Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
5-2018
Abstract
In recent decades election campaigns have shifted their focus from the local to the national level, increasingly featuring party leaders, labels, and national platforms. Despite this trend, there remains significant variation in the local/national orientation of campaigns across countries and parties. This article tests several propositions on why campaigns adopt a local or national orientation by analyzing a unique collection of more than 12,000 geocoded Thai election posters. Specialized software was used to measure the spatial proportions of visual and textual content on each poster. Using Thailand’s mixed electoral system to enable a controlled comparison of electoral rules, I demonstrate that proportional rules were associated with national campaign strategies whereas majoritarian rules fostered local strategies. In addition, large parties ran party-centered, policy-focused campaigns whereas small parties relied more on their leader’s image. This contrasts with Western countries, where large parties increasingly promote their leader’s image and small parties emphasize narrower policy objectives.
Keywords
Thailand, political parties, electoral systems, election campaigns, election posters
Discipline
Asian Studies | International Relations | Political Theory | Social Influence and Political Communication
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
Comparative Political Studies
Volume
51
Issue
14
First Page
1899
Last Page
1934
ISSN
0010-4140
Identifier
10.1177/0010414018774354
Publisher
SAGE Publications (UK and US)
Citation
FOX, Colm A..(2018). Is all politics local? Determinants of local and national election campaigns. Comparative Political Studies, 51(14), 1899-1934.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2707
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414018774354
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Political Theory Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons