Political communication: theoretical challenges, empirical opportunities

The research field of political communication is more relevant than ever. The importance of information and communication in election times is now widely acknowledged in political science. Recent societal developments have shifted attention from positive elements of information (for example in knowledge acquisition) to negative aspects, such as mis-and disinformation, populist communication and contribution to affective polarization. That digitalization has fundamentally altered the media environment and the strategies politicians use to get their message across and persuade voters, goes without saying. Digitalization has also increased the methodological opportunities scholars have to investigate questions into (media) production, content and effects, with vast amounts of (textual) data being widely available and computational techniques to analyze those advancing almost by the minute. Still, theoretical implications are still unclear at best. Do traditional theories such as framing, agenda setting and priming that have dominated the field for several decades still hold, or do we need more advanced and detailed theories to describe the changing mechanisms in a digitalized political context? This section proposes a range of panels that focus on various aspects of our dynamics and growing research field. We aim to reach out to scholars of political communication in the broadest sense possible, including research on (internal and external) party communication, the influence of media coverage on political behavior or attitudes, election coverage, populist communication, datadriven campaigns, and political journalism. We have a specific interest in comparative papers as well as those that specifically focus on theory building. Studies employing experimental designs, interviews survey studies, content analyses or other relevant methods are welcome, and so are those that rely on computational methods and computer assisted content analyses. We welcome full panel submissions, but propose the following eight panels: Studying campaigns and their effects in contemporary elections (potential chair: dr. Katjana Gattermann) Emotions in political communication: mediating and/or moderating communication effects? (potential chair: dr. Gijs Schumacher) Political micro-targeting and data-driven campaigns (potential chair: dr. Sanne Kruikemeier) Challenges in political communication: too much content, too much fragmentation? (potential chair: prof dr. Frank Esser) Studying political elite communication (online and offline) in comparative perspective (potential chair: prof. dr. Stefaan Walgrave) Dis- and misinformation: actors, messages and effects (potential chair: dr. Edda Humbrecht) Changing political journalism: new players, new style, new role perceptions? (potential chair: prof. dr. Morten Skovsgaard) Methodological advances in political communication research (potential chair: dr. Sophie Lecheler)