The Construction of Electoral Mandates
Media Coverage of Election Results in Canada
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7971387 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Matthew Mendelsohn (Queen's University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 239-253 |
| Publication date | 1998-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1058-4609 • E-ISSN: 1091-7675 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10584609809342368 |
| OpenAlex | W2040069059 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 26 |
How do the news media help construct election mandates? By interpreting an election victory broadly, the news media can facilitate the implementation of a newly elected government's program. Conversely, the media can constrain a newly elected government by interpreting the election as influenced by factors other than ideology, primarily retrospective evaluations of the outgoing government's performance. Studies of how the media interpret election results have offered only speculation on why the media choose certain narratives while discarding plausible alternatives. Through a systematic examination of six Canadian elections, this article identifies key variables that explain the media's choices. I found that the media tended to confer a mandate when the victorious party focused on its policy intentions during the campaign and when the party was conservative; they tended to confer a "personal mandate" when newly elected leaders were facing their first election. In general, the news media quickly settled on one narrative, did not support this decision using quantitative data such as exit polls, and tended to depoliticize the public sphere by framing most results as devoid of ideological content
Federal election · Law and economics · Media coverage · Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics
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| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,55 |
| Citation span | 2004 - 2024 (21) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |