Slovak political debates: Functional theory in a multi-party system

Abstract

This article examines a content analysis of the televised political debates prior to the 2012 elections in Slovakia. The analysis is based on the functional theory of campaign discourse by William L. Benoit. The goal of the work is to test the theory and its applicability in contexts other than the political system of the United States. In order to achieve this goal, we also make use of the findings of previous studies from the non-American environment. We have found that if Benoit’s methods were strictly observed, more than 30% of the content of debates would not be included in the analysis. Therefore, its original categories of content analysis should be expanded. The Slovak debates differ markedly from the American model, but at the same time differ from the kind of debates found in a consensual political system. The area of the greatest difference is the use of various models of discursive functions in the debates.