Everybody Follows the Crowd?

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Obermaier ◽  
Thomas Koch ◽  
Christian Baden
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Bandwagon Effect ◽  
Political News ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Opinion Polls ◽  
Electoral Preferences

Abstract. Opinion polls are a well-established part of political news coverage, especially during election campaigns. At the same time, there has been controversial debate over the possible influences of such polls on voters’ electoral choices. The most prominent influence discussed is the bandwagon effect: It states that voters tend to support the expected winner of an upcoming election, and use polls to determine who the likely winner will be. This study investigated the mechanisms underlying the effect. In addition, we inquired into the role of past electoral performances of a candidate and analyzed how these (as well as polls) are used as heuristic cues for the assessment of a candidate’s personal characteristics. Using an experimental design, we found that both polls and past election results influence participants’ expectations regarding which candidate will succeed. Moreover, higher competence was attributed to a candidate, if recipients believe that the majority of voters favor that candidate. Through this attribution of competence, both information about prior elections and current polls shaped voters’ electoral preferences.

The Power of Polls?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Roy ◽  
Shane P. Singh ◽  
Patrick Fournier
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
The United States ◽  
Voting Behaviour ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Political Sophistication ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Public Opinion Polls ◽  
Opinion Polls

Public opinion polls have become increasingly prominent during elections, but how they affect voting behaviour remains uncertain. In this work, we estimate the effects of poll exposure using an experimental design in which we randomly assign the availability of polls to participants in simulated election campaigns. We draw upon results from ten independent experiments conducted across six countries on four continents (Argentina, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to examine how polls affect the amount of information individuals seek and the votes that they cast. We further assess how poll effects differ according to individual-level factors, such as partisanship and political sophistication, and the content included in polls and how it is presented. Our work provides a comprehensive assessment of the power of polls and the implications for poll reporting in contemporary elections.

Political fragmentation on the march: Campaign effects in 2016

2018 ◽  
pp. 145-164
Author(s):  
Theresa Reidy ◽  
Jane Suiter
Keyword(s):  
Vote Choice ◽  
Party Leader ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
New Parties ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Previous Election ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Voting Decisions ◽  
Opinion Polls

This chapter concentrates on when voters make their voting decisions paying particular attention to the campaign period. It starts by arguing that knowing when decisions are made is a vital part of understanding how elections work. The evidence presented demonstrates that a growing proportion of voters report making their final vote choice during election campaigns. Modern election campaigns with their manifesto launches, party leader debates and intense scrutiny of opinion polls matter a great deal. These campaigns work by raising awareness of new parties and candidates and providing vital information on the policy positions of competing actors. The analysis reveals that they are decisive in shaping voter decisions. Young people, women and urban voters are more likely to arrive at their final vote choice during the campaign period and importantly, voters who decide during the campaign are also more likely to have changed their preference from the previous election. These findings have important implications for the political system. They provide further evidence of the challenges parties face in building long term allegiance among their voters. Furthermore, it is also clear that election results may become more unpredictable as larger proportions of voters arrive at their final decision close to election day, making early campaign opinion polls more problematic as predictors of final outcomes.

scholarly journals Hearing non-neutral: Listening practices and the construction of societal consensus in hybrid election campaign interviews

Journalism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-137
Author(s):  
Argyro Kantara
Keyword(s):  
General Election ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Broadcast News ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political News ◽  
The Public ◽  
Societal Consensus ◽  
News Interviews

Ekström and Kroon Lundell, Ekström, Hutchby refer to hybridity in political news interviews as the mix of activities or the systematic shifting between speech exchange systems otherwise associated with non-interview settings. In their examination of journalists’ mixed interactional activities, both Hutchby and Ekström discuss how hybridity is explored as an interactional resource to question politicians and/or create an argumentative environment, breaching the neutralistic role of the broadcast news journalist. In this article, I examine instances of journalists’ breaching neutralism not through their hybrid questioning practices but through their listening practices in one-on-one interviews conducted during the 2012 Greek general election campaigns. In my data, journalists use hybrid listening practices to co-produce politicians’ arguments and to answer their own questions. Findings indicate that journalists’ hybrid listening practices provide political actors with new ways to mainstream and appropriate their manifestos to the public.

