Search results

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate EU election data for the UK and Germany and examine the influence of promotional activity (party campaigning) and the different voting systems prevailing in these two countries – first past the post (FPTP) in the UK and proportional representation (PR) in Germany – on voter turnout.

The paper takes the form of a binomial logistic regression analysis of individual‐level survey data from the European Election Studies (EES) archive.

The findings suggest a general link between electoral systems, party campaigning and voter turnout. Individuals are more likely to turn out under PR systems, while “party campaigning” – including door‐to‐door canvassing and leafleting – also had a substantial positive effect on self‐reported turnout.

The structure of the EES survey questions means that it is impossible to separate out which mode of campaigning (impersonal or face‐to‐face) is driving the observed strong positive relationship between the variable “party campaigning” and voter turnout. More survey research should be carried out to tease out which specific types of promotional activity have more of an influence on voter turnout. In addition, aggregate level research on campaigning patterns across countries with different voting systems would be helpful to explore this phenomenon in more depth.

While research has been undertaken within the context of specific countries such as the UK, USA and New Zealand, there appears to have been no research reported within the context of the EU.

The purpose of this exploratory study is to look at how the Internet was used by political parties and candidates during the Indian parliamentary elections of 2009.

A total of 31 web sites belonging to political parties and their candidates in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were examined for how they were used to mobilize volunteers and voters. An online questionnaire and in‐depth interviews were administered to the web site coordinators/designers and politicians.

The study found that sites were not used to their maximum potential but instead, merely for publicity, online presence, and to explore the new medium. There was greater reliance by most candidates on traditional media such as rallies and face‐to‐face interaction. The reason may be due to the limited Internet penetration in India, which also means the Internet may have less influence on voters. Some candidates have shown the way to the potential use of the medium for fund raising and recruiting volunteers. But Indian politicians will likely continue to be cautious in using the Internet.

This study was limited to the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat and did not consider the impact or the effectiveness of the Internet.

This is the first such study of the use of web sites for electioneering in India. It also documents the development in the use of the new medium for campaigning in 2009 as compared with the elections of 2004.

A marketing planning framework to aid political parties in improving their image and co‐ordinating election campaigns has been developed to reflect the changing nature of electoral campaigning in the developed world towards the need for more long‐term planning; together with the development and implementation of marketing models in a wider sphere of social situations. The planning model has been developed using both a hypothetico‐deductive and an inductive approach, incorporating recent developments in US and UK political campaign management and depth interviews with political strategists in the UK. Suggests that national political parties need to co‐ordinate their election campaigns more effectively in order to strengthen their image among key citizen and voter groups by determining which target areas are most in need of resources. Further research is needed to determine how to position the party and to select and place advertising in the relevant media. Concludes that local election campaigns are becoming more co‐ordinated by national parties but that such co‐ordination neglects to provide local area research and telemarketing campaigns, and post‐election analysis exercises to monitor strengths and weaknesses in party strategy and campaign plan implementation.

This study sets out to make in‐depth comparisons between major political campaigns in the UK and Taiwan, and generate contemporary insights into the creative development process, the working relationships between campaign managers and professional agencies, and the “spin doctor” phenomenon, all through the eyes of very senior professionals.

Material gathered in “élite interviews” was subjected to interpretive analysis and synthesised with secondary data and the findings of an extensive literature review.

The putative Americanization of political marketing has not been as complete as some authors suggest, but one of its features was an important element in campaign development in both countries: the centrality of the party leader's persona in an image‐building strategy. The culture and history of the party were an important determinant of the style of the campaigns examined. It was generally agreed that political marketing and advertising have been strongly influenced by commercial branding, though important differences remain.

Despite the richness of the data and the authority of the respondents, the small number of willing participants in the study limits the scope for generalisation.

The findings offer usable insights into the creative development process and the nature of client‐agency relationships, in political campaign planning.

The paper contributes the first expert‐insider perspective in published studies and commentaries concerning political marketing literature. It cuts across disciplines of political science, communication, management, marketing and advertising, and may contain lessons for marketing planners in other non‐commercial contexts.

Existing literature has agreed that during elections party web sites are primarily an information tool. This study seeks to identify to what extent political parties have developed a distinctive role for the Internet as a communications channel.

Research data were based on content analysis of the web sites and e‐newsletters of parties contesting the 2005 UK General Election, and interviews with party e‐campaigners.

Party size determined whether they had an integrated online communication strategy or not. The Internet did provide a discrete role, that of recruiting new members, encouraging donations and mobilising volunteers. Whereas previous research has focused on the web as an election campaign tool, this study found that it was e‐mail, especially pass‐protected e‐newsletters to party members.

The traditional view was that parties used their web sites primarily to promote information. This study suggests that they only do so partially. Parties do not use their web sites as part of an integrated communication strategy supporting the messages carried by other channels. In 2005 UK parties began to develop a positive reason for having an online presence, namely as a resource generating tool, particularly in mobilising volunteers. Previous literature had considered whether parties had entered into dialogue; this study further defined this into asymmetrical and symmetrical two‐way communication. The results suggest that it is smaller parties who are more likely to use two‐way symmetrical communication.

