On Message: Communicating the Campaign Book

·To what extent are the techniques of campaigning and media management critical to the outcome of modern elections? ·Was the 1997 British General Election Campaign decisive to Labour's landslide victory, as many believed? On Message brings together a group of leading scholars to provide a comprehensive analysis of the role and impact of political communications during election campaigns. ·Part 1 sets out the wider theoretical framework, the context of election campaigning in Britain, and the methodology for understanding media effects. ·Part 2 reviews party strategies and media coverage during the official campaign and monitors the audience reaction. ·Part 3 draws together evidence of the overall impact of the 1997 British General Election campaign and analyzes how far television and the press media influenced the public's civic engagement, agenda priorities, and party preferences. Drawing upon a multi-method research design, combining the British Election Studies panel survey, content analysis and experiments, this book transcends traditional models of media 'effects' to provide new and original insights into the dynamics of modern election campaigns and voting behaviour. It will be essential reading for all researchers, practitioners and students of political communications, elections and voting behaviour and British politics.On Message: Communicating the Campaign is the companion volume to Critical Elections: British Parties and Voters in Long-term Perspective which provides the first systematic overview of long-term change in British electoral politics.Read More