Content Analysis in the Research Field of Election Campaign Communication

Abstract

AbstractThe field of election campaign communication is concerned with any form of communication by political elites, parties or professional interest groups with the aim of informing, persuading, interacting and mobilizing citizens and, ultimately, influencing the result of a particular election. Electoral campaigns are one of the most populated research domains in the field of political communication to date (de Vreese 2017; Graber 2005). With this chapter we aim to identify main trends and gaps in this popular area of study by relying on a thorough literature review of election campaign communication studies using content analysis published in peer-reviewed journals over the last twenty years. The chapter lays out most frequent research designs and analytical constructs employed by these studies to content-analyze political messages and identify styles, actors and functions of political communication in election times.