Short Title |
MANDATE INTERPRETATION |
Full Title |
How does the mandate of the winner emerge? Mandate interpretation between election and government formation |
Brief Description |
The aim of the research is to analyze the press after parliamentary elections with the help of a modified version of mandate theory: the approach focusing on the interpretation and perception of mandate. We examine whether victory is interpreted as a mandate, and what factors play a role in this. |
Research Period |
2010-2013 |
Research Type |
The research is a module of the pledge project |
Research Monitoring Body |
Internal and external opponents |
Project Supervisor |
András Körösényi, modul: Balázs Brunczel |
Research Manager |
Gábor Soós, modul: Brunczel Balázs |
Researcher |
Balázs Brunczel |
Contact |
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Website |
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Support |
OTKA (Hungarian Scientific Research Fund) |
Research Summary |
The literature on mandate usually examines whether a sort of sign or message can be found, which comes from the electors to the representatives, parties, or president. Mandate is, thus, examined from the point of view of the “sender”. There are, however, works that approach the topic differently and state that besides sender oriented approaches, recipient oriented approaches are important as well. Accordingly, we have to examine whether politicians or other actors perceive a sort of sign. The emphasis is, thus, on the perception of mandate. This also means that the main question is not whether mandate has emerged, that is, whether electors have really empowered the government to execute a concrete public policy program. Instead, the important thing is whether a belief in mandate really emerges. Beliefs and perceptions themselves can have effects, that is, they influence the behavior of politicians and thus the output of political processes. First we examine what are the differences between this modified interpretation of mandate and the dominant approaches of mandate theory, and what research question are posed by these works. Then, by choosing the most applicable questions from them, we analyze the Hungarian media after parliamentary elections. |