Fighting for Votes

Parties, the Media, and Voters in an Ontario Election

By William P. Cross, Jonathan Malloy, Tamara A. Small, and Laura B. Stephenson
Categories: Social Sciences, Popular Culture, Communication & Media Studies, Political Science, Canadian Political Science
Publisher: UBC Press
Hardcover : 9780774829274, 248 pages, March 2015
Paperback : 9780774829281, 248 pages, November 2015
Ebook (PDF) : 9780774829298, 248 pages, March 2015
Ebook (EPUB) : 9780774829304, 248 pages, March 2015
Ebook (MobiPocket) : 9780774829823, 248 pages, December 2016

Table of contents

1 Introduction

 

2 The Political and Economic Setting

 

3 The Run-Up to 2011

 

4 The Campaign

 

5 The Parties’ Campaign Messages

 

6 From 1.0 to 2.0: The Online Campaign

 

7 The Leaders’ Debate

 

8 The Parties’ Campaign Strategies

 

9 At the Races: The Toronto Star’s Coverage of the Election

 

10 Did the Parties’ Campaign Efforts Affect Voters?

 

11 Vote Choice

 

12 Fighting for Votes

 

Appendix

 

Notes

 

References

 

Index

How do political parties successfully influence voters during provincial election campaigns?

Description

Elections are not just about who casts ballots – they reflect the citizens, parties, media, and history of an electorate. Fighting for Votes examines how these factors interacted during a recent Ontario election. Drawing on a wealth of sources, the authors ask three questions: How do parties position themselves to appeal to voters? How is information from and about parties transmitted to voters? How do voters respond to the information around them? The result is a sophisticated analysis of how parties influence voters in an era when new media is reshaping the electoral landscape.