Economic voting--the effect of national economic circumstances on vote preferences--is often seen as the closest thing to a law that exists in the social sciences. Why, then, do incumbents frequently win amidst economic downturns and challengers in economic boom times? I argue that the conventional wisdom fails because it leaves no room for political leadership. Rejecting the notion that candidates have little influence over when and to what extent economic voting occurs, I develop a campaign-centered theory that highlights candidates' power to alter the strength of the economic vote strategically. Specifically, I draw on cognitive-psychological research on priming to argue that candidates' decisions to emphasize or deemphasize economic issues in campaign messages--decisions which I argue are not endogenous to economic context--systematically condition voters' willingness to hold governments accountable for past economic performance. I test my argument against the conventional economic voting model by evaluating the impact of televised campaign ads in national elections in five countries. Combining quantitative analysis of public opinion data with original content analysis of both televised ads and newspaper stories, I show that the effect of economic campaign messages on the economic vote is profound. In some cases, the effect is electorally decisive. In elections in which candidates focus on non-economic issues, however, evaluations of the nation's economic performance have little influence on vote preferences. Only when candidates focus squarely on economic issues do voters come to evaluate the candidates based on economic considerations. Notably, I show that this activating effect is driven by exposure to economic campaign ads in particular, not the campaign in general as conventional theory predicts. Electoral campaigns, therefore, can overcome structural conditions thought to hamstring electoral candidates. More generally, I show that, by reevaluating the psychology of economic voting in light of extensive research on priming, we can improve our understanding of election outcomes in both developed and developing democracies that conventional models treat as anomalous. / text

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Many studies have noted that the conflict between gender and party stereotypes may disadvantage Republican female candidates among some voters. On the other hand, gender and party attachment may also prove advantageous for Republican women in competitive races where moderate and independent voters play an important role. In this paper, the author examines how partisanship and race competitiveness impact how, and if, female candidates choose to emphasize their gendered identity, highlight women’s interests, and pursue a feminine trait strategy on their campaign websites. The author gives special attention to Republican female candidates running in competitive races, and argues that these candidates may have an extra incentive and ability to connect with voters by emphasizing gender. This study uses data collected through a content analysis of the campaign websites of 162 female candidates in the 2014 Congressional midterm election.

This thesis explores institutional features of the Fifth Republic in France that affect women's representation, both in terms of their access to elected office and in terms of their ability to substantively represent women once elected. After identifying factors that were particularly favourable to women in the 1997 Parliament, it assesses the institutional reforms enacted from 1997-2002, which include not only the Constitutional Amendment and the Parity Law, but also limitations on the cumul des mandats, reform of the Senate, the creation of a statut de l'elu (defining elected officials' benefits and rights) and of the new parliamentary Women's Delegations. It attempts a holistic appraisal of the institutional reforms, and their effect on patterns of political recruitment. The second part analyses practices and power within the Palais-Bourbon to assess gender differences in access to parliamentary posts and tasks. It investigates the National Assembly as a 'gendered institution' and asks whether women are in a position to make a difference to the political process and legislative outcomes. It finds perceptible differences in women's and men's access to power, their committee work and use of parliamentary questions. The thesis concludes with a study of the Women's Delegation. After investigating the rationale and circumstances of its creation, the institutional status of the Delegation within the Assembly is analysed. Its contribution to legislation and its modus operandi in the 1997 Parliament, as well as its integration into the National Assembly are examined, in order to ascertain whether it has the potential to enhance women's substantive representation and to provide' safe space' for women Deputies.

This investigation of the 2014 midterm election brings together research in communication, journalism, political science, and sociology. Incorporating concepts of interdependence through the application of social network analysis, I analyzed how journalists construct and utilize networks of news sources in election coverage. Survey results indicate that journalists use sources in a complementary fashion in order to fulfill their resource needs. Such perceptions are also dependent on aspects of the journalist, news norms, organizational pressures, and extra-media influences. Overall, source networks are strategically used to fulfill traditional journalistic norms of objectivity and credibility as well as economic and entertainment needs. Content analysis results suggest that, along with more traditional variables such as ownership and source type, networks characteristics also influence new outcomes, with higher network density resulting in increases in issue coverage. In other words, greater connections among sources may result in more substantive information being passed on to voters. For the field of communication, this study enhances our understanding of agenda building and framing by revealing (1) how journalists perceive their networks (networks to journalists), (2) how they translate real life networks into symbolic networks within news coverage (networks from journalists), (3) how source networks vary across time and election contexts (networks across time), and (4) how such networks influence coverage outcomes. It furthers our understanding of the role interdependence plays in news construction and suggests the incorporation of network concepts and measures will increase our understanding of the news production process.

This study examines character traits in United States presidential campaign advertisements. It was predicted that Republican and Democratic trait content would be similar in appeal advertisements but would differ in attack and contrast advertisements. Additionally, it was expected that the traits most frequently conveyed in primary election advertisements would differ from those most frequently employed in general election advertisements. The conveyance of traits in conjunction with issues was examined. The hypotheses and research questions were tested on televised campaign ads from the 2008 and 2012 primary and general elections. Overall, both parties appeal to and attack specific character traits with similar frequencies. The traits used in primary election advertisements were much more positive than the traits used in general election advertisements. Campaigns combine issue content with specific traits in their ads. The findings of this study answer questions about how candidates build and shape their images through televised political advertisements.

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This thesis seeks to explore the idea of Indigenous participation in Canada’s federal electoral system and whether such involvement can wield positive change to the Canadian/Indigenous relationship. The analysis presented throughout this thesis highlights the development of a tarnished Canadian/Indigenous relationship as well as the debate surrounding the belonging of Indigenous peoples in relation to the Canadian state and their own Indigenous nations. Additionally, this thesis demonstrates that Indigenous peoples voting in Canada’s electoral system do not hinder Indigenous sovereignty, but may heighten its recognition instead, as well as how participation in Canada’s political system may wield influence by Indigenous peoples over Canada’s elected officials. Although potential for Indigenous influence within Canada’s electoral process exists, further research is needed to delve into the subject matter at a deeper level.