Abstract
The production of electoral advertising such as television and radio spots or newspaper ads is controlled by parties and candidates and their campaign advisers and therefore does not underlie any changes by journalists as is the case, for instance, with news reports. Spots and ads are delivered to the media which simply distribute them but do not have any say in their design or contents. However, advertising, in general, and electoral advertising, in particular, has to follow certain rules and regulations established either by the media companies and/or by law. The fact that European countries see a need to regulate television advertising reflects a culture where responsibility for individual well-being is not completely left to the citizen and the state takes on the role of a protector. This chapter provides an overview of the regulations drawn up for electoral television advertising and posters in the 28 European Union member states. The data presented refer to the regulation in effect for the European election in 2014. They were collected by means of an online questionnaire that was answered by political communication experts in the respective countries
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The author thanks the project partners who kindly answered the questionnaire which provided information for this chapter.
References
Blumler, J. G., & McQuail, D. (1968). Television in politics. Its uses and influence. London: Faber and Faber.
Council of Europe. Committee of Ministers. (1999). Recommendation No. R (99) 15 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on measures concerning media coverage of election campaigns. (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 9 September 1999, at the 678th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies). http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/media/doc/cm/rec%281999%29015&expmem_EN.asp.
Council of Europe. Committee of Ministers. (2007). Recommendation CM/Rec (2007)15 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on measures concerning media coverage of election campaigns (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 7 November 2007 at the 1010th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies). https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1207243#RelatedDocuments.
Crigler, A., Just, M., Hume, L., Mills, J., & Hevron, P. (2011). YouTube and TV advertising campaigns. Obama versus McCain in 2008. In R. L. Fox and J. M Ramos (eds.), iPolitics. Citizens, elections, and governing in the new media era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Denmark withdraws scandalous EU election video. (2014). EurActiv. http://www.euractiv.com/sections/euelections-2014/denmark-withdraws-scandalous-eu-election-video-302113. Accessed 31 July 2015.
Eriksen, L. (2014, May 13) Never mind the ballots: Denmark cages violent cartoon hero Voteman, The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/13/denmark-voteman-violent-cartoon-ballot-election-european. Accessed 31 July 2015.
Holtz-Bacha, C. (2000). Wahlwerbung als politische Kultur. Parteienspots im Fernsehen 1957–1998. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.
Holtz-Bacha, C. (2014). Political advertising in international comparison. In H. Cheng (ed.), The handbook of international advertising research. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Kaid, L. L., & Postelnicu, M. (2005). Political advertising in the 2004 election. Comparison of traditional television and Internet messages. American Behavioral Scientist, 49, 265–278.
Osce. Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. (2014). Kingdom of Belgium. Federal elections 25 May 2014. Warsaw: Osce – odihr.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Holtz-Bacha, C. (2017). Regulation of Electoral Advertising in Europe. In: Holtz-Bacha, C., Novelli, E., Rafter, K. (eds) Political Advertising in the 2014 European Parliament Elections. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56981-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56981-3_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56980-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56981-3
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)