Americanization, European Styles or National Codes? The Culture of Election Campaigning in Western Europe, 1945–1990

Abstract

The culture of election campaigning in postwar Western Europe allegedly has been shaped by a process of Americanization. In terms of political communication, Americanization has four distinct features: proximity of political marketing to commercial marketing, personalization and professionalization of campaigns, and media centered strategies. Based on an analyses of some European cultures of electioneering – Germany, Great Britain, and Italy – the main thesis of the paper is that the shared features are only to a smaller degree the results of American influences, but rather parallel trends due to structural commonalities like being medialized democracies in welfare and consumer societies, politically shaped by the Cold War context. The 1980s, however, meant a threshold: private media have risen across Europe and policy issues from the “new social movements” were pressured into the policy agenda. Although this has furthered the “Americanization” of European electioneering styles, at the same time several European elections point to an increased Europeanization of electioneering. On the whole, however, different national political cultures continue to modify and change American and European influences, creating local variations of campaigning.

A Different Beast? Televised Election Debates in Parliamentary Democracies

“…The Americanization thesis is an attempt to explain what Hallin and Mancini (2004) argue is the convergence of media systems and campaign communication in different countries. Trends include a greater focus on the party leader and candidate personality, the growing use of marketing-derived research methods, the proliferation of specialist political consultants, and an increased role for communication technology, especially broadcast media and, latterly, the Internet (Kavanagh 1996; Mergel 2009; Nord 2001).…”

“…This discourse is not neutral but often negative. Rose (1974) argues that Americanization was used as an insult as far back as the 1830s, whereas Mergel (2009) notes that the term had developed negative connotations in Germany by 1900. Other writers note that contemporary use is frequently critical (Nielsen 2013; Nord 2001; Scammell and Semetko 1995).…”

“…We know very little about how institutional variables, such as the system of government or party system, have shaped the format of election debates in specific national contexts. Elections are “a time when the self-representation of the political system and the political class is expressed most clearly” (Mergel 2009: 256). This is especially true in the case of election debates, which can be seen as manifestations of the choice the electorate faces.…”

Data-Driven Campaigning in the 2015 United Kingdom General Election

“…Political communication scholars have written a great deal about the spread of US-developed campaign practices around the world. Although some see this as a simple process of exportation—what is termed “Americanization” (Mergel 2009; Negrine and Papathanassopoulos 1996)—alternative views acknowledge that local political institutions and cultures play a huge role in shaping exactly how new practices will be understood and deployed (Anstead 2016; Esser et al 2001; Plasser and Plasser 2002). On this basis, we would not expect to see US data-driven campaign practices replicated when they are exported, but instead to take a different form, based on local conditions.…”

Internet Election Campaigns in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan

“…Most previous studies have been strongly influenced by the American case. Scholars have noted that some of these trends, such as the rise of political professionals and the use of market-driven campaign strategies, are apparent outside of the USA (Scammell 1997;Mergel 2009). This notion of the "Americanization" of electoral campaigns may be partially a consequence of a structural change in the relationship between politics and citizens worldwide, including in East Asia.…”