Campaign Dynamics and Voter Perceptions

• In Event: The Causes and Consequences of Parties’ Campaign Rhetoric

Abstract

How well do voters understand party positions? What explains variance in voter perceptions of party stances? These questions are at the forefront of research on party politics. Our study moves beyond simply considering party characteristics (size, ideology) and manifesto statements and focuses on the role of election campaigns -- a relatively neglected factor in European party literature -- for explaining voter perceptions of party positions. We use new and original data on the newspaper coverage of election campaigns from 10 European democracies. These data allow us to investigate not only parties' own position taking strategies during election campaigns but also the framing of these positions by rival parties. This provides an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of how the campaign context affects the way voters understand and interpret party positions.

Authors

• Markus Baumann, University of Mannheim

• Zeynep Somer-Topcu, University of Texas at Austin

• Margit Tavits, Washington University in St. Louis