Unilateral norm breaking in a presidential debate: Lech Wałȩsa versus Aleksander Kwaśniewski

Abstract

This study analyzes the 1995 television presidential debate between Lech Wałȩsa and Aleksander Kwaśniewski. We show that the debate's institutional nature was subverted by the former candidate's use of an informal register characterized by jocular tenor, use of marked forms of address, and disparaging metapragmatic comments. Wałȩsa's casual style appeared to the other participants in the debate (his opponent, the journalists in the studio, the media, and the viewing public) as a bid to conduct the debate on his own terms, not as a "formal, public" event but as an "informal, personal" one. Such appropriation of the debate was resisted, and ultimately Wałȩsa was held accountable for his actions and his style was judged negatively. According to the media reports of the election results, the negative perception of Wałȩsa's debating style was largely responsible for tipping the electoral balance in favor of the other candidate.