Research question/goal:

This project examines the role of appearance in politics as a politically contested and strategically adaptable attribute. It is based on the assumption that politicians can shapes voters' perception of their social, cultural, and political identity through stylistic choices in external appearance. The project further argues that politicians act as rational actors when making appearance choices, trying to maximise positive reactions while minimising negative ones. Such decisions are guided by existing appearance norms, which are defined as group-level expectations about the approval and disapproval of particular outward markers, for example, the wearing or non-wearing of a tie in parliament., These norms allow politicians to anticipate audience responses to their appearance. At the same time, politicians seek positive reactions from various groups, each of which can have their own, potentially diverging appearance norms. This creates tensions that can be difficult to manage. Since appearance norms in politics are biased towards those of overrepresented groups, these tensions are particularly pronounced for members of historically underrepresented groups. 

The project aims to study these dynamics through a systematic account of politicians' appearances and the politics behind their stylistic decisions. To this end, it compiles novel and comprehensive cross-national image data capturing politicians’ appearances of politicians over time. These data are then analysed using, I leverage advanced machine-learning methods to identify appearance norms and norm deviation based on these images. The resulting data is used to (1) trace the evolution of appearance norms, (2) understand how politicians from over- and underrepresented groups navigate the tensions between the appearance norms of different groups, and (3) analyse the political implications of different appearance strategies.