The Construction of Semiotic Meanings and Political Myths by Political Parties through Campaign Songs in the 2026 General Election.

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the communication patterns of political parties through campaign songs, as well as the construction of semiotic meanings and political myths by political parties through these songs in the 2026 general election. Utilizing a qualitative research methodology, this study employed textual analysis to investigate the campaign songs produced and disseminated during the 2026 general election by five political parties: the Bhumjaithai Party, the Pheu Thai Party, the People's Party, the Rak Chart Party, and the Democrat Party." The findings revealed that campaign songs function as a tool for political socialization through four core components: 1) The Sender and Identity Encoding: Political parties, acting as 'senders,' have shifted their role from merely providing policy information to becoming 'constructors of emotional states and identities through the utilization of campaign songs.' This strategic utilization of campaign songs can be synthesized into two primary models: Model 1emphasizes communicating a professional and expert party identity, whereas Model 2, focuses on articulating core values and political ideologies. 2) Message Content and Affective Scripting: Abstract policies are transfigured into 'affective scripts' through the strategic deployment of discursive reinforcement and myth-making.3) Channel and Platform Dynamics: The primary communication battleground has migrated to digital platforms such as TikTok and Facebook, compelling political actors to adapt to specific 'media affordances' and platform logics to generate viral content and optimize audience reach.4) Audience and Active Decoding: Audiences perform the role of 'decoding' symbolic meanings while elevating their interaction to the level of creating User-Generated Content (UGC), thereby reflecting a novel relational dynamic within the contemporary media ecosystem." Campaign songs function as ‘symbolic communication' deployed to regulate atmosphere and foster identity-based attachment, seamlessly transform political myths into perceived realities through musical aesthetics. In today's attention economy, political actors strategically engineer short, memorable hooks to align with modern media algorithms. Consequently, campaign songs evolve into a 'soundtrack of political life,' effectively infiltrating the private spheres of audiences."