Election campaigns

The study of the role of (news) media during election campaigns has a long tradition and is one of the core denominators of research in political communication. Questions relate to the interwoven relationships between politicians, parties, campaign managers and media professionals and how these shape campaign communications through the mass media. Equally important is the attempt to understand whether and how (mass) meditated campaigns, election campaigns in the news media, affect citizens’ political cognitions, attitudes and ultimately also voting behavior and thereby election outcomes. Essential to these two perspectives is the systematic analysis of the media coverage of election campaigns. Research within CPC focuses on elections at the national level, including Dutch, German and UK national elections, and the European level and includes analyses of media content as well as, for instance, interviews with journalists or public opinion surveys.

Scholars doing work in this domain include: