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Social Structure and Campaign Style: Finland 1954–1987
Author(s) -
Karvonen Lauri,
Rappe Axel
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
scandinavian political studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-9477
pISSN - 0080-6757
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9477.1991.tb00118.x
Subject(s) - elite , offensive , newspaper , ideology , politics , style (visual arts) , political science , convergence (economics) , biology and political orientation , political economy , media studies , advertising , sociology , law , history , economics , management , archaeology , economic growth , business
This study addresses the hypothesis concerning the ideological convergence of political parties in light of election campaigns in Finland. The basic expectation is that the parties have become more alike in terms of their orientation vis‐à‐vis the electorate and in their use of propaganda techniques. The empirical data consists of editorials in the leading newspapers of the four largest Finnish parties in connection with the parliamentary election campaigns of 1954, 1966, 1975 and 1987. The main hypothesis is clearly corroborated, as traditional elements such as class orientation have been replaced by references to the nation at large and to the political elite. A re‐ideologization could be noted in connection with the 1975 campaign, followed by a strong de‐ideologization in 1987. Despite the virtual disappearance of offensive propaganda techniques, recent campaigns were not found to be decisively less ‘propagandists’ than the earlier ones.