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The Spitzenkandidaten in the European Parliament Election Campaign Coverage 2014 in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom

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  • Heidi Schulze

    (Department for Communication Research, Dresden University of Technology, Germany)

Abstract

Elections to the European Parliament are characterised by a steady decline in voter turnout. To tackle this problem, in 2014, several groups of the European Parliament nominated pan-European Spitzenkandidaten who were expected to personalise the elections and mobilise European voters. Based on this development, this study analyses the media coverage of the 2014 EP elections with special focus on the role of the Spitzenkandidaten. A quantitative content analysis of European election campaign coverage in the opinion leading newspapers of three influential EU member states, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom was carried out. The results show large candidate- and country-specific differences regarding the visibility and thematic coverage of the EP elections in general as well as the presentation of the Spitzenkandidaten. The Spitzenkandidaten were not very visible in either the German, French, or British newspaper coverage. With respect to the presence and media personalisation of the Spitzenkandidaten, the newspaper coverage of the EP election does not demonstrate any mobilising effect and thus does not reflect the high expectations the European Parliament attributed to the nomination of the Spitzenkandidaten.

Suggested Citation

  • Heidi Schulze, 2016. "The Spitzenkandidaten in the European Parliament Election Campaign Coverage 2014 in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(1), pages 23-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v:4:y:2016:i:1:p:23-36
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    1. Hobolt, Sara B. & Spoon, Jae-Jae & Tilley, James, 2009. "A Vote Against Europe? Explaining Defection at the 1999 and 2004 European Parliament Elections," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(1), pages 93-115, January.
    2. Claes H. de Vreese & Susan A. Banducci & Holli A. Semetko & Hajo G. Boomgaarden, 2006. "The News Coverage of the 2004 European Parliamentary Election Campaign in 25 Countries," European Union Politics, , vol. 7(4), pages 477-504, December.
    3. Hermann Schmitt & Sara Hobolt & Sebastian Adrian Popa, 2015. "Does personalization increase turnout? Spitzenkandidaten in the 2014 European Parliament elections," European Union Politics, , vol. 16(3), pages 347-368, September.
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    1. Carl C. Berning & Conrad Ziller, 2020. "Green Versus Radical Right as the New Political Divide? The European Parliament Election 2019 in Germany," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(S1), pages 43-56, September.
    2. Simon Richter & Sebastian Stier, 2022. "Learning about the unknown Spitzenkandidaten: The role of media exposure during the 2019 European Parliament elections," European Union Politics, , vol. 23(2), pages 309-329, June.
    3. Katjana Gattermann & Franziska Marquart, 2020. "Do Spitzenkandidaten really make a difference? An experiment on the effectiveness of personalized European Parliament election campaigns," European Union Politics, , vol. 21(4), pages 612-633, December.
    4. Grande, Edgar & Vidal, Guillem, 2020. "A vote for Europe? The 2019 EP elections from the voters' perspective," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Center for Civil Society Research ZZ 2020-601, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    5. Wouter van der Brug & Katjana Gattermann & Claes H. de Vreese, 2016. "Introduction: How Different Were the European Elections of 2014?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(1), pages 1-8.
    6. Katjana Gattermann & Claes De Vreese & Wouter van der Brug, 2016. "Evaluations of the Spitzenkandidaten: The Role of Information and News Exposure in Citizens’ Preference Formation," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(1), pages 37-54.
    7. Katjana Gattermann, 2020. "Media Personalization during European Elections: the 2019 Election Campaigns in Context," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(S1), pages 91-104, September.

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