Abstract New nationalist ideologies have permeated politics for the last decade. New leaders, followers, and conducive environments have emerged to cause the most controversial and unique episodes in recent politics. Brexit was selected by having a set of exclusive characteristics, factors, and social elements which resulted in the UK leaving the EU after 47 years. Additionally, two academic attributes were considered to be politically researched, which were leadership and communication techniques. The former established the relationship between two parts of society (leaders and followers) and how their roles developed during the Brexit referendum campaign, and the latter examined political language by extracting the most representative rhetorical means used by the British leaders to run it.   The set of rhetorical techniques was thoroughly investigated using a specially adopted analysis. Several examples were included in how they were performed politically and strategically to create that democratic result. To execute this study, we developed qualitative research based on a study case strategy, descriptive purpose, and by having an inductive approach. Consequently, we selected a sampling method which met specific research criteria and allowed us to analyse this political phenomenon rhetorically. Besides, our empirical data was formed by using interactive and visual material which provided a credible source of study to approach, identify, and answer our research questions. Finally, Brexit’s outcome was viewed as the end of an era in terms of faith in the benefits of globalisation, open labour markets, European integration (Norris and Inglehart, 2019), loss of identity from British individuals, and the reflection of a fractured society (Gherghina and O’Malley, 2019).

The master's thesis deals with analysis of foreign professional articles focused on Brexit referendum in 2016. Focus is on review of each article - what type of analysis was used in the article, aim and motivation to do that analysis, and their comparison. In the end of this thesis quantitative analysis of Czech on-line articles writing about Brexit referendum is provided.

2016年的英國脫歐公投，最終以51.89%比48.11%的差距，決定了英國脫歐的命運。各界紛紛揣測各種可能造成民眾投下脫歐一票的原因，包含個人經濟狀況、政黨認同、受民粹操控、反菁英、對歐洲認同等。本文針對既有研究中尚存在之空缺，聚焦「議題投票取向」對選民投票抉擇的影響，探究脫歐陣營對資訊的扭曲是否對選民的投票抉擇有顯著影響。論文就脫歐派針對國民健保、移民、脫歐後的英國對外經貿、失業率、勞工權益保障與是否能無條件持續享有歐盟單一市場好處這六項議題，透過「二分勝算對數模型」進行分析，從個體層次行為來瞭解資訊扭曲對選民在脫歐公投中投票行為的影響。 研究結果顯示，在移民潮來襲、民眾高喊反全球化與選民不安全感高漲的大環境背景下，脫歐陣營對選民所關心之議題的煽動與對資訊的操控使選民在做出投票抉擇時受到明顯誤導。此外，模型結果亦顯示，選民的個人社經背景與心理態度認知同樣對選民投票行為產生影響。總結而言，本研究透過微觀層次的分析，針對促使選民投下脫歐一票的因素做出深入探討，並以「資訊扭曲」作為重要變數，補充議題投票相關研究之不足。 / In the Brexit referendum held in June 2016, 51.89 per cent of the voter voted Leave and 48.11 per cent voted Remain. The result sealed the fate of the UK as an outsider of the European Union. While the reasons behind voter’s choice to leave the EU remain disputed, individual voter’s socio-economic status, party identification, populism, anti-elite mood, and identity toward European were among the most frequently listed factors. In order to fill the gap that existing researchs has left, this thesis focuses on the significance of “issue voting” in voting behavior. It discusses if the distortion of information by the Leave campaign had a significant impact on people’s voting choice. It uses the “logistic regression model” to analyse six issues brought about by the Leave campaign. They include the NHS, immigration, trading arrangements with other nations, unemployment, working conditions for British workers, and unconditional maintaining of all the benefits from the EU. By focusing on the individual level, I try to investigate how the distortion of information has impacted upon people’s voting behavior in the Brexit referendum. The study shows that against the background of an increased flow of immigrants and heightened anti-globalization mood, voters had a strong sense of insecurity. Under such circumstances, the Leave campaign exploited the opportunity to incite voters on issues they cared most about, manipulated information during the demagogic campaign, and misled people on their voting decision. In addition, the model also demonstrates that voters’ socioeconomic status and mental cognizance have the same effect on people’s voting behavior. In the nutshell, this thesis uses micro-level analysis to investigate voter behavior in the Brexit referendum. It brings in “information distortion” as a key variable in explaining voter behavior, a variable largely neglected in the existing literature on issue voting.