Comparative Analysis of the Political Images of Liberal Candidates of the Russian Federation Presidental Elections of 2000-2024

The purpose of this work is an attempt to study the political images of politicians during the presidential election campaigns in the Russian Federation, and the focus of this work is aimed at studying those candidates who articulate belonging to a liberal ideology. The presidential elections in the Russian Federation are one of the most important electoral processes and therefore it is important to analyze how the politicians participating in these elections are trying to construct their own political image. Studying this process seems important for understanding how politicians create and promote their political image during the election campaign. This study will focus on six presidential election cycles, starting in 2000 and ending in 2024, in which liberal presidential candidates of the Russian Federation were officially registered. The work will study the political images of G.A. Yavlinsky in 2000, I.M. Khakamada in 2004, A.V. Bogdanov in 2008, M.D. Prokhorov in 2012, K.A. Sobchak in 2018 and V.A. Davankov in 2024. The research method in this paper is a critical discourse analysis in understanding N.Fairclough's approach, which will be carried out on the basis of textual versions of propaganda materials released by candidates during the election campaign. The structure of this research work will include an introduction, which describes all the main elements of research design; a theoretical chapter that reveals the conceptual foundations of the theory of political communication in general and the political image in particular; critical discourse is the analysis of the texts of speeches of selected candidates, as well as the comparison of their political images and the formulation of conclusions.