This selective annotated bibliography presents a snapshot of research published between 1990 and 1999 that has studied negative political advertising, primarily in the USA. Political scientists, psychologists, communication theorists and marketing scholars have used experiments, surveys, and case studies to examine the impact of this type of advertising on voter beliefs and behavior. The author categorizes the literature by broad themes such as typologies, effects of negative ads, media coverage of political campaigns, and actual candidate behavior, and provides descriptive annotations of representative articles in each category. In addition, several scholarly books that discuss negative political advertising are annotated. Since the focus of this bibliography is on social science research, articles from the popular literature are not included.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of political party websites for e-electioneering and their impact on the outcome of the elections.

Empirical data for the study were collected from the websites of 11 major political parties of Pakistan using modified version of the coding scheme used by Gibson, Rommele and Ward for the evaluation of functionality and delivery of websites. Data were analysed using web content analysis method to achieve the objectives of this study. The study also ranked the party websites based on points scored for functionalities and delivery.

The study found that although Pakistani political parties have started using their websites for communication with their voters during the general elections but they have not utilized the full potential of the website functionalities for e-electioneering.

The study focused on content analysis of political party websites of Pakistan only. However, comparisons were made to other studies where possible to contextualize the results of this study in international perspective. It is suggested to replicate this study after ten years to study the changing behaviour of political parties.

Political parties might like to improve their websites in the light of findings of this study to spread their message more effectively to larger voter base.

Findings of the study will help in improving the readiness of political parties for e-electioneering and improved websites will help voters in making an informed decision during election. It will overall improve the electoral process in the country where democratic system is not very strong.

With the advent of internet, political parties are using their websites during elections for various purposes. This study, first ever in Pakistan on the topic, provides empirical evidence on the use of political party websites during May 2013 general election in Pakistan and presents its impact on the outcome of the election. The study will be valuable for political science researchers especially those focusing on Asia and Pakistan.

This paper seeks to report the results of a study, which investigated the use of the internet by political parties and individual candidates in Scotland as part of their campaign for election to the UK Parliament in 2010.

Three methodologies were used in gathering data: the content of the web sites of 18 parties and 12 candidates was analysed in order to identify the ways in which participation by the Scottish electorate was encouraged via the provision of information and of opportunities for interaction, debate and feedback; the extent to which parties and candidates adopted and used social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, during the campaign was investigated and measured; and using e‐mail, Facebook and Twitter, a series of enquiries based around topical campaign and policy issues was directed at parties and candidates to measure the speed and extent of response, as well as any efforts made towards the creation of an ongoing relationship with potential voters.

Party and candidate web sites were being used extensively for information provision, income generation and the recruitment of members and volunteers. However, Scottish political actors were reluctant to encourage online contact and debate, and were unwilling to answer contentious policy questions online. Social media applications were adopted by a significant number of parties and candidates, but were used primarily for the one‐way flow of information to known associates and party activists.

This study forms part of an ongoing series of investigations by the authors, which has examined the use of the internet by political parties and candidates during parliamentary election campaigns in Scotland. These are the only such studies which have looked specifically at the Scottish political arena.

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study of voters' online behaviour conducted during the 2011 Scottish parliamentary election campaign.

The study used an interactive, electronically-assisted interview method, where 64 citizens were observed and questioned while they searched for, browsed and used information on the web sites and social media sites of political parties and candidates standing for election to the Scottish Parliament.

While online campaign sites were generally regarded as serving a useful purpose, as being easy to use and understand, relatively interesting and likely to be visited again, there was very little evidence in this study to indicate that they had any significant impact on voting behaviour during the 2011 Scottish campaign. Rather, the participants' comments suggest that more traditional information sources, particularly print and broadcast media, coupled with long-established campaign techniques, such as leaflet deliveries and door knocking, continue to be more influential in determining Scottish voters' democratic choices.

The paper presents results obtained from a sample of 64 citizens of North-east Scotland. As such, the authors would lay no claims to the results of the study being applicable outwith the Scottish setting.

The findings have implications for those candidates successfully elected to the Scottish Parliament, who may have to significantly modify their information practices on entering parliament. The study also has implications for the broader, international, political and information research communities, as it has added to a rather sparse body of qualitative work on voters' online election information needs. The voter-centred methodological approach used in the study has the potential to be used or adopted more widely, to aid our understanding of the use and impact of online campaign tools.

This study forms part of an ongoing series of investigations by the authors, which has examined the use of the internet by political parties and candidates during parliamentary election campaigns in Scotland. These are the only such studies which have looked specifically at the Scottish political arena. Internationally, most studies of users of online campaign resources have been largely quantitative in nature. The qualitative research discussed in this paper is, therefore, particularly timely and potentially significant.

Despite the growing use of social media by politicians, especially during election campaigns, research on the integration of these media into broader campaign communication strategies remains rare. The purpose of this paper is to ask what the consequences of the transition to social media may be, specifically considering how Senate candidates’ use of a popular social network, Twitter, is related to their messaging via broadcast media in the form of campaign advertising, in terms of content and tone.

To address this research question, a unique data set combining every tweet (10,303) and every television ad aired (576,933 ad airings) by candidate campaigns for the US Senate during the 2010 campaign is created. Using these data, tweets and ads are analyzed for their references to issues as well as their overall tone.

Findings demonstrate that social messaging often resembles broadcast advertising, but that Twitter nonetheless occupies a unique place in modern campaigns in that its tone tends to be quite different than that of advertisements.

This sheds light on a larger debate about whether online campaigning has produced a fundamental change in election practices or whether new media simply extend “campaigning as usual.”

This study uses a novel data set, encompassing the complete universe of ads and tweets distributed by candidates for Senate in 2010.