ABSTRACT
The third chapter situates the theoretical architecture that underpins and shapes the discursive disruption framework. It discusses three core theoretical themes: Authoritarian populist communication; modern or conventional discourses of democracy; and refines the concept of discursive disruption. The three themes are illustrated with examples from the two case studies, Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chávez and the United States’ (US) President Donald Trump. Block expands on the definition of discursive disruption as a multilevel framework that encompasses theoretical and analytical components that can help to understand contemporary disruptions in the discourses of democracy. The author analyzes populism as discursive violence, as a communicative rupture, and a cultural reaction to plural debate, liberal ideas, and civil rights, which disrupts and ultimately undermines democracy from within.
