Page 247 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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Political Campaign Communication

the country studies edited by Swanson and Mancini (1996b) – has to
be treated as a systemic variable. In addition to other context vari-
ables a country’s degree of modernization influences the design of
campaigns.
Studies that apply a comparative approach across countries have
demonstrated which systemic variables are relevant. However, none
of these studies has quantified the influence of the system variables.
Therefore it is not possible to know which variables are more important
and which are less important; how they relate to each other; and if they
benefit or hinder the professionalization of campaigns. In this respect,
a well-known problem of cross-national studies comes to bear, the fact
that they usually work with a small number of cases. Nevertheless, be-
cause it is the aim of international comparisons to assess the validity
of theoretical assumptions across systems, it is important to exceed the
qualitative description of campaign communication and render possible
a systematic and quantitative comparison.
Although the Americanization hypothesis proved to be inspiring for
comparative election research, it has brought about a focus on the United
Statesforstudiesbycommunicationresearchersthatislessvisibleinelec-
tion studies stemming from political science (cf. Berg-Schlosser 1998).
However, because the United States is often the exception, this questions
whether it makes sense to take the United States as the reference system.
Finally, comparative campaign research shows a focus on Western indus-
trial democracies although, on the one hand, globalization in politics,
economy, and media call for a broader perspective and, on the other,
the verification of the supra-national validity of theoretical assumptions
makes the inclusion of other political cultures necessary.

REFERENCES
Berelson, Bernard R., Paul F. Lazarsfeld, and William N. McPhee. 1954. Voting. A Study
of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign. Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press.
Blumler, Jay G. 1983a. Communicating to Voters. Television in the First European Parlia-
mentary Elections. London: Sage.
. 1983b. Election Communication: A Comparative Perspective. In Jay G. Blumler,
ed. Communicating to Voters. Television in the First European Parliamentary Elections.
London: Sage, pp. 359–78.
Blumler, Jay G., and Denis McQuail. 1968. Television in Politics. Its Uses and Influence.
London: Faber and Faber.
Blumler, Jay G., Roland Cayrol, and Gabriel Thoveron. 1978. La T´el´evision Fait-Elle
Election? Paris: Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques.

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