A surprising research outcome is that voters are by and large influenced more strongly by the (issue) reputation of a party, than by the personal charisma of the party leader. This seems to be at odds with the dominant role of party leaders in the media and the voter’s mind during election campaigns. A famous question: why did issue positions of the Labour Party attract voters after Tony Blair became its leader?
The current research asks whether party reputations depend more strongly on party leaders than the other way around. The answer is based on content analysis data (newspapers, tv) and biweekly panel survey data from election campaigns in the Netherlands (2002-2012). Preliminary research results show that voters ultimately vote for parties indeed, but that party reputations are vested by the media appearances of party leaders. Leader effects are already incorporated in the reputation of parties with long-standing leaders.
