Political Advertising in Kuwait

A Functional Discourse Analysis

By

Jasem Alqaseer

Bachelor of Arts
Kuwait University 2004

Master of Science - IMC

Florida State University 2008
__________________________________________

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy in

Mass Communication

College of Mass Communications and Information Studies

University of South Carolina

2013

Accepted by:

Dr. John Besley, Major Professor, Co-Chair

Dr. Erik Collins, Co-Chair

Dr. Carol Pardun, Committee Member

Dr. Sei-Hill Kim, Committee Member

Dr. Subhash Sharma, Committee Member

Dr. Lacy K. Ford, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies

i
 UMI Number: 3561737

All rights reserved

INFORMATION TO ALL USERS

The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.

In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.

UMI 3561737
Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author.
Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.
All rights reserved. This work is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code

ProQuest LLC.
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346
 Dedication

 
 
To my mother and my father, to my wife and my son, thank you for everything.

ii
 Acknowledgments

 
 
First of all, I thank Dr.John Besley for the great help and support he provided

during my Ph.D. program and during the work on this dissertation. His knowledge and

skills combined with his down to earth attitude and sense of humor made working with

him both a rewarding and pleasing experience. My thanks also go to my dissertation

committee for the time and efforts they contributed to this work. I am grateful to the

commitment and to the care they put towards the work and towards me.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to the wonderful mentors and friends who I was

lucky to have. To Dr.Tarq Al-Suwaidan, Dr.Hakem Al-Mutairi, Dr.Faisal Almuslem,

Dr.Hesham Mesbah and Dr.Khaled Al-Qahs, whom I can’t thank enough for the advice

and time they invested in me. I am grateful for all of that and will always be.

This dissertation would not have been completed without those who helped

connecting me with the interviewees who took part of their valuable time to sit down and

answer the questions in the spirit of contribution without a direct benefit to themselves. I

also thank those who volunteered to help with coding the content: Nassir Al-Ajmi, Fawaz

Al-Ajmi, Anas Al-Khalefah And Qutaiba Al-Kandari.

To my family and friends, thanks for everything. You are truly the wealth of this

life.

iii
 Abstract
 
Most political advertising studies focus on the U.S. or other western democracies

like the U.K. and other European countries. In general, political advertising studies

focused on the content of political advertising especially on the subject of issues vs.

images in advertising. In addition, many studies of political advertising content focus on

the topic of negative advertising. The practice of political advertising has been found to

vary depending on the political and media structure within a country as well as cultural

and legal elements. Therefore, the gap in the literature about the practice of political

advertising in the Middle-East is worth examining as it is reasonable to expect

differences in the use of issue vs. image appeals and in terms of the use of negative

advertising.

This dissertation focuses on political advertisement content in Kuwait as one of

the developing democracies in the Middle-East. One of the important cultural and

political elements of Kuwaiti politics is the non-secular nature of the country according to

the Kuwaiti constitution. The interest of the study is to explore the content appeals used

in political advertising in Kuwait and compare it to relevant literature that examines

advertising in the U.S and other parts of the world. In addition, comparisons of

advertisements’ content between winners and losers in elections will be made to explore

possible differences.

iv
 Because of lack of previous studies about Kuwait, interviews with parliament

members, candidates, campaign managers and advertising practitioners were done to give

context and better understanding of the ads. Findings of both the qualitative and the

quantitative parts of the study indicate a unique approach to political advertising in

Kuwait including lack of negative advertisements, which is a significant characteristic of

political advertisement worldwide. In addition, contrary to experts’ suggestions in the

interviews, political advertisements in Kuwait uses more character based discourse than

policy based discourse.    

v
  

Table  of  Contents  

Dedication  ..................................................................................................................................  ii  

Acknowledgments  .................................................................................................................  iii  

Abstract  ......................................................................................................................................  iv  

Introduction  ..............................................................................................................................  1  

Chapter  1:  Literature  of  Political  Advertising:  ...............................................................  3  

Why  Study  Political  Advertising?  ................................................................................................  3  

Political  Advertising  Effects  ........................................................................................................................  4  

Agenda-­‐Setting  Effect  .....................................................................................................................................  6  

Effects  on  Voter  Turnout  and  Engagement  ..........................................................................................  7  

Knowledge  from  Political  Advertising  ....................................................................................................  7  

Content  of  Political  Advertisements  ...........................................................................................  9  

Issues  vs.  Images  ..............................................................................................................................................  9  

Issues  vs.  Images  Findings  Outside  the  U.S.  ......................................................................................  10  

Negative  Advertising  ...................................................................................................................................  11  

Negative  Advertising  and  the  Third-­‐Person  Effect  .....................................................................................  13  

Negative  Advertisement  and  Involvement  .....................................................................................................  13  

Effects  of  Negative  Ads  on  the  Attacker  ...........................................................................................................  14  

Functional  Analysis  Theory  of  Political  Discourse  ..............................................................  15  

Functions  of  Political  Advertisements  .................................................................................................  17  

Political  System  in  Kuwait:  ..........................................................................................................  19  

vi
 The  Media  System  in  Kuwait:  ......................................................................................................  22  

Research  Justification  ...................................................................................................................  23  

Chapter  2:  Interviews  ..........................................................................................................  25  

Method  ................................................................................................................................................  27  

Interviewing  ....................................................................................................................................................  27  

Results  ................................................................................................................................................  29  

Political  Campaigning  in  Kuwait  ............................................................................................................  29  

Face-­‐to-­‐Face  Campaigning  .....................................................................................................................................  29  

Street  Ads  and  Sign:  ..................................................................................................................................................  30  

Mass  Media  Old  and  New  .......................................................................................................................................  31  

Polls  and  Research:  ......................................................................................................................................  33  

Political  Advertising  ....................................................................................................................................  35  

The  Role  of  Political  Ads  .........................................................................................................................................  35  

Campaign  Funding  .....................................................................................................................................................  36  

Content  of  Advertisemen:  ......................................................................................................................................  38  

Negative  Advertisement:  ........................................................................................................................................  40  

Legal  and  Cultural  Environment  ............................................................................................................  40  

Discussion  .........................................................................................................................................  42  

The  Development  of  Political  Advertisements  Practice  ................................................................  43  

Development  of  Political  Ads  in  Kuwait’s  Media  System  ............................................................  43  

Content  of  Political  Ads  ..............................................................................................................................  44  

Chapter  3:  Content  Analysis  ..............................................................................................  46  

Method  ................................................................................................................................................  47  

Sampling  ...........................................................................................................................................................  47  

Analysis  procedures  ....................................................................................................................................  49  

vii
 Coding  and  Inter-­‐Coder  Reliability  .......................................................................................................  52  

Results  ................................................................................................................................................  55  

Chapter  4:  Discussion  and  Conclusions  .........................................................................  63  

Negative  and  Positive  Advertising  ............................................................................................  64  

Image  vs.  Issues  ...............................................................................................................................  65  

Winners,  Losers,  Incumbents  and  Challengers  .....................................................................  67  

Change  During  Campaign  .............................................................................................................  68  

Professionalism  ...............................................................................................................................  70  

Future  Research  ..............................................................................................................................  71  

References  ...............................................................................................................................  72  

Appendix  1:  Interviews  Questions  ..................................................................................  81  

Appendix  2:  Functional  Analysis  of  Political  Discourse  Codebook  ......................  81  

viii
 List of Tables

Table 3.1: Political Discourse Functions ………………………………….………………………… 55

Table 3.2: Political Discourse Topics ……………………………………..…………………………. 56

Table 3.3: Subtopics for Policy Functions ………………………………………………………….. 56

Table 3.4: Subtopics for Character Functions ……………………………..………………………. 57

Table 3.5: Topics for Policy ……………………………………………………………………………... 58

Table 3.6: Character Qualities in Political Ads …………………………………………………… 59

Table 3.7: Use of Topics during 2012 Campaign ………………………………………………... 61

Table 3.8: Events Advertisements …………………………………………………………………….. 62

ix
 Introduction

Political advertising is one of the most essential vehicles that candidates and

political parties use to communicate with voters, especially when party identification is in

decline (Rothschild, 1978; Trent & Friedenberg, 2008). The practice of political

advertising in the U.S. started with the use of posters, handbills and printed materials but

it was not until the development of electronic media that political advertising became

central to political campaigns (Kaid, 2006). In the past, candidates seeking nomination

relied more on the internal politics of their political parties. According to Trent and

Friedenberg (2008, p. 5):

The legendary party bosses once determined who would run for political office. In
the national and state politics, these people were often called king makers, who
form the sanctity of the so-called smoke filled rooms at nominating conventions
handpicked “their” candidate to be the party nominee.
But the penetration of electronic media and decline of partisanship made

candidates appeal to voters directly in order to get elected during the primary and general

elections. That helped to make political advertising a dominant campaigning force in the

elections (Rothschild, 1978). The nature of political campaigning is shifting from face-to-

face interactions to mediated communications, which allows the electorate to follow

political campaigns and campaign tactics via television broadcasts and political ads

(Hofstetter, Zukin, & Buss, 1978; Joslyn, 1980) Early studies also found that political

advertising expressed the strategy that candidates perceived to be important to win the

hearts and minds of voters (Humke, Schmitt, & Grupp, 1975).

1
 Political advertising practices in the U.S. have been the benchmark for

comparison studies. According to Johnston (2006, p. 16), “Numerous studies have looked

at the style and use of political advertising in various countries to understand the

influence of an “American” style of campaigning or a “modernization” of campaign

techniques.” Studies of political advertising and political communication in general have

been conducted in Europe, Canada, Israel and East-Asian countries. However, no

previous studies can be found examining political advertising in the Middle East, despite

the number of elections held every year in the Arab world. This dissertation aims to shed

some light on how candidates and political parties communicate with their audience in

Kuwait, a Middle-Eastern country. Understanding of the practice of political advertising

in Kuwait and the Middle-East will provide new insight into the political communication

phenomenon. Johnston (2006) suggested that, “These types of studies have been useful in

our understanding of how political advertising fits into particular legal, governmental,

cultural, and communication environments.” And a better understanding of political

communication in general in the Middle East is more relevant now than before because of

the recent movement toward democracy known as the Arab spring, which swept Tunisia,

Egypt and Libya and is ongoing in other Arab countries at the time of this writing

2
 Chapter 1: Literature of Political Advertising:

Why Study Political Advertising?

