Dynamics of Referendum Campaigns

CLAES H. DE VREESE is Professor and Chair of Political Communication and Director of The Amsterdam School of Communications Research ASCoR at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He has published widely on media and campaign effects, electoral behaviour, comparative journalism, EU referendums and public opinion.

• Context, Elites, Media and Public Opinion in Referendums: When Campaigns Really Matter; C.de Vreese Opinion Formation and Change in Referendum Campaigns; L.LeDuc PART 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT AND POLITICAL SYSTEMS The Strategic Context of Referendums on the EU Constitution; S.Hug Referendum Campaigns: Changing What People Think or Changing What They Think About?; M.Marsh Campaign Information and Voting Behaviour in EU Referendums; S.Binzer Hobolt PART 2: TURNOUT AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION The Participation in Swiss Direct-democratic Votes; H.Kriesi Turnout in Referendums; P.Neijens, P.van Praag, W.Bosveld & J.Slot E-voting and Electoral Participation; A.H.Trechsel PART 3: UNDERSTANDING THE VOTE CHOICE AND THE OUTCOME Immigration, Identity, Economy and the Government; C.de Vreese & H.G.Boomgaarden The Ideological Response: Saying No to the Euro; H.Oscarsson The Determinants of Voting Choices on Environmental Issues; P.Sciarini, N.Bornstein & B.Lanz

'Referendums are increasingly important in democracies nowadays, and there is not enough published on how referendum campaigns work and how anticipated outcomes can be changed through the campaigning process. This volume takes us a long way toward understanding the referendum campaign process and it should have a wide readership among those who study campaigns, as well as practitioners including journalists and politicians.' - Holli A. Semetko, Professor of Political Science, Emory University, USA 'This is an exciting collection of papers by leading scholars. Direct democracy is an increasingly important feature of European politics and this collection is one of the handful of expressly comparative treatments of direct democracy; and it is the first to focus so closely on the dynamics of campaigns. This collection marks a major step forward in our understanding of direct democracy.' - Shaun Bowler, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Riverside, USA 'This is one of the most interesting works on referendums currently available. It brings together a large array of systematic and comparative analyses, which emphasise the importance of the political context and the dynamics of referendum campaigns. How are referendums linked to other aspects of the political landscape -- parties, governments, media, and issues? How do campaign dynamics selectively trigger voters' political orientations and shape their preferences? This perspective on context and campaigns helps to make intelligible what otherwise would appear as disparate and contradictory findings, and sets directions for future research. This book deserves to be widely read by scholars and students interested in electoral politics, political communication, and the actual operation of modern democracy.' - Cees van der Eijk, University of Nottingham, UK