University Koblenz-Landau, Campus Landau
Department of Social Sciences
European Parliamentary
Campaigns
Political Parties
Parties,, Mass Media and Voters
Jens Tenscher
Political communications triangle
Political actors
(political parties,
parliamentarians, EU
and national
institutions/elites)
Campaign coverage
Mass media
Citizens/voters
Campaign reception
(television, radio, print,
etc.)
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Political communications triangle
Political actors
(political parties,
parliamentarians, EU
and national
institutions/elites)
Campaign coverage
Mass media
Citizens/voters
Campaign reception
(television, radio, print,
etc.)
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Hypotheses
1. Fragile linkages between political parties,
mass media, and voters during EP
campaigns due to low commitment
2. National framing of European campaigns
on all three sides
3. EP campaigns pass by relatively
unnoticed as second-order national
events
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Background
« May 1st 2004 – EU‘s enlargement to 25
« „Europe celebrates itself“
– High media attention / coverage
– EU-attentiveness above average
– EUphoria towards „founding elections“
– Expected backup for (strengthened) European
Parliament
– Symbolic support for „European idea“
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Commentaries after EP elections
„European selfselfpunishment“
(La Repubblica, Italy)
„Echoes of protest“
(Die Presse, Austria)
„Unbelievable“
(Tagesspiegel)
„European sceptics
on their march!“
(Spiegel)
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Comparing voter turnout
100
BEL
LUX
MLT
80
ITA
C YP
GRE
60
IRL
LTU DEN
ESP
40
GER FRA AUT
LAT
FIN NED GBR POR HUN
SWE
C ZE SLO
EST
POL
20
SVK
0
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
EP elections as second-order events
« First- and second-order elections
hierarchy of relevance and national
reframing
« Indicators of second
second--order elections
(depending on election cycles):
– Low voter turnout
– Losses for national government parties
(national test elections)
– Gains for smaller parties
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
German case: Political relevance
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Comparing voter turnout
100
96
91,8
EP elections 2004
Last general elections
82,4
80
73,5
71,5
71,2
60
72,1
70
58
55,9
58,2
48,4
46,3
41,3
40
38,5
28,3
29,3
26,8
20,9
20
17
0
MLT
CYP
LIT
Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
LAT
HUN
SLO
CZE
EST
POL
SVK
10
Reasons for abstaining
100
80
60
40
20
34
22
21
19
14
12
0
Not interested in politics as such.
EU25
Lack of trust/dissatisfaction in general.
EU15
NMS
Source: Eurobarometer FB 162, Post European Elections Survey, July 23rd-30th 2004
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Level of information to go to vote
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Campaign environment
« Feelings of being badly informed and
voters‘ national re-contextualization of EP
elections as an effect (and cause) of mass
media‘s and political parties‘
commitment?
« Mass Media as primary „bridges to the
world of politics“ (W. Lippmann, 1922) –
especially with regards to distant political
arenas
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
German case: European media coverage
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
European campaign coverage 2004
Source:
de Vreese et al. 2005: 23.
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Domestication of European campaign issues
Source: de Vreese et al. 2005: 29.
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Campaign environment
« Electoral campaigns as focal points of political
communication and input legitimacy
« Political parties
parties:: Activating and mobilization
function
« Empirical results: The more intensive and visible
electoral campaigns are conducted, the more it is
covered by the media, the more the citizens are
involved, interested and active at the ballots.
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
German case: Limited budgets
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Second-order campaigning
« Professionalization low heated
heated::
– Low budgets
– Short campaign periods
– Small campaign teams, rare outsourcing activities
– Focus on „traditional“ paid media, neglect of „free media“ platforms
– Almost no narrow-casting activities
– Low levels of personalisation, entertainisation and negative
campaigning
– Domestic campaigns for supra-national political level
« Content: Domestic problems + national frames of European
issues
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
Conclusion
« Ménage à trois of citizens,
citizens, mass media,
media, and
political parties
parties:: limited interest,
interest, low
commitment,, halfcommitment
half-heated engagement
« Vicious circle of anticipations and restricted
actions
« Consequence:
Consequence: domestic and „invisible“
campaigns for a transtrans-national political level
But: Where‘s the campaign – where‘s Europe?
« EU‘s communicative,
communicative, bottombottom-up efforts as
breakthrough?
breakthrough
?
Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008
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University Koblenz-Landau, Campus Landau
Department of Social Sciences
Thank you for your attention
attention!!
Jens Tenscher
References
« Maier, Michaela/Tenscher, Jens (Eds.) (2006):
Campaigning in Europe – Campaigning for
Europe. Political Parties, Campaigns, Mass Media
and the European Parliament Elections 2004.
Berlin: Lit.
« Tenscher, Jens (Ed.) (2005): Wahl-Kampf um
Europa. Analysen aus Anlass der Wahlen zum
Europäischen Parlament 2004. Wiesbaden: VS
Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
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Jens Tenscher, Strasbourg, July 12th 2008