Engaging with political campaigns used to require more face-to-face interaction

with the candidate, campaign activities, or politically interested peers. During the 19th

century, for example, a key tool used in campaigning was a handshake (Dinkin, 1989).

According to Dinkin (1989, p. 3):

people felt it important to be personally acquainted with the men for whom they
voted. Having less populous election districts gave representation a greater
personal meaning. Thus persons running for office sought to meet members of the
electorate individually at church, at taverns, at court, or at a militia training.
Candidates in urban areas often went from door to door or buttonholed voters in
the street on the way to the polls.
Political advertising and political communication in general are gaining more

significance as a core function in the campaign process (Kotler & Kotler, 1999). Humke

et al. (1975, p. 499), note that political advertisements is “an established source of

political campaigning which can be assumed to represent a “continuity of strategy,” an

indicator of what is perceived to be important to win the election in the eyes of the

purchasers”. The steady increase in advertising spending from one election cycle to

another is also an indication of the prominence of political advertising in modern political

campaigning. For example, $3 billion was spent on the 2000 U.S. presidential election.

Spending in 2004 was $$4.1 billion and $5.3 in 2008 (Center for Responsive Politics,

2012b). In 2012, spending was over $6 billion, (Center for Responsive Politics, 2012a)

or nearly doubled over the past 12 years. Quinn and Kivijarv (2005) note that total

3
spending on political communication activities during the 2004 presidential campaign

was 2.74 billion compared to $1.21 billion in 2000. Spending on advertising and

marketing grew four times faster than the spending for the whole campaign. The

increasing role of political advertisements in modern political campaigns in addition to

campaigns’ increasing spending on marketing and advertising activities could justify the

attention political communication scholars gave to the study of political adverting. I will

discuss below some of the literature of political advertising effects, such as the agenda-

setting function of political advertising and the influence of political advertising on voter

turnout.

Political Advertising Effects

Research on media effects constitutes a large portion of mass communication

studies. Communication studies witnessed several paradigm shifts from the magic bullet,

Hypodermic needle, to the limited effects paradigm. Political advertising studies also

went through the debate of what influence it has on the voter’s decision and on the

democratic process in general. Several studies initially found that political

communication and political advertising have limited effects on voters (Lazarsfeld,

Berelson, & Gaudet, 1944; Mulder, 1979). According to Rogers (2004), Paul Lazarsfeld

intended to investigate the direct effects of the media and its influence on voter choices.

But to Lazearsfeld’s surprise, the shift in voting decisions during the campaign was less

than initially expected. Only a fraction of that shift could be linked to media exposure.

But the limited effects of political advertisements may not explain the increasing

expenditure in advertising and reliance on political advertising by campaigners (Newman

& Sheth, 1987; Quinn & Kivijarv, 2005). Researchers explored the effects of political

4
advertisements by investigating mediating factors that could give a better picture of the

trend. The results indicated that political advertisements are more effective than initially

thought. Some studies found that political advertising effects are moderated by political

affiliation. For example, those who view competing advertisements from two opposing

candidates evaluate their favorite candidate’s advertisement as more persuasive and

likable (Chang, 2003). In addition, viewing political advertisements was found to

strengthen attitudes already held towards favored political candidates (Chang, 2003).

Thus, political advertising is found to appeal to sympathizers and supporters to elicit

more contributions and advocacy.

Reaffirming already held positions is not the only political advertising effect

researchers found. Political advertisement may also be persuasive and informative to

certain segments of voters depending on their level of awareness and involvement in

politics. Valentino, Hutchings, and Williams (2004) argue that political advertising is

persuasive to voters. In their experimental study, Valentino et al. (2004) found that

support for candidates drops significantly among less involved voters when exposed to

negative advertisements. Some studies found evidence that political advertisements help

undecided voters make up their minds about for whom to vote (Tedesco, 2002). In

addition, influence of political advertisements was also dependent on the perceptions

about the ad sponsor. For example, when the candidate or his party has ownership of the

issue being advocated in the advertisement, the influence is more significant

(Ansolabehere & Iyengar, 1994).

Communications and political scholars studied political advertisements because

political advertisements play a large role in modern political campaigns. The increasing

5
media coverage of political advertisements, in addition to the increase expenditure

documented by media scholars and media critics, is an indication of this increasing role.

The study of political advertisements in any democracy captures an important part of that

democratic process and discourse. Academic studies show that political advertising

influences voters, as discussed above. But researchers also documented other effects of

political advertisements that will be discussed below.

Agenda-Setting Effect

Persuading voters to make favorable decisions is not the only effect of political

advertising. Political advertising was observed to have the ability to influence what topics

voters discuss or which topics the media covers. This is known in mass communications

literature as the agenda-setting effect (McCombs & Shaw, 1972). Although

communications scholars traditionally focused agenda-setting studies on the news, Kern

and Just (1995) used a focus group with a simulation technique and found that political

advertising messages are more likely to stimulate discussion about political matters than

the news. Hong and Riffe (2008) found that exposure to television advertisements

encouraged personal discussion about political issues during the campaign period and

increased information seeking from television news and the Internet. Humke et al. (1975,

p. 499) also indicate that there was a positive correlation between issues that appeared in

political advertising and issues that were a concern of public opinion.

