Leiden University Student Repository

Schoenfeld, Layla Hannah (2020)

Strategic Political Communication - The Functional Theory and Collective Identity

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

This work discusses political strategic communication through an assessment of German television debates between chancellor candidates. The analysis of the German debates, which is based on the Functional Theory and supported through the concept of collective identity, reveals that politicians construct collective identities during the political debates, in an aim to appeal to their audience and gain their votes. The Functional Theory of political campaign discourse is a widely used theory within the field of political campaign research. Most work has been conducted on television debates in the United States, yet it strives to be perceived not only as a national but as an internationally applicable theory. The paper forms a comprehensive picture of strategy within the competitive political discourse, through the application of the Functional Theory to the German political context.

Functional Theory

Political Communication

William L. Benoit

Collective Identity

Strategic communication

Author

Schoenfeld, Layla Hannah

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Culture and Politics

Supervisors

Valk, John-Harmen

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en