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In this article we present a content analysis framework for textual analysis of programmatic documents with the goal of identifying party positions on the ethnic dimension of political competition. The proposed approach allows for evaluation and comparison of how party systems in multi-ethnic states process ethno-cultural claims and demands. Our method of content analysis of party programmatic texts provides adequate granularity by which to capture the subtleties of ethno-cultural political rhetoric. It also addresses some of the misclassification and measurement problems raised in the literature with respect to the dominant Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP) approach to textual analysis. We demonstrate how estimates generated by our method for human-based coding constitute an improvement on the CMP's estimates of party positions on ethno-cultural issues.

In this article we present a content analysis framework for textual analysis of programmatic documents with the goal of identifying party positions on the ethnic dimension of political competition. The proposed approach allows for evaluation and comparison of how party systems in multi-ethnic states process ethno-cultural claims and demands. Our method of content analysis of party programmatic texts provides adequate granularity by which to capture the subtleties of ethno-cultural political rhetoric. It also addresses some of the misclassification and measurement problems raised in the literature with respect to the dominant Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP) approach to textual analysis. We demonstrate how estimates generated by our method for human-based coding constitute an improvement on the CMP's estimates of party positions on ethno-cultural issues. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

POLITICAL FOLKLORE HOLDS THAT POLITICAL PARTIES OFTEN TRY TO CHANGE THEIR IMAGES FOLLOWING A DISASTROUS ELECTION DEFEAT. THIS PAPER INQUIRES INTO THE TRUTH OF THIS COMMON ASSUMPTION THROUGH A SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF MANIFESTOS PROMULGATED BY EIGHT PARTIES IN BRITAIN, GERMANY AND THE USA PRIOR TO NATIONAL ELECTIONS IN THE 1950'S THROUGH 1980'S. EACH ELECTION WAS CLASSIFIED AS TRIUMPHAL, GRATIFYING, TOLERABLE, DISAPPOINTING OR CALAMITOUS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF EACH PARTY. THE CHANGE IN PARTY IMAGES FOR ADJACENT ELECTIONS WAS ASSESSED BY CORRELATING THE PERCENTAGES OF SENTENCES DEVOTED TO STANDARD POLITICAL THEMES IN THE PAIR OF MANIFESTOS. WE TESTED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT PARTIES WERE MOST LIKELY TO CHANGE THEIR POLICY IMAGES FOLLOWING DISAPPOINTING OR CALAMITOUS ELECTIONS. OUR FINDING SUGGEST THAT POOR ELECTORAL PERFORMANCE WAS NOT A SUFFICIENT CONDITION TO PRODUCE A MAJOR OVERHAUL OF PARTY IMAGES, BUT POOR PERFORMANCE IN THE PRIOR ELECTION WAS VIRTUALLY NECESSARY TO PRODUCE MAJOR CHANGE IN POLICY PACKAGING AT THE NEXT ELECTION.

Political folklore holds that political parties often try to change their images following a disastrous election defeat. This paper inquires into the truth of this common assumption through a systematic analysis of manifestos promulgated by eight parties in Britain, Germany and the USA prior to national elections in the 1950s through 1980s. Each election was classified as triumphal, gratifying, tolerable, disappointing or calamitous from the standpoint of each party. The change in party images for adjacent elections was assessed by correlating the percentages of sentences devoted to standard political themes in the pair of manifestos. We tested the hypothesis that parties were most likely to change their policy images following disappointing or calamitous elections. Our findings suggest that poor electoral performance was not a sufficient condition to produce a major overhaul of party images, but poor performance in the prior election was virtually necessary to produce major change in policy packaging at the next election.

Abstract. This article analyses the dynamics of electoral competition in a multilevel setting. It is based on a content analysis of the party manifestos of the Spanish PP and PSOE in eight regional elections held between 2001 and 2003. It provides an innovative coding scheme for analysing regional party manifestos and on that basis seeks to account for inter‐regional, intra‐party and inter‐party differences in regional campaigning. The authors have tried to explain the inter‐regional variation of the issue profiles of state‐wide parties in regional elections on the basis of a model with four independent variables: the asymmetric nature of the system, the electoral cycle, the regional party systems and the organisation of the state‐wide parties. Three of their hypotheses are rejected, but the stronger variations in the regional issue profiles of the PSOE corroborate the assumption that parties with a more decentralised party organisation support regionally more diverse campaigning. The article concludes by offering an alternative explanation for this finding and by suggesting avenues for further research.

A key factor in modern democracies' legitimisation is the extent to which policies submitted for public approval before an election translate into material outcomes once a political party has won power. Current research finds no clear empirical evidence for partisanship in policy-making nor has any unified theory been offered or tested systematically. This article addresses that gap by offering a conditional approach to policy-making undertaken by parties in government. It suggests that partisan influence on policy depends on both office-holders' capacity for implementing policies evoked during their electoral campaigns and on governing parties' incentives to implement electoral promises. Data from French Agendas Project datasets is used to compare the contents of governing parties' pre-election manifestos with legislation passed in France between 1981 and 2012. Panel negative binomial regressions on electoral and legislative agendas support the expected outcome, namely that issues featuring in governing parties' electoral manifesto have had an impact on their subsequent legislative agendas, with the effect depending on both partisan capacities and incentives. Party programmes do matter in policy-making, albeit only under certain conditions.

Political discourse is inarguably deemed an essential tool, impercetably influencing people's perception within a socio-political zone. The present research revolve around the critical discourse analysis of manifestos of Pakistani political parties, pertaining to the general election of 2013. The theoretical framework for the study triangulates VanDijks (1998) Socio-Cognitive Model, along with the support of Turner and Tajfels (1979) Social identity approach and Budge and Farlies Salience theory (1983). The research revealed that all the political parties under study used the discursive strategies in their party manifestos in order to enhance the positive self-image of party to in-group people, by focusing the negative aspects of the out-group, thereby (re)constructing peoples political identities and ideologies and achieving the desired hegemony for itself.

Political discourse is inarguably deemed an essential tool, impercetably influencing people's perception within a socio-political zone. The present research revolve around the critical discourse analysis of manifestos of Pakistani political parties, pertaining to the general election of 2013. The theoretical framework for the study triangulates VanDijks (1998) Socio-Cognitive Model, along with the support of Turner and Tajfels (1979) Social identity approach and Budge and Farlies Salience theory (1983). The research revealed that all the political parties under study used the discursive strategies in their party manifestos in order to enhance the positive self-image of party to in-group people, by focusing the negative aspects of the out-group, thereby (re)constructing peoples political identities and ideologies and achieving the desired hegemony for itself.