In addition to its influence on the public’s agendas, political advertising was

found to have inter-media agenda setting effects as well. Roberts and McCombs (1994)

suggest that political advertising influences newspaper agendas. Lopez-Escobar, Llamas,

McCombs, and Lennon (1998) found evidence that newspaper’s political advertising also

6
influences the television news agenda. However, Sweetser, Golan, and Wanta (2008)

found that those inter-media agenda effects are subject to situational conditions. They

explain that campaigns sometimes use political advertisements as a strategic tool to shift

the media’s agenda when it does not fit the campaigns’ interest. Sometimes it fails to

achieve the goal.

Effects on Voter Turnout and Engagement

The number of political advertisements published in an election cycle is directly

correlated to voter turnout (Humke et al., 1975; Min, 2004). In addition, political

advertising can have a positive effect on the campaign itself. It is found to bolster the

morale and confidence of volunteering party workers (Sheinkopf, Atkin, & Bowen,

1972).

Political advertising found not only to provide citizens with information about

issues of concern and the personality of candidates, it also encourages citizens to seek

information from other sources and make them better users of that information. Jaeho

(2008) notes that political advertisements stimulate political interest. The more

advertisements one views, the more likely the voter is to seek more information from

local and national news. In addition, there is a positive correlation between exposure to

political advertisements and seeking political information on the Internet, as well as

engaging in political discussions (Hong & Riffe, 2008).

Knowledge from Political Advertising

Political advertising is useful for voter education of political issues. Kaid (1976)

noted that in some cases 52% of voters learned about candidates’ issues from political

advertisement. Exposure to political advertising was found to encourage citizens to

7
participate in the democratic process by raising their political information efficacy, which

is the citizen’s belief that he or she can understand how government works and that they

have influence it (Lee Kaid, Postelnicu, Landreville, Hyun Jung, & LeGrange, 2007).

Critics of political advertisements argue they deter people from participating in politics

by trivializing it or through the use of negative political advertisements (Thorson &

Ognianova, 2000). However, Lee Kaid et al. (2007) argue otherwise. Surprisingly,

Valentino et al. (2004) found that highly-involved voters are more likely to extract useful

information from political advertisements, and they also seek political knowledge from

other resources. This finding is consistent with the knowledge gap hypothesis (Tichenor,

Donohue, & Olien, 1970), which predicts that educated voters of greater wealth usually

learn more from exposure to the media. Valentino et al. (2004) found that this applies to

political advertisements as well.

Due to the seasonal nature of political campaigns, political advertising can be

recalled more easily than commercial advertising due to the novelty effect (Jablonski,

Gome, & Galbraith, 1998). Unfortunately, not all voters benefit equally from political

advertisements. Exposure and recall of political advertisement is influenced by

selectivity. Voters remember more information from political advertising sponsored by

their favorite candidates (Chang, 2001; Faber & Storey, 1984), which supports the

reconfirmation effect. On the other hand, Surlin and Gordon (1976) found that less

involved voters show more selectivity in recalling the ads. Selective retention was also

found subject to the advertising clutter phenomenon meaning that the selective retention

of favorite candidate weakens if the medium is overwhelmed with political ads. In

addition, voters retain more information from political advertisements when they are

8
psychologically involved in politics (Chaffee, Saphir, Graf, Sandvig, & Hahn, 2001;

Surlin & Gordon, 1976).

In addition, involvement affects the type of persuasive message that is likely to

influence the voter. More involved and knowledgeable voters are more likely to believe

incumbent’s positive’s advertising while less involved voters were more likely to be

persuaded by negative advertisements from challengers (O'Cass, 2002).

The distribution of power in society is one of the key important features that

characterizes the nature and future of countries and in a democracy, the ability to

persuade or influence voters in a favorable way is an important manner in which societal

entities effect that distribution. The previous literature indicates that political advertising

has been a great influence in the democratic process. Thus, scholars from different

streams of knowledge turn towards the study and documentation of the content of

political advertising to further understand it as an important part of the political discourse

within societies.

Content of Political Advertisements

Issues vs. Images

According to Kaid (2004b), studies of political advertising content in the U.S.

focus mainly on issues and images appeals and negative and positive advertising.

Although focusing on image instead of substantive issues is a major criticism of political

advertising, systematic research found that the vast majority of political advertising in

America focuses on issues rather than image (Kaid, 2004b). It was found that candidates

are more likely to focus on issues over which their party has some sort of ownership. This

9
is particularly the case in primary elections when candidates are trying to appeal to core

voters (Kaid, 2006).

Although 20% of political ads provided candidates’ specific positions on certain

issues, other mass media outlets, such as newspapers and television, provided relatively

less issue-related material (Joslyn, 1980). Political ads were found inferior in providing

information about issues and candidates’ positions compared to televised debates (Joslyn,

1980). In regard to the number of issues discussed in a single ad, Camile Elebash and

Rosene (1982) found that the complexity in production of a print advertisement correlates

directly with the number of issues contained in a single advertisement. They noted that

candidates tended to insert more issues rather than explaining an issue more thoroughly

in a large ad. Latimer (1985) noted that candidates are more likely to communicate a

clear position on an issue in lower level races. It was also found that when comparing

content among winners and losers of a political race, advertisements of winners were

found to have a higher percentage of image advertisements in noncompetitive races

(Latimer, 1985).

