'Mutti’ and the Gentlemen. Media Representations of Leadership in the 2017 German General Elections

Much scholarly literature exists on political leadership in general and female leadership in organisational structures. Nevertheless, accounts on female political leadership require new, modern input, especially because a relatively new type of politician has entered the political sphere: the established female leader. This paper is an attempt to re-evaluate the concept of political leadership for male and female politicians as manifested in the media by taking into account political personalisation theory and traditional gender expectations. A qualitative discourse analysis of 91 German newspaper articles, covering the final TV debate in the context of the 2017 German general elections between the top candidates Angela Merkel (CDU) and Martin Schulz (SPD) revealed mixed results. A total of six different modes of representation could be identified for Angela Merkel, Europe’s longest-serving female head of state. Within all modes of representation, Merkel is put into contrast with her male opponent Schulz. Three less prominent main themes of leadership representation confirm the existing literature on female leadership: Merkel is represented as vulnerable and as reactive while special attention is paid to her physical appearance. The two most dominant and (from a theoretical point of view) surprising themes of Merkel’s representation, however, actually fall in line with classic (male) leadership themes: Merkel as a thoughtful leader and as a symbol of continuity. A hybrid form of leadership is thus found for Angela Merkel in this case study, which places her in between gender expectations.