Issue Publics, Mass Publics, and Agenda Setting: Environmentalism and Economics in Presidential Elections

10.1068/c9c ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-126
Author(s):  
Mark J Wattier ◽  
Raymond Tatalovich
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
Issue Publics ◽  
Campaign Rhetoric ◽  
Mass Publics

In this study we assess whether the two major political parties and their presidential candidates played any role in mobilizing public support for environmentalism, as compared with economic issues. Our empirical analysis is based on (1) content analysis of the party platforms, (2) content analysis of campaign rhetoric, and (3) identification of ‘attentive’ publics in the electorate. Over the period 1972–92 no fewer than 12% of respondents mentioned economics but no more than 3.9% mentioned purely environmental concerns. We conclude that the environmental policy agenda did not originate from two-party electoral competition.

The Dynamics of Structural Realignment

1987 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 775-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Elaine Macdonald ◽  
George Rabinowitz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political System ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spatial Theory ◽  
United States Congress ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Congressional Behavior ◽  
The U.S

Governments render decisions on how resources and values are allocated in a society. In the United States, Congress is the institution in which most of the key allocating decisions are made. To the extent the U.S. political system is integrated, the coalitions that form around the issues debated in Congress should be reflected in the coalitions that support presidential candidates and those that support the major political parties. We formulate a spatial theory of political change in which new ideological cleavages appear in congressional behavior and presidential elections and gradually reorganize the mass party base. The theory leads us explicitly to consider the question of dealignment and to specify conditions under which the parties will lose support from voters.

scholarly journals Charismatic and Affective Rhetoric in a Presidential Campaign

2014 ◽  
pp. 120-137
Author(s):  
Sheilesha R. Willis ◽  
Gloria L. Sweida ◽  
Stephanie Glassburn ◽  
Cynthia L. Sherman ◽  
Michelle C. Bligh
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Presidential Campaign ◽  
2008 Presidential Election ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Emotional Language ◽  
Democratic Parties

Although prior research demonstrates that charisma and rhetoric are two determinants of voting behavior, few studies have examined the effects of charismatic rhetoric and affect as they pertain to the outcomes of presidential elections. Using DICTION software for content analysis, 432 pre-convention speeches from the 2008 presidential election were analyzed to explore the effects that charismatic rhetoric and affect have on presidential candidates’ success. Results indicate that there were more similarities than differences in the charismatic and affect-laden rhetoric of successful and unsuccessful presidential candidates in both the Republican and Democratic parties. Overall, the results demonstrate that both successful and unsuccessful presidential candidates used charismatic rhetoric and emotional language to motivate their followers in the 2008 presidential election.

scholarly journals Simultaneous Elections and the Rise of Female Representation in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-72
Author(s):  
Luky Sandra Amalia ◽  
Aisah Putri Budiatri ◽  
Mouliza KD. Sweinstani ◽  
Atika Nur Kusumaningtyas ◽  
Esty Ekawati
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Institutional Innovation ◽  
Presidential Candidate ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Legislative Election

In the 2019 election, the proportion of women elected to Indonesia’s People’s Representative Assembly ( Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) increased significantly to almost 21 per cent. In this article, we ask whether an institutional innovation – the introduction of simultaneous presidential and legislative elections – contributed to this change. We examine the election results, demonstrating that, overall, women candidates did particularly well in provinces where the presidential candidate nominated by their party won a majority of the vote. Having established quantitatively a connection between results of the presidential elections and outcomes for women legislative candidates, we turn to our qualitative findings to seek a mechanism explaining this outcome. We argue that the simultaneous elections helped women candidates by easing their access to voters who supported one of the presidential candidates, but who were undecided on the legislative election. Rather than imposing additional burdens on female candidates, simultaneous elections assisted them.

scholarly journals When Does Income Inequality Cause Polarization?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Jacob R. Gunderson
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
Party Positions ◽  
Economic Elites ◽  
The Right ◽  
Issue Content

Scholars have long been concerned with the implications of income inequality for democracy. Conventional wisdom suggests that high income inequality is associated with political parties taking polarized positions as the left advocates for increased redistribution while the right aims to entrench the position of economic elites. This article argues that the connection between party positions and income inequality depends on how party bases are sorted by income and the issue content of national elections. It uses data from European national elections from 1996 to 2016 to show that income inequality has a positive relationship with party polarization on economic issues when partisans are sorted with respect to income and when economic issues are relatively salient in elections. When these factors are weak, however, the author finds no relationship between income inequality and polarization.

scholarly journals The People’s Champions? Populist Communication as a Contextually Dependent Political Strategy

2021 ◽  
pp. 107769902199864
Author(s):  
Iskander De Bruycker ◽  
Matthijs Rooduijn
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
News Media ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Eu Policy ◽  
News Stories

This article conceives of populist communication as a contextually dependent political strategy. We bridge actor- and communication-centered approaches by arguing that the context of issues conditions the extent to which parties employ populist communication. We draw from a content analysis of 2,085 news stories in eight news media outlets and Eurobarometer data connected to 41 EU policy issues and analyze statements from 85 political parties. Our findings show that populist parties are more prone to express populism on salient and polarized issues. Issues important to civil society groups, in contrast, make non-populist parties more inclined to express such communication.

The Progressive Party and the Rise of Executive-Centered Partisanship

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney M. Milkis
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Partisan Politics ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Intermediary Organizations ◽  
Good Government ◽  
Progressive Party

This chapter examines the wayward path of Progressivism from Roosevelt's Bull Moose campaign to the Obama presidency. Committed to “pure democracy,” many early-twentieth-century reformers hoped to sweep away intermediary organizations like political parties. In their disdain for partisan politics and their enthusiasm for good government, they sought to fashion the Progressive Party as a party to end parties. However, the Progressives failed in that ambition, and their shortfall has had profound effects on contemporary government and politics. By transforming rather than transcending parties, they fostered a kindred, though bastardized, alternative: executive-centered partisanship. The transformation of parties set in motion by the Progressives has subjected both Progressivism and conservatism to an executive-centered democracy that subordinates “collective responsibility” to the needs of presidential candidates and incumbents.

scholarly journals La transparencia de los partidos políticos como estrategia electoral. Una evaluación de sus promesas y sus páginas web

Tripodos ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 83-104
Author(s):  
María Díez Garrido ◽  
Eva Campos Domínguez ◽  
Dafne Calvo
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
The Political ◽  
New Parties ◽  
The Public ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Insight Into

El escenario digital ha impulsado pro­fundos cambios en el entorno político, entre los que se puede distinguir el im­pulso de la transparencia informativa. La transparencia se ha convertido en uno de los valores democráticos que los políticos quieren demostrar de cara a la ciudadanía, ya que es un signo de le­gitimidad, evolución y lucha contra la corrupción. Los partidos políticos han introducido la transparencia en sus dis­cursos y argumentarios. Precisamente las formaciones tienen una reputación baja en cuanto a apertura informativa. Este artículo pretende estudiar la intro­ducción de la transparencia en el dis­curso electoral de los partidos políticos. Para ello, se estudia la presencia de la transparencia en los programas elec­torales de las principales formaciones políticas españolas durante las últimas Elecciones Generales (2015 y 2016). A continuación, se realiza un análisis de contenido de sus páginas web, que pretende conocer su nivel de apertura informativa. Esta metodología nos per­mite descubrir si lo que promocionan las formaciones en los programas se relaciona con el desarrollo en sus pá­ginas web. Los resultados muestran las diferencias entre los nuevos partidos y los tradicionales, así como la evolución entre unos comicios y los siguientes.   Political Parties’ Transparency As an Electoral Strategy. An Evaluation of Their Promises and Their Websites The digital scenario has produced pro­found changes in the political environ­ment, and transparency is part of this transformation. Transparency has become one of the most valued aspirations that politicians want to demonstrate to the public, as it is a sign of legitimacy, evolution, and the fight against corrup­tion. Political parties have introduced transparency in their speeches and ar­guments. At the same time, political for­mations have a low reputation in terms of informative openness. This article aims to study the introduction of trans­parency in the political parties’ electoral discourse. To this end, we explore the presence of transparency in the electo­ral programs of the main Spanish poli­tical parties during the last two General Elections (2015 and 2016). Next, we carry out a content analysis of their web sites, which aims to gain deeper insight into their level of informative openness. This methodology allows us to determine if Spanish political parties promote in their programs the same ob­jectives that they put forward on their web sites. The results also show the di­fferences between the new parties and the traditional ones, as well as their evolution between the General Elections in 2015 and 2016.

scholarly journals Election Security and Violence in Ghana: The Case of Ayawaso West Wougon and Talensi By-elections

2020 ◽  
pp. 32-46
Author(s):  
Frank Bitafir Ijon
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
National Security ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
The Government ◽  
Election Violence

Conducts of by-elections in recent times have been fraught with a lot of security challenges. This has been as a result of the violence that characterized the conduct of by-elections in recent times in Ghana. Violence during by-elections in Ghana plays a vital role in securing election victories for political parties. In all the by-elections characterized by violence in Ghana, they were won by parties that were accused of inciting the violence. The main tenets of election violence as identified by the paper included, actors, motives, timing, consequences, and patterns. The paper adopted the content analysis method in its investigation of the two violent by-elections in Ghana. The paper revealed that there was a correlation between violence during by-elections and victories of incumbent parties. This was because, in the two by-elections understudy, those accused of starting the violence and using national security operatives won the elections. The paper also found out that by-election violence impacted negatively on Ghana’s democratic maturity in several ways, such as; low voter turnout, weakening of democratic foundation and breeding an atmosphere of insecurity. Finally, the paper also revealed that political parties especially those in government resort to violence during by-elections in Ghana because they fear losing it will mean the government was underperforming as argued out by Feigert and Norris and also because they want to add to their tally in parliament.

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