Issues vs. Images Findings Outside the U.S.

Some studies of issues vs. images also looked at political advertisements in

countries other than the U.S. In the U.K., research shows that political advertisement is

dominated by issues even for political parties that are “most overtly nonpolitical

stylistically” like the Labor party (Scammell & langer, 2006, p. 78). A systematic study

of political advertisements from 1997 to 2000 showed that 70% of political ads are issue

centered (Scammell & langer, 2006). Research also indicates that political advertisement

in France itself is also dominated by issue related content and that “presidential

10
candidates primarily use logical appeals to make their case to French voters” (Kaid &

Gagnere, 2006, p. 89). Political advertising in Spain on the other hand was found to be

more personal rather than issue centered. Rospir (1996, p. 163) suggests that the lack of

“historical, ideological, or group based loyalties to parties” are the reasons campaign are

not issue dominated. By comparing studies that look at the use of issues vs. images in

political advertisements in different countries Kaid and Holtz-Bacha (2006) noted that

issue dominated advertisements are more prevalent in developed western democracies.

The comparison was done using studies of advertisements in 12 countries. The top 6

countries according to the percentage of issue-dominated political advertisements were

the United States (81%), France (80%), Italy (71%), Germany (69%) and Spain with

(67%). On the other hand, the lowest six countries were Russia (58%), Poland (56%),

Israel (50%), Korea (47%), Greece (42%) and Turkey (33%). Although it is logical to

expect that candidates and parties in developing democracies were to spend more effort

in communicating their positions on issues that need change to acheive further

development within the country, the study shows that candidates found it more important

to communicate that they are capable of doing the job in the first place (Kaid & Holtz-

Bacha, 2006)

Negative Advertising

Negative political advertising is defined as being opponent centered rather than

candidate or party centered (Kaid, 2004a). Procter and Schenck-Hamlin (1996) defined

negative advertisements as ads that try to blunt the opponent’s chances of winning

instead on promoting the sponsor’s positions on issues or his image. Negative advertising

has been under a lot of criticism for having negative effects on the democratic process

11
and for causing cynicism among voter that leads to the lowering of voter’s turnout (Kaid

& Holtz-Bacha, 2006). Exposure to political advertising has been associated with

negative feelings towards political races and the state of the country in general. In

addition, it has been found to lessen self-efficacy (Thorson & Ognianova, 2000).

Negative political advertising focusing on personality is more likely to cause cynicism

about the political process than what is caused by negative advertising focusing on issues

(Schenck-Hamlin & Procter, 2000). Dardis, Shen, and Edwards (2008) note that although

voters indicate dislike for personality attacks, issue attacks have a greater chance of

lowering self-efficacy. This means voters will feel that issues are too complex, which will

hinder their ability to make a judgment.

Garramone (1984) notes that voters perceive the negativity of ads to fit into one of

five categories: performance of the opponent, orientation (the opponent’s position on

issues), ethics, qualifications, and mudslinging. Mudslinging is viewing an ad to be

generally negative without falling in one of the previous categories. Garramone (1984)

also finds that negative advertising has different effects depending on which category it

falls into. Negative political advertisements work best when they amplify already existing

negative ideas. However, negative political advertisements are less successful at creating

new ideas or emotions (Underation, 2009). An interesting study done by Bradley,

Angelini, and Sungkyoung (2007) investigated if political advertising elicited automatic

responses associated with aversive motivations and found that it does. According to the

researchers, the participants that watched negative advertising experienced the “initial

physiological steps to prepare the body to move away” (Bradley et al., 2007).

12
 In comparing studies of negative advertisements in different countries Kaid and

Holtz-Bacha (2006) conclude that research does not reflect a meaningful distinction in

use of negative advertising based on the development of the political system. They note

that the majority of studies indicate that positive advertisements constitute the majority of

political ads around the world. However, the U.S. and Israel are an exception.

Negative Advertising and the Third-Person Effect

Several studies focused specifically on the effects of negative advertisements.

Cohen and Davis (1991) conducted a study investigating the role of the third person

effect in anticipating the influence of negative political advertising on others. Voters

report that negative advertising that targets a candidate that they favor has a little impact

on them while expecting it to have stronger influence on others. Conversely, voters report

that negative advertising that targets a candidate they dislike influences them more than it

influences other. Consistent with the literature of the third person effect, exposure to

negative political advertising was a predictor of supporting political advertising

restrictions (Dermody & Scullion, 2000). In addition, the third person effect serves as a

predictor for the likelihood to vote. The more someone perceives others as less competent

in encountering misleading political advertisements the more likely this person expresses

the need for her to take action and vote (Golan, Banning, & Lundy, 2008).

Negative Advertisement and Involvement

Voters who are less involved in politics are more accepting of negative

advertising and more likely to indicate that negative advertising helped them in their

decision-making process (Dermody & Scullion, 2000). On the other hand, Faber, Tims,

and Schmitt (1993) argue that highly involved voters are more likely to pay attention to

13
political advertisement while voters with low-involvement are more likely to dismiss

them. Voters with a low level of involvement are nevertheless more persuadable when

they are actually exposed to the negative advertisements (Faber et al., 1993).

