Opinion article by Patrícia Oliveira-Silva, lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Psychology at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and Director of the HNL – Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory.
It’s not just electoral programmes that win votes. Politicians learned this lesson long ago. Elections aren’t won by numbers alone; voters’ instincts also play a role.
We all know that facts matter. But what we rarely admit is that they often arrive late. Politics seems to embed itself first through a racing pulse, a knot in the stomach, the comfort of belonging. Facts, reason and arguments come later, like defence lawyers trying to justify a choice that has already been made behind the scenes of our minds. It’s this shortcut that explains why certain speeches and some leaders captivate us instantly, even when we can’t quite explain what we’re feeling.
