Strategic Continuity and Evolving Toolkit: Electoral Competition Revisited

The infrastructures and actor constellations through which election campaign communication unfolds have changed, with platforms, influencers, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools reshaping how campaigns operate. This raises the question of whether contemporary campaign communication differs fundamentally from that of earlier election cycles. Current debates oscillate between two extremes: either contemporary campaigns are fundamentally transformed by these developments, or they largely continue earlier practices, with new technologies merely adding tools to an established strategic repertoire. This thematic issue moves beyond this binary. The contributions examine recent election campaigns in Europe and the United States and show that core campaign strategies are rather stable. Mobilization, personalization, negativity, and emotional appeals continue to structure electoral competition. At the same time, the mechanisms through which these strategies are produced, circulated, and amplified are changing. Campaign communication increasingly unfolds within hybrid actor constellations that include influencers and supporter networks, rely on platform-specific communication styles such as short-form video and memes, and operate within engagement-driven environments in which emotionally charged content is more likely to spread. Taken together, the articles suggest that contemporary election campaigns operate within a communication environment shaped by platforms, influencers, and AI. Established theories remain relevant but they require adjustment to account for changes in production, circulation, and amplification. By integrating research on actors and strategies, this thematic issue clarifies how continuity and change interact in contemporary election campaigns.