Negative political advertising appears to be more effective and harmful to the

targeted candidate when it resonates with a schema about politicians in general such as

ties to interest groups (Kern & Just, 1995). Chang (2001) finds that negative

advertisements affect the evaluation of the targeted candidate when they succeed in

evoking negative emotions. Weaver Lariscy, Ruth Ann, and Tinkham (1999) note that

negative political advertisements gain more credibility over time due to the sleeper effect

as the negative evaluation of the attacker fades with time and the attack message becomes

more credible. Cross-gender negative advertising was found more effective contrary to

what is expected. Dinzes, Cozzens, and Manross (1994) explain that less-involved voter

pays less attention to negative advertising between candidates of the same gender but

attack advertisements are more salient when it is exchanged between opposite gender

candidates.

Effects of Negative Ads on the Attacker

Studies suggest that in some cases negative political advertising ends up hurting

the sponsor of the advertisement (Hill, 1989). Garramone (1984) found that negative

advertising is more harmful to the sponsor than the target. For practical purposes, it does

a candidate a favor when independent or supportive groups broadcast negative messages

against their opponents (Garramone, 1984). On the other hand, Meirick (2005) argues

that attack advertisements sponsored by candidates gets them more positive evaluations

than attack advertisements sponsored by their parties. Meirick (2005) explains that people

14
view the candidate as more frank and straight forward since she is not hiding behind her

party. Ran and Ven-Hwei (2007) suggest that negative political advertising can be

detrimental to the sponsor in more than a way. It could potentially alienate the

candidate’s supporters because of personal dislike of negative advertising. In addition, it

might fire up the supporters of the targeted candidate (Merritt, 1984). One of the

advantages to negative political advertising is that it leads to more image discrimination

with more distinguished mental images and associations (Garramone & Atkin, 1990). By

doing so, voters become more likely to participate in elections and more likely to vote.

Functional Analysis Theory of Political Discourse

This study uses the concepts and methods of functional analysis theory of political

discourse (Benoit, Blaney, & Pier, 1998). The theory encompasses the analysis of

positive and negative functions of political advertising and refers to them as acclaims and

attacks. It also recognizes defense as an additional function found in political discourse

but usually overlooked in the in previous studies (Benoit, McHale, Hansen, Pier, &

McGuire, 2003). Political discourse analysis theory also addresses the image versus

issues analysis of political advertising and adds subcategories to those topics. Benoit et

al. (2003) note that image versus issue categories are problematic because they are

intertwined. Devlin (1995, p. 203) argues that he makes no distinction between issue and

image advertising because “issue ads really do create image impressions on the part of

the viewer, and image ads can convey substantive information”. Political discourse

theory is different in that it categorizes advertisements on whether their topics are about

policy or character considerations and the theory offer subcategories for each. Further

discussion of those categories will be outlined below.

15
 Benoit et al. (2003) explain that the discourse functional analysis theory is

founded upon five key propositions:

1) Voting is a Comparative Act: neither voters expect nor candidates or parties

achieve idealistic standards. In addition, voters compare and then compromise

by choosing the preferable alternative among what is offered to them.

2) Candidates Must Distinguish Themselves from Opponents: In many elections

the independents decide the outcome of the race. Candidates from different

political parties are competing for the votes of those independents and thus are

taking similar positions to appeal to that non-partisan group. Benoit et al.

(2003, p. 3) note that “As a candidate, if you fail to articulate clear differences

between yourself and your opponent, there is no reason for anyone to vote for

you rather than for your opponent”. Thus candidates need to distinguish

themselves from their opponents by character or policy.

3) Political Campaign Messages are Important Vehicles for Distinguishing

between Candidates: although voters do learn from other sources than the

campaign itself, studies indicate that political advertising provides relatively

more information about issues than television newscasts and newspapers. The

only method that surpassed political advertisements in informing voters was

political debates (Joslyn, 1980). Benoit et al. (2003) explain that the reason

television coverage is limited in relation to campaign issue coverage is due to

its horserace handling of political contests. Moreover, political issue positions

lack the novelty quality that journalists seek in their stories. That gives

16
 political campaign messages relatively more importance as a source of

information for voters.

4) Candidates Establish Preference through Acclaiming, Attacking, and

Defending: Benoit et al. (2003) explain that distinguishing between candidates

is not enough for winning elections. Campaigns use the three functions to

establish preference.

5) Candidates Must Win a Majority (or a Plurality) of the Votes Casted in an

Election: a candidate or a political party does not need to appeal or persuade

all voters. As mentioned above, distinguishable positions are part of the

political race and politicians deliberately go after groups and segments of

voters that can secure them the win sometimes by alienating other groups.

Benoit et al. (2003) note that candidates more specifically pursue the segments

of the population that is more likely to actually vote on election days and use

tactics to either encourage or suppress turnout according to their interests.

Functions of Political Advertisements

As mentioned above, the functional analysis theory of political discourse

recognizes three functions of political discourse which are acclaiming, attacking and

defending. Each of the three functions deals with one of two topics. Benoit et al. (1998)

explain that they conceptualize a topic in their analysis as something candidates or parties

can disagree on. This disagreement could take place upon policy matters or character

matters. In policy topics Benoit et al. (1998) put forth three subtopics for policy and three

subtopics for character that could be used as a topic for each of the functions. For policy

considerations, the subtopics are past deeds, future plans, and general goals. For the

17
character considerations the subtopics are personal qualities, leadership ability, and ideals

(principles, values).

