The Role of Mass Media in West German Election Campaigns

In the German political system, elections to the national and state legislatures are based upon a mixture of party lists and individual local candidate choice. The mass media system consists of nationalized television programming and regional and local newspapers. Because paid advertising by parties is prohibited, there are few opportunities for the development of a personal vote. Since 1984, however, four pilot projects have been initiated to experiment with commercial television, and parties are using paid commercials on these outlets. Attention and exposure to campaign coverage is high, but their effects on voter preference and turnout vary widely. Advertising in campaigns is likely to increase, but the strong national forces of the German electoral system are unlikely to lead to a renaissance of the local candidate.