Understanding Differences in Voter Perceptions of Campaign Agendas: The Case of Local Elections in Denmark

Abstract

With this paper we contribute to the empirical scholarship on local diversity by studying the input side—specifically, local election campaign agendas—of local government. The goal is to answer two central questions: are issue agendas different across municipalities and, if so, which factors explain the differences? Ninety-eight local campaign agendas are compiled on the basis of a large-scale representative survey ( N = 3336) fielded in the aftermath of the 2009 Danish local elections asking respondents to point out the most central issue in their respective municipality. We identify a number of factors that systematically affect diversity in local campaign agendas—that is, geography, urbanisation, and the perceived competence of the incumbent mayor. The presented findings shed light on an often neglected aspect in the literature on local diversity and underline that the political system's environment does affect the content of the political discussion in a particular system.