Past deeds are based on positions that the candidate took in the past that were

favorable to the candidate’s target segment of voters. In addition, voters sometimes want

to know the future plans of the candidate or the party which is trying to get their support.

The candidate here would claim positions on specific issues that enhance their

favorability and perhaps distinguish her from opponents. Claiming future plans includes

mentioning the subject and specifying the plans to address the problem. On the other

hand, Benoit et al. (1998) specify a type of a claim that a candidate makes toward a

general goal without explaining the plan to achieve it. Policy attacking and defending

also use the same categories of past deeds, future plans and general goals. Acclaiming,

attacking and defending occur around character of the candidate or the political party.

The subtopics for character are personal qualities, leadership abilities and ideals.

Applying the functional discourse analysis theory to presidential elections, Benoit

and Pier (1997) found that the Republican and incumbents more frequently use

acclaiming advertising while Republicans and challengers tended to use more attacking

advertising. In addition, less than 1% of advertisements were defensive in nature. The

findings were inconsistent with previous research that concluded that there is no

difference between Republicans and Democrats in the percentage of negative

advertisements. The authors suggest that it is due to the method of analysis they used,

which is analyzing themes that occurred in an ad instead of treating a whole ad as a unit

of analysis. Benoit (2000) found that political advertisements across different media

forms were used as self-praise positive statements by 84% followed by attacks by 15%

18
and finally refutes of attacks made only 1% of the statements in ads. Most of the acclaims

were in web advertisements while most of attacks were on television. Political

advertisements of campaigns for different levels of office use the function of acclaims

more than the function of attack or defense except advertisements sponsored by political

parties which consistently were found to use more attacks than acclaims. In addition, on

average political advertisements focus more on policy than they do on character (Airne &

Benoit, 2005; Benoit & Airne, 2009).

As discussed above, this study seeks to shed light on the practice of political

advertising in Kuwait. Political communication literature lacks examination of political

advertising in the Middle East, an area that has been in the focus of political news for

some time. And before going into detail about the research of this dissertation,

background about Kuwait and its media system will be shared to offer relevance and

context to the findings.

Political System in Kuwait:

Kuwait is a relatively small country in size, comparable to the state of New

Jersey and totaling 6879 mi² (Casey, Thackeray, & Findling, 2007). As of July 2012, the

total population of Kuwait is 2.6 million , though only 1.4 million are Kuwaiti citizens

(CIA). Kuwait has three neighboring countries; Saudi Arabia to the southwest, Iraq to the

north and Iran to the east across the Arabian Gulf (Ismael, 1982).

Kuwait’s history started in the 1610s when several tribes from the Arabian Gulf

areas found that piece of land appropriate for settling due to locations advantages (Al-

Dekhayel, 2000). Later, those tribes decided to form a state-like system of government to

put their internal and external matters in order. Although there is no historical consensus

19
on when the first prince of Kuwait was appointed (Mahmoud, 1968), it is recorded that

he died in 1776 (Al-Dekhayel, 2000; Casey et al., 2007).

While the Ottoman Empire controlled Iraq and parts of the Arabian Gulf, Kuwait

was never a part of that empire (Mahmoud, 1968). Kuwaitis were not assured that the

Ottoman Empire would not take over their land, so Kuwaitis sought the protection of the

British (Casey et al., 2007). Great Britain saw an opportunity to gain more influence in

the region as other players like the Ottoman Empire and Russia were on move. On

January 23, 1899 Kuwait signed an agreement which explicitly submits to get permission

from Great Britain for all it’s dealings with other countries in exchange for an implicit

and non-written commitment from Britain to protect Kuwait against outside dangers (Al-

Dekhayel, 2000).

During the next 60 years, Kuwait worked on building modern institutions that

provide characteristics of a modern country (Al-Dekhayel, 2000). In 1959, Kuwait issued

a citizenship law and in 1960 introduced a currency law. Kuwaitis understood that the

agreement with the British provided great benefits for both parties however, considering

the new situation both internally and externally, the agreement was not useful anymore to

Kuwait. The Kuwaiti prince at the time communicated his people’s desire to end the

British control over Kuwait and the British agreed to break the previous agreement.

Kuwait was declared an independent state on June 19, 1961 (Al-Dekhayel, 2000).

In 1962 Kuwaiti put forth the country’s constitution which is still unchanged to

this day (Al-Dekhayel, 2000). The constitution made Kuwait a monarchy that has an

elected parliament. The ruler of Kuwait, the Amir, is the president who, according to the

constitution, does not practice his power directly but through the three branches of

20
government (Casey et al., 2007). The Kuwaiti constitution states that once a member of

the royal family is named the Amir of Kuwait, he selects his successor and suggests his

name to the parliament which votes to either approve him or not (Kuwaiti Constitution

1961). If the parliament did not approve the successor, the Amir then suggests at least

three names from the royal family and the parliament then chooses one of them (Kuwaiti

Constitution 1961). The Amir selects the prime minister, who is the president of the

executive branch. When the prime minister is assigned, he is to form his government by

choosing the ministers and then he is to get the Amir’s approval on them. Historically,

the prime minister has always been a royal family member (Tétreault, 2000).

