Party-directed personalisation: the role of candidate selection in campaign personalisation in Hungary

• Published in: East European politics Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 466 - 486
• Main Authors: Papp, Zsófia, Zorigt, Burtejin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.10.2016; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: campaign; Candidate selection; Candidates; Centralization; Comparative Candidates Survey; Customization; Elections; Hungary; Leadership; personalisation; Political campaigns; Political leadership; Political parties; Politicians; Presidential campaigns; Selection; Hungary
• ISSN: 2159-9165; 2159-9173
• DOI: 10.1080/21599165.2016.1215303

This article aims to capture the effect of candidate selection on campaign personalisation during two Hungarian general elections (2010 and 2014). Our main hypothesis is that candidates who think their selection was mostly influenced by the national party leadership (i.e. it was centralised and at the same time exclusive) pursue less personalised campaigns than those who think that other actors played a major role in candidate selection. By using data from the Comparative Candidates Survey, we show that centralised and exclusive selection practices affect personalisation in Hungary. The main finding of this article is that - besides its main effect - candidate selection affects the personalisation of various groups of candidates (local politicians and national party leaders) in different ways. The result confirms that centralisation and exclusiveness in candidate selection is definitely important in shaping how candidates approach campaign personalisation.