The Election Campaign: Political Actors, the Media and Voters

Abstract

An electoral campaign is a complex process in which political actors interact with the mass media in order to orient the voting preferences and choices of the electorate. It is presumed but cannot be taken for granted that the election campaign is the period in which the use of propaganda and various forms of political communication is at its peak. In fact, the interaction between media and politics has long since become a structural given of contemporary democracies,1 and periods in which significant political communication campaigns are developed form part of a cycle that has become independent of electoral deadlines. It can even be hypothesised that election campaigns are becoming an 'internal moment' of these larger cycles during which the climate of opinion that is asserted compromises the election result, sometimes anticipating the election outcome by even several months. After catching on in the United States, this trend, called a 'permanent campaign' by some actors, is now also emerging in European Union countries.2 The question which is posed vis-a-vis this trend is twofold. First, in what way is a climate of opinion formed in the medium to long term, and what importance does it have for election campaigns? Can political actors intentionally 'control'