Public discourse about autonomous regions and de facto states

Abstract

Public discourse about autonomous regions and de facto ‐‐‐ or unrecognized ‐‐‐ states can influence the policies that parent states adopt to respond to these entities. I theorize that public discourse about autonomous regions will underscore commonalities with the parent state. Public discourse about de facto states will treat the state as a separate entity. I employ newspaper data as a measure of public discourse about Adjara and Abkhazia, Georgia. Using sentiment analysis and topic models, I show that public discourse about autonomous regions discusses domestic politics whereas discourse about de facto states emphasizes international relations. This analysis of public discourse offers insight into the ways in which people in parent states discuss separatist entities and how leaders may wish to steer public discourse about these regions in the future.