sign of some kind of “high-mindedness.” It is precisely on the passivity of such people that the authorities rely.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
