PROCESS TRACING IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE STUDY OF ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S POLITICAL DISCOURSE PATTERNS

Abstract

This research analyses the discursive development of leadership identity across three speeches by Zohran Mamdani as he transitions from legislator to mayoral candidate/mayor-elect. Utilizing the qualitative explanatory case study approach that combines Critical Discourse Analysis with process tracing, the study examines pronoun usage, modality, evaluative language, metaphor, and lexical selection in speeches across legislative, campaign launch, primary campaign, and transition stages. The discussion reveals discursive shifts that correlate with changing political positions. Legislative communication generates leadership through integrating movement and institutional identities. Campaign talk invokes self-proclaimed authority without disrupting continuity of movement through metaphor. Advanced reframing in stressful circumstances, including removing personal aspects from attacks and engaging directly with affected communities, is evident in responses to such attacks. In this regard, the study contributes to the field of leadership research by demonstrating that the identity of leadership is progressively constructed through sequence of communicative experiences rather than expressed through them. The primary argument is supported: leadership development is not only established in discourse but is actually produced by it.