Issues, Leaders, Candidates and the Media in the Czech Parliamentary Election of 2021

This project will examine the impact of party (issue) competition and election campaigning on
electoral behaviour during the 2021 Czech parliamentary elections. This research will study the
growing importance of issues and party leaders in electoral competition. This project will
use ‘Issue Yield Theory’ (IYT) to model party competition and individual-level electoral
behaviour. IYT makes it possible to measure the positions of parties and voters consistently on
both positional and valence issue scales. This project will also examine if the perceived abilities
/ characteristics of party leaders and candidates help explain voting. The research design
includes a 3 wave (pre- and post-election) internet panel survey. Respondents’ actual media
consumption will be measured on smartphones using digital fingerprinting technology.
This project will also analyse media content and parties’ communications on Twitter. Finally, 
this integrated research design will be enhanced with a large post-election survey that will
implement the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) module 5 survey questions.

Project objectives:
1. Field a 3 wave internet panel (2 pre- and 1 post-election) surveys during June-October 2021.
2. Measure respondents' actual media exposure to the election campaign using digital 
fingerprinting technology in the summer / autumn of 2021.
3. Analyse electoral behaviour in the 2021 Czech parliamentary elections with a focus on the
roles of issues, party leaders and candidates.
4. Analyse media effects on voters’ political attitudes and behaviour.
5. Analyse party communication and issue competition during the election campaign.