Michaela Maier

Personalization of Politics A Critical Review and Agenda for Research

In this chapter we develop an agenda for future research on the personalization of politics. To do so, we clarify the propositions of the personalization hypothesis, critically discuss the normative standard on which most studies base their evaluation of personalization, and systematically summarize empirical research findings. We show that the condemnation of personalization is based on a trivial logic and on a maximalist definition of democracy. The review of empirical studies leads us to question the assumption that personalization has steadily increased in all areas of politics. Finally, our normative considerations help us develop new research questions on how personalized politics affects democracy. Moreover, this review also makes clear that another weakness of today’s empirical research on the personalization of politics lies in methodological problems and a lack of analysis of the impacts of systemic and contextual variables. Consequently, we suggest methodological pathways and possible explanatory factors for the study of personalization.

National parties as politicizers of EU integration? Party campaign communication in the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament election

In this article we seek to understand whether, how and under what conditions political parties publicly articulate matters of European integration and encourage contestation over Europe. Based on a content analysis of parties’ televised advertising spots during the 2009 European Parliament (EP) election campaign in six countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom), we find evidence that European Union (EU) issues and actors are more prominent on the campaign agenda in countries with many Eurosceptic parties. Eurosceptic and non-Eurosceptic parties co-orient themselves towards each other in their EU articulation. Finally, contestation over Europe exists in the realm of identity politics: right-wing fringe parties (and in some countries also mainstream parties) characterize the EU as a threat to national sovereignty and identity, whereas left-wing mobilization against the EU on economic matters is hardly visible. Regarding the two politicization dimensions — EU articulation and contestation — we show that party campaigns cannot be described as purely second-order national contests any more. Instead, the strategic party mobilization model seems to better characterize the 2009 EP campaigns.

Der Wert von Nachrichten im deutschen Fernsehen

Vor vierzig Jahren haben die norwegischen Sozialforscher Galtung und Ruge erstmals Kriterien genannt, die Ereignisse zu Nachrichten machten. Später hat man versucht, die journalistische Nachrichtenauswahl mit Blick auf mögliche Wirkungen beim Rezipienten zu untersuchen. Bisher nahm man an, dass das Konzept der Nachrichtenfaktoren die journalistische Auswahl nachrichtenrelevanter Ereignisse gültig beschreiben kann. Zu fragen ist allerdings, wie die Rezipienten mit Nachrichtenfaktoren umgehen. Kann man überhaupt noch von dem Publikum sprechen?

Communicating Scientific Uncertainty

Scientific results are always afflicted with some uncertainty, especially where emerging technologies are concerned. While there are normative and practical reasons to call for an open admission of scientific uncertainties, concerns about detrimental effects of such communication on public engagement with science have been raised in the literature. The present study was conducted to investigate how the communication of scientific uncertainty in nanotechnology influences laypeople’s interest in science and new technologies, beliefs about the nature of science, and trust in scientists. In a longitudinal field experiment, 945 participants were exposed to six real-world media reports (TV features and newspaper articles) on nanotechnology. Contrary to our expectations, the communication of scientific uncertainties was unable to change general beliefs about the nature of science. However, it had no detrimental effect on the trust in scientists, and with respect to interest in science and new technologies, slightly positive effects were observed.

The impact of identity and economic cues on citizens’ EU support: An experimental study on the effects of party communication in the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament elections

In this article we seek to understand whether national parties have an impact on citizens’ EU support by publicly cueing Europe as a risk to or as an opportunity for the economy or identity. In order to answer this question, we have conducted a cross-country survey experiment (covering Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden) relying on real-world stimuli from party campaign communication in the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament elections. By introducing this new methodology to cueing research we show substantial evidence for cueing effects even when thoroughly controlling for nuisance variables drawn from EU research as well as country contexts. We find support for the general cueing hypothesis in experimental groups that were exposed to negative economic messages while in two other groups partisanship works as a relevant moderator of the effects of persuasive messages. These findings are explained by distinguishing between consensual and conflicting issues and show in what circumstances campaign messages might reach beyond the particular partisan base.

Effects of Repeated Exposure to Science TV Shows on Beliefs About Scientific Evidence and Interest in Science

For scientific laypersons, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the concept of scientific evidence. Prior research shows that the media tend to underrepresent the tentativeness and uncertainty of research findings. Yet presently it remains unclear whether beliefs about the certainty or uncertainty of scientific evidence are affected by the mass media’s science coverage. In this study, we tested cultivation effects of features from German science TV shows on laypersons’ beliefs about science and their interest in science. A sample of adults (N = 700) representative of the German population in terms of age, sex, and education participated in a longitudinal field experiment with an extended Solomon four-group design (two experimental and three control groups). The treatment consisted of six successive media stimuli, which portrayed scientific evidence as either certain or uncertain, over the course of 6 weeks. Results indicate media effects on participants’ beliefs about the certainty of scien...

Sourcing the News: Comparing Source Use and Media Framing of the 2009 European Parliamentary Elections

The relationship between journalists and their sources has been described as an interdependent relationship where each part needs the other. For political actors, this relationship is particularly important during election campaigns, when their need to reach voters through the media is even more urgent than usual. This is particularly true with respect to European Parliamentary election campaigns, as these are often less salient and as peoples need for orientation is greater than in national elections. However, there is only limited cross-national research on the medias use of news sources and whether there are associations between the use of news sources and media framing. This holds true for research on election campaigns in general and on European Parliamentary election campaigns in particular. Against this background, this study investigates cross-national differences and similarities in the medias use of news sources in their coverage of the 2009 European Parliamentary election campaigns and the extent to which the use of news sources is associated with the medias framing of politics and the EU. The study draws upon a quantitative content analysis of the media coverage in twelve countries. Findings suggest that there are both important similarities and differences across countries with respect to the use of news sources and that there are cases when the use of news sources is related to the framing of politics and the EU.

Strategies of pro-European parties in the face of a Eurosceptic challenge

We ask how pro-European parties communicate in the face of a Eurosceptic challenge and how this affects the politicization of European Union integration within a country. We draw on a quantitative content analysis of parties’ press releases issued in the run-up to the 2014 European Parliament elections in seven countries. Our results show that pro-European parties as such put Europe on the agenda, debate issues similar to those voiced by Eurosceptics and defend their pro-European positions: yet, they do so to varying degrees and with major exceptions. It is pro-European catch-all parties with strong internal dissent that silence Europe and choose blurring or adoption strategies. Consequently, the politicization of European integration varies among countries, thereby high topic visibility is accompanied by low levels of party conflict.

“Struggling for Voters”: European Campaigning in Germany

Although Germany has commonly been considered as one of the mainsprings of the European integration process, the outcome of the 2004 European Parliamentary election in Germany essentially reflected widespread indifference and apathy toward European politics on all sides of the election campaign: the political parties, the media, and the citizenry. On the basis of a survey among campaign managers as well as results from an experimental study on the effects of televised campaign spots, this article demonstrates how the big German parties failed to conduct “modern” campaigns while smaller parties were much more successful, introducing some inspiring, target group–oriented, and highly personalized campaigning techniques. The failure of the major German parties to attend to the communicative needs of their voters reinforced the widely shared impression of the European Union as an insignificant level of the political system.

Measuring citizens' implicit and explicit attitudes towards the European Union

Studies assessing citizens’ attitudes towards Europe have mostly used explicit concepts and measures. However, psychologists have shown that human behaviour is not only determined by explicit attitudes which can be assessed via self-report, but also by implicit attitudes which require indirect measurement. We combine a self-report questionnaire with an implicit Affective Misattribution Procedure for the first time in an online environment to estimate the reliability, validity and predictive power of this implicit measure for the explanation of European Union-skeptical behaviour. Based on a survey with a sample representative for Germany, we found evidence for good reliability and validity of the implicit measure. In addition, the implicit attitude had a significant incremental impact beyond explicit attitudes on citizens’ proneness to engage in EU-skeptical information and voting behaviour.