A Functional Analysis of Political Television Advertisements

William L. Benoit (Author)

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Description

A Functional Analysis of Political Television Advertisements examines theory and research on election advertisements. William Benoit employs the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse to understand the nature or content of television spots in election campaigns. Beginning with a look at American presidential spots from 1952–2012, Benoit investigates the three functions—acclaims, attacks, and defenses—and the topics of policy and character for these groups of political commercials. The following chapters are devoted to reporting similar data on presidential primary advertisements, presidential third party spots, other theories including Issue Ownership Theory and Functional Federalism Theory, as well as nonpresidential and non-U.S. election advertising. Benoit considers the data, discusses the development of political advertising over time, and finally, presents areas for further research. This book is a uniquely comprehensive examination of the value and use of television spots in political election rhetoric.

Preface

Part I: Preliminaries

1. Introduction: Political Television Spots
2. Method: The Functional Approach to Political Advertising

Part II: Presidential Campaigns

3. In the Beginning: 1952, 1956; The Democrats Ascend: 1960, 1964
4. Nixon’s Return: 1968, 1972; After Watergate: 1976, 1980
5. Republicans in Control: 1984, 1988; The End of the Millennium: 1992, 1996
6. George W. Bush in the Oval Office: 2000, 2004; Barack Obama, African American President, 2008, 2012
7. Primary Campaigns: Who Shall Lead Us?
8. Third-Party Candidate Political TV Spots: Another Choice

Part III: Other Campaigns

9. Other Theories: Issue Ownership and Functional Federalism in Political TV Spots
10. Non-Presidential and Non-U.S. TV Spots

Part IV: Comparisons

11. Trends and Contrasts of Political Television Spots
12. Development of American Political Television Spots
13. Conclusions and Implications

Appendix. Functional Theory Codebook
References

Product details

Published	01 Apr 2014
Format	Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition	1st
Extent	272
ISBN	9780739188996
Imprint	Lexington Books
Illustrations	4 Graphs, 27 Tables
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

William L. Benoit

Benoit is a communication scholar of the highest order, a researcher who reveals the importance of studying message. A Functional Analysis of Political Television Advertisements is exhaustive in its analysis of a wide range of spots created for candidates varying in level of government, stage of campaign, and nation. There are few works that parallel Benoit’s effort in producing a generalizable set of findings that reflect genuine insights, and it is sure to have a sustained impact on the field.

Lance Holbert, University of South Carolina
Benoit's insights and new perspectives on how political advertising impacts voters is a must read for scholars and professionals in political communication. A Functional Analysis of Political Television Advertisements provides the crucial next step in understanding the dynamics at work in campaigns micro targeted to specific publics.

Gregory Payne, Emerson College