The parliament on the other hand is formed mainly by elected members. Until

recently, Kuwait was divided to 25 election districts. However Kuwait was recently

divided into only five districts and expected to switch to be only one district. This is

relevant to the study of political communication and political advertising because of the

increasing need for a mediated communication among candidates and political

movements with their voters. Parliamentary elections are the highest level race in the

country. According to the Kuwaiti constitution, elections are held every four years to

elect the 50 members of parliament. Each one of the five districts is to elect 10

representatives. The Kuwaiti parliament consists of 50 parliament members in addition to

the ministers that are selected by the prime minister. These ministers normally have equal

rights to vote on legislations as the elected parliament members.

Kuwaiti law does not acknowledge or deny the formation of political parties but

currently political groups call themselves political movements. The government is

reluctant to acknowledge the formation of political movements that use the term “Party”

21
since that political party is presumably pursuing power through the control of the

executive branch of government. Just like in other countries, political group membership

is weakening which means that some candidates that used to run under the umbrella of a

political movement are now running as independents. Candidates are relying more on

communicating their message directly to the voters instead of relying on a political

movement for support.

The Media System in Kuwait:

The relationship between the press and the state varies from a country to another

in the Middle East. For example, according to Rugh (2004), some countries follow the

model of loyalist press. The most prominent characteristic of this model is that the press

is consistently loyal to the regime although privately owned. Notably, Rugh (2004) lists

under this model all the countries of the Corporation Council of the Arab States of the

Gulf (GCC) except Kuwait. The second model is the diverse media model which,

according to Rugh (2004), has a bigger margin of freedom for newspapers to be loyalists

for the regime or act otherwise. Countries that fall under this model are Lebanon, Kuwait,

Morocco and Yemen.

Until few years ago, the only television and radio stations that had the right to

broadcast in Kuwait were government owned and operated stations (Casey et al., 2007).

The law was changed allowing for private television channels to operate and broadcast in

Kuwait. Governmental channels did not allow for political advertisements and still

restrict it. However with the emergence of the private channels also came the emergence

of political advertisements during election cycles (Alwqyan & Alsarraf, 2011). There

are no specific laws in Kuwait for handling political advertisements in term of content

22
and funding. There are no limits on the maximum amount of advertisement airtime or

size of print advertisements that a candidate can use.

As for newspapers, since the 1960s, the government has only issued five daily

newspaper licenses to commercial newspapers. Those five newspapers competed among

themselves until 2006 when a new law was passed and licenses for new daily newspapers

were given to every applicant who met the conditions of newspaper ownership

(Alwqyan & Alsarraf, 2011). Political advertisements were being published in the older

newspapers even before the law has changed and new newspapers were circulating.

There are no specialized newspapers targeting specific electoral districts.

Candidates who are running in a specific district are subject to the same advertising rates

that companies advertising for the whole country pay (Alwqyan & Alsarraf, 2011). In

terms or regulations, there are no restrictions on how much a newspaper can charge a

candidate or a political party for advertising. It has been found that less restrictions on

political advertising correlates with higher voter turnout (Baek, 2009).

Research Justification

The content of political advertising is influenced by many factors such as culture,

communication environments and government structure (Johnston, 2006). As mentioned

above, most of political advertising studies were done in the U.S., Europe, or Asia but

there was nothing found in the literature that studied political advertising in the Middle

East. A systematic study of political advertising in Kuwait, a country within the Middle

East, would be a contribution to, or maybe the start of, a scholarly effort to understand

how political communication functions within a different political and cultural setting

than the traditionally examined like the U.S or Europe.

23
 The study aims to explore the similarities and differences of the following issues

in Kuwait as compared to what is found in current literature on political advertising in

terms of the use of issue advertisement vs. image advertisement by systematically

analyzing advertisements from the last two parliamentary elections. Second, the study

seeks to understand the reasons behind the lack of negative advertising in Kuwaiti

political campaigns.

Two methods will be used for this study. The first is an analysis of personal

interviews conducted during a previous research project to develop this dissertation.

These interviews are useful due to the lack of literature examining political advertising in

the Middle East in general and in Kuwait in particular. The interviews were conducted

with candidates, members of parliament, campaign managers, and advertising agency

account managers political campaign experience. In addition, interviews with political

science and communication scholars in Kuwait will give context and background to

political advertising in Kuwait.

The second method is the content analysis of newspaper political advertisements

using the political discourse functional analysis method. The content analysis is the main

research effort in this dissertation and meant to provide a better understanding of political

advertising in Kuwait, which is one of the main channels for political discourse in

modern democracies. The analysis is made using a random sample of advertisements

from two major Kuwaiti newspapers, Alwatan (The Homeland) and Alqabas (The

Beacon). The analysis covers the elections held in May 2006 and February 2012.

24
 Chapter 2: Interviews

As mentioned earlier, due to the lack of studies on mass communication and

political advertising in Kuwait, it was appropriate to substitute an analysis of qualitative

interviews with current members of the Kuwaiti parliament, previous candidates,

campaign managers, advertising professors, and advertising agency practitioners who

were