Game versus Substance in Political News

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Media Effects ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Congressional Elections ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Political News ◽  
Competitive Game ◽  
The Media ◽  
Political Game

This chapter examines the game schema in news coverage. It argues that substance is often subordinated to the competitive game, particularly during election campaigns but also in governing situations. Moreover, because journalists tend to see politics as a political game, their reporting of policy leadership and problems is often framed in game-like terms The chapter discusses the game schema in theoretical perspective and looks at research on the game schema in US presidential and congressional elections and other contexts. The research on the media effects of game schema is reviewed. The chapter closes by offering future directions for research on the game schema.

scholarly journals STALINIST DEMOCRACY, OR HOW ELECTIONS WERE RIGGED IN THE SOVIET UNION

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 243-248
Author(s):  
Oleksandra STASIUK
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Free Expression ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Election Results

Systematic violations of electoral legislation and the use of manipulative technologies during election campaigns to the representative branch of government in the USSR are considered. The Soviet electoral system, which was formed in the Soviet Union after the adoption of the so-called Stalin Constitution, had nothing in common with democracy. The party's dictatorship prevented the free expression of the will of citizens based on universal direct equal suffrage declared in the Constitution, turning the election into a farce of voting for a single pro-government candidate. Examples of protests of citizens against violation of the election legislation by the regime leaders and non-transparency of election procedures are shown. The author gave the text of a document on falsifications committed by employees of the Zaporizhia party apparatus (Ukrainian SSR) during the preparations for the elections to the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR in February 1947. The document was found by Russian scientists in the Central Archives of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation and published in the collection of documents "Lubianka. Stalin i MHB SSSR. Mart 1946 ‒ mart 1953: Dokumenty vysshykh orhanov partiinoi i hosudarstvennoi vlasti". The study demonstrated the need to falsify the election results in the Soviet Union came up from the specific role of the state democratic institutions, which were to legitimize the will of the only ruling Communist Party. Keywords Soviet electoral system, guided democracy, party dictatorship.

The role and effect of the mass media during electioneering

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-74
Author(s):  
Eyitayo Francis Adanlawo ◽  
Mike Megroove Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
News Item ◽  
Media Effect ◽  
Political News ◽  
Equal Chance ◽  
The Media ◽  
Setting Theory

The role of mass media, especially television, is pivotal during electioneering as it brings to the society information that relate to the election. By so doing, it successfully shapes the opinions and attitudes of society members towards political candidates and parties. In order to gain an insight into the various roles that the media play during electioneering, the study reviewed various published research studies on the role of the media in setting news agenda. Agenda-setting theory was used to clarify who set the agenda between the media and political parties. The findings from the content analysis of the reviewed literature provided a comprehensive and detailed discourse of media effect on society during electioneering. The study concluded that the more the emphasis on a news item, the more the electorates will regard the issue as significant and consequently act (effect) as directed by the news item. The study recommends non-partisan political news coverage by mass media that give equal chance to political parties.

A Statistical Study of Process Variables to Optimize a High Speed Curtain Coater: Part I

TAPPI Journal ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEEYUSH TRIPATHI ◽  
MARGARET JOYCE ◽  
PAUL D. FLEMING ◽  
MASAHIRO SUGIHARA
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Statistical Study ◽  
Process Variables ◽  
High Speeds ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Air Removal ◽  
Removal System

Using an experimental design approach, researchers altered process parameters and material prop-erties to stabilize the curtain of a pilot curtain coater at high speeds. Part I of this paper identifies the four significant variables that influence curtain stability. The boundary layer air removal system was critical to the stability of the curtain and base sheet roughness was found to be very important. A shear thinning coating rheology and higher curtain heights improved the curtain stability at high speeds. The sizing of the base sheet affected coverage and cur-tain stability because of its effect on base sheet wettability. The role of surfactant was inconclusive. Part II of this paper will report on further optimization of curtain stability with these four variables using a D-optimal partial-facto-rial design.

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