Is negative campaigning in German politics a myth? In this book, Susanne Thelen tries to find an answer to this question while analysing the 2017 German federal election, especially the parties’ manifestos, their Twitter and Facebook activities as well as the television debate between Chancellor Angela Markel and her challenger Martin Schulz. For most people, negative campaigning simply involves one person attacking another’s character through ‘below-the-belt’ comments. But negative campaigning can be defined as any true or untrue criticism levelled by one party or candidate against another during a campaign. Attacks can be implicit or explicit; they can be direct or comparative, but they must at least address the opponent in some way. Thelen distinguishes between attacks on personality traits and those on issues. Moreover, she develops a third category relating to nationality, religion and law and order: attacks on values. Thelen provides an overview of negative highlights in previous federal elections in Germany and she compares German strategies with the negativity we experienced during the 2016 US presidential election.
