“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”: A Panel Study on the Reciprocal Effects of Negative, Dirty, and Positive Campaigning on Political Distrust

Abstract

Negative campaigning is a central concept in political communication research. However, most conceptualizations of the term are rather broad, summarizing all kinds of negativity such as substantial criticism and offensive behaviors. In this paper, we distinguish negative, dirty, and positive campaigning. While negative campaigning refers to critical, civil, and non-disrespectful arguments, dirty campaigning, by contrast, is defined as "below-thebelt" attacks including incivility and unfair campaign methods. In a two-wave Austrian national election panel study, we tested the reciprocal effects of perceived negative, dirty, and positive campaigning on distrust in politicians. Using auto-regressive models, we found that perceived dirty campaigning positively predicted distrust in politicians over time. Furthermore, distrust in politicians led to increased perceptions of dirty campaigning over time, suggesting a reciprocal relationship. However, perceived negative and positive campaigning were unrelated to distrust in politicians. Theoretical and methodological implications of distinguishing negative, dirty, and positive campaigning are discussed.Criticism is a central element of political campaigns. It allows political parties and candidates to emphasize unfavorable aspects of political opponents that otherwise might have been undisclosed (Lau & Pomper, 2004;Nai & Walter, 2015). Also, criticism in campaigns can provide valuable information for citizens and lead to more informed voting decisions. However, some forms of criticism can also impair citizens' political attitudes, increase public disengagement, and eventually harm the quality of democracy (

Negative Campaigning and Vote Choice in Europe: How Do Different Partisan Groups React to Campaign Attacks?

“…Our definition of negative campaigning is broad and encompasses any attacks on party/ leader performance and traits. However, research suggests that dirty campaigning using defamatory and disrespectful comments is disliked more than informative and civil negative campaigning (Reiter & Matthes, 2021). Do different attacks affect the target party's performance differently?…”

How Partisanship Matters: A Panel Study on the Democratic Outcomes of Perceived Dirty Campaigning

“…To measure perceived dirty campaigning by the least favorite party, we created a filter variable asking the participants about their least favorite party in the German Bundestag, followed by two items to assess their perception of dirty campaigning by the selected party (items based on Reiter & Matthes, 2021): "The [FILTER PARTY] is disrespectful to other parties"; "The [FILTER PARTY] uses deceitful campaign techniques, for instance illegal campaign financing." We then computed a new variable consisting of that mean value per participant.…”

“…Previous research demonstrated that uncivil campaigning and deceitful campaign techniques tend to have more negative than positive implications for democratic quality (Walter, 2021). Uncivil campaigning can decrease trust in politicians, congress, and government, as well as political participation intentions and policy support (Fridkin & Kenney, 2019;Mutz, 2015;Otto et al, 2020;Reiter & Matthes, 2021;Van 't Riet & Van Stekelenburg, 2021). Deceitful campaign techniques can decrease positive evaluations and voting intentions toward the sponsor, as well as decrease trust in politicians and trust in democracy (Vivyan et al, 2012;Von Sikorski et al, 2020).…”

Negatív kampány Magyarországon - A negatív kampány megjelenése az 1998 és 2018 közötti választási kampányokban

“…Ilyen megkülönböztetés lehet például tartalmi alapon az issue és a személyes típusú üzenetek vizsgálata (K. L. Fridkin & Kenney, 2011a;, melyek kapcsán elmondható, hogy utóbbiakkal szemben a választók általában kritikusabbak. Több kutató (Brooks & Geer, 2007;Mutz & Reeves, 2005;Reiter & Matthes, 2021;Sobieraj & Berry, 2011) emellett a negatív kampányon belül megkülönbözteti az ún. uncivil üzeneteket, amelyek alatt olyan megfogalmazásokat értenek, amelyek "az ellenfelet vagy politikáját kifejezetten durva, sértő vagy pejoratív jelzőkkel írja le" (K. L. Fridkin & Kenney, 2011a, o.…”

“…A negatív kampány alkalmazásának legnagyobb hátránya, hogy a választók alapvetően elutasítóak az ilyen típusú üzenetekkel szemben, etikátlannak, megtévesztőnek tartják őket, különösen a személyes jellemzőkre és a magánéletre vonatkozó üzeneteket (Brooks & Geer, 2007;K. L. Fridkin & Kenney, 2008;Garramone, 1984;Johnson-Cartee & Copeland, 1989;Mutz & Reeves, 2005;Pinkleton, 1997;Reiter & Matthes, 2021). Garramone (1984) Ennek megfelelően a fejezetben a statikus magyarázatok bemutatása után a negatív kampány alkalmazásának lehetséges dinamikus magyarázatait mutatom be.…”