Party Leaders in the Media and Voting Behavior: Priming Rather Than Learning or Projection

Takens, J.; Kleinnijenhuis, J.; Hoof, A.M.J. van; Atteveldt, Wouter van

doi:10.1080/10584609.2014.944319

Cited by 54 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…These findings of informational effects of new leaders run in parallel with recent findings in the literature that argue that leaders still matter (Farrell and Webb, ; Mughan, ; Garzia, ; Takens et al., ; Somer‐Topcu, ). As we have shown, new leaders have the opportunity to change voters' perceptions of parties, especially when the party is doing particularly poorly.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 83%

“…For instance, extant literature in political science has found the high cost of information acquisition and the importance of simplified cues for voting behavior (see, for instance, Berelson, Lazarsfeld, and McPhee, ; Ferejohn and Kuklinski, ; Popkin, ; Zaller, ; Fortunato and Stevenson, ). On top of this, research has found that voting behavior is highly dependent on the party candidate and not just on the party label (Farrell and Webb, ; Mughan, ; Garzia, ; Takens et al., ). On the other hand, party leadership change implies an increase of information, whether in the form of media coverage—due to the newsworthiness of the change (McQuail, )—or in the form of increased attacks from other parties trying to “define” the new leader.…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making and Breaking Party Leaders? An Informational Theory of Temporary and Lasting Impacts of Prime Minister Debates in Spain

Sagarzazu

Williams

2017

Social Science Quarterly

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Objective. In this project, we develop an informational theory that identifies which prime minister debates are the most meaningful in terms of shifting Spanish public opinion . We argue that debates immediately following the installation of new leaders (because they shine light on leadership traits) and debates occurring in times of crisis (because voters can judge both the leader's ability to remedy the problems and their policy proposals) will have the largest short-and long-term effects. Methods. We use seemingly unrelated regression to explore the impacts of 15 Spanish State of the Nation debates from 1998 to 2016 on vote intention for Partido Popular (PP) and the Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol (PSOE). Result. Debates following the installation of new party leaders often produce sizable improvements in vote intention, but the most meaningful debates occur during economic crises. Conclusion. Parliamentary debates are valuable opportunities for party leaders to shift public opinion in their favor, a fact that is not lost to them considering the time and energy devoted to crafting strategies, and the media's fascination with providing extensive coverage of the debates. This study has important implications for the study of dynamic processes (such as vote intention), and the link between parties' strategic communications and voting behavior.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Making and Breaking Party Leaders? An Informational Theory of Temporary and Lasting Impacts of Prime Minister Debates in Spain

Sagarzazu

Williams

2017

Social Science Quarterly

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“…The emerging number of independent candidates in Uganda's politics can be explained by these findings and political parties should ensure that cohesion should concern all party leaders because it is a determining factor in party democracy and discipline. Takens et al (2015) argue that personalisation of political parties influences policy debates during election campaigns. Party leaders freely associate with voters during party meetings, National Conference, and media.…”

Section: Ayeta Et Al 79mentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of political parties ideologies influencing public policy formulation in Ugandas Nascent Hydrocarbon Industry

Ayeta¹,

Maloba²,

Godfrey³

2019

Afr. J. Pol. Sci. Int. Relat.

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This study examined political parties' ideologies influencing public policy formulation in Uganda's nascent hydrocarbon industry. The study followed the four research objectives, research questions and hypotheses. The researcher applied a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design to guide the study. The research adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches and data was collected from 218 respondents. The researcher collected both quantitative and qualitative data which was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic content analysis, respectively. The findings of the study have shown that political ideology contributes to public policy formulation in Uganda's nascent hydrocarbon industry by 20.7% and it is significant (P=0.000). It can be concluded that political parties' ideology is an important determinant to public policy formulation. It is recommended that government should ensure the question of ideology is handled from primary education level to university because it is a key factor in public policy formulation. The government should re-introduce civic education in primary schools and political education in secondary and tertiary institutions.

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“…This means not only that there should be a large quantity of news about politics, but also that it should include the viewpoints and performances of all political parties taking part in the election, without bias towards a particular party. A strong focus on leaders at the expense of other candidates (Takens et al 2015) or coverage with strong emotional rather than detached overtones (Martinsen 2009) could hamper this ideal of rational opinion-building and voting.…”

Section: News Quality From An Electoral Democratic Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, from a democratic perspective a high leader focus is less desirable. It leads to personalized voting -voters who weigh evaluations of political leaders more heavily than issue positions (Takens et al 2015) which goes against the ideals of the electoral democratic model, which holds both as important (Strömbäck 2005). Also, a stronger focus on leaders means less attention to other candidates of the same party, whom people may also vote for in countries with a preferential vote system such as Austria.…”

Section: Rq1a: What Is the Amount Of Political Coverage In Online Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political News in Online and Print Newspapers

2015

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The electoral model of democracy holds the ideal of citizens who are well informed about politics, and regards it as a task of news media to provide citizens with political information. Against this ideal, the quality of political news in online news outlets is highly contested. While pessimists point out the dangers of increased competition online, optimists emphasize the potential benefits of unlimited space and interactivity. To see which view holds true, this paper compares political news in popular and elite print newspapers and their respective online editions during the 2013 National Election Campaign in Austria. Findings show that online editions score better than paper editions regarding the amount of political news, (party) diversity, and emotionalization, but differences between newspaper types were notable. Whereas elite newspapers cover politics online more extensively than in print, the reverse is true for popular newspapers. Leader focus is also strong in popular papers online. We conclude that the gap in quality between political news in elite and in popular newspapers is larger online. This might contribute to a wider gap between a well-informed elite audience and a lesser-informed popular news audience, when audiences switch from print to online news.

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Party Leaders in the Media and Voting Behavior: Priming Rather Than Learning or Projection

Cited by 54 publications

References 11 publications

Making and Breaking Party Leaders? An Informational Theory of Temporary and Lasting Impacts of Prime Minister Debates in Spain

Making and Breaking Party Leaders? An Informational Theory of Temporary and Lasting Impacts of Prime Minister Debates in Spain

Analysis of political parties ideologies influencing public policy formulation in Ugandas Nascent Hydrocarbon Industry

Political News in Online and Print Newspapers

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