Class Electoral Campaigns and Electoral Behaviour

This curricular unit aims to capture attention for the electoral campaigns in contemporary democracies. With an interdisciplinary focus, the goal is that the student may comprehend the values, ideology and electoral behavior and also understand the role of political parties, whose structures for several decades are preparing increasingly profissionalized electoral campaigns. Simultaneaously, it is mentioned the contribution of media, mainly during those periods, which has boosted the politics of spectacle phenomenon and the emergence of new actors and lobbies. The democratic erosion and the growing of sentiments against politics is nurturing populism (by the manipulation of news) putting at stake the (old) media and democratic system of Western world.

1. Politial parties and electoral behavior

    1.1. Political parties i the contemporary world: approaches to the study of parties and functions of the parties 

    1.2. Social structure and ideology: the programmatic evolution of parties

    1.3. Party identities: meaning and evolution 

2. Electoral campaigns 

    2.1. The context of campaign 

    2.2. The personalization of vote and the role of leaders 

    2.3. The effects of electoral campaigns 

3. Globalization, populism and media 

    3.1. What models for democracy in the digital age? 

Classes draw on the exposition, debate and deepening of the topics encompassed by the syllabus. Participation of the students will be encouraged in order to reinforce learning, assuming greater relevance on the moment of analysis and presentation of individual papers related to topics taught in class. The contínuous evaluation encompasses: one written exam (50%) and one written paper with respected oral presentation (50%).

 Bennet, J. W. e Entman, R. 2001. Mediated Politics: Communication in the Future of Democracy.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Flew, T. and Iosifidis, P. 2020. Populism, globalisation and social media. International Communication
Gazette, 82(1): 7-25. doi: 10.1177/1748048519880721
Gunn, S. and Hallvard, M. 2016. Social Media and Election Campaigns: key tendencies and ways
forward. Oxon:Routledge.

Lisi, M. 2011. Os Partidos Políticos em Portugal. Continuidade e Transformação. Coimbra: Almedina.
Lisi, M. 2019. Eleições: Campanhas eleitorais e decisão de voto em Portugal. Lisboa: Edições Sílabo.
Maarek, P. 2011. Campaign Communication and Political Marketing. UK: John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.
Margetts, H. 2019. Rethinking Democracy with Social Media. The Political Quarterly, 90: 107-123. doi:
10.1111/1467-923X.12574

Mcnair, B. 1999. An Introduction to Political Communication. Second Edition. London: Routledge.