One for all or all for one: The electoral effects of personalized campaign strategies

Acta Politica - Tập 52 - Trang 384-405 - 2016
Patrick F. A. van Erkel1, Peter Thijssen1, Peter Van Aelst1
1Sint-Jacobstraat, Antwerp, Belgium

Tóm tắt

Political candidates in multi-member district proportional systems use different campaign strategies. Scholars have studied why some candidates focus on the party and run a party-centered campaign, while others highlight their own personal profile and merits by running personalized campaigns. However, it remains unclear how these different strategies influence the electoral success of candidates, especially in the context of proportional flexible list systems. To answer this question, we asked Belgian candidates to map out their campaign strategy and linked this to their election results. We find that especially investing personal money is an important predictor of success. Moreover, we find that candidates who aim to attract attention for themselves rather than the party also score better, but this effect is contingent on a candidate’s resources, list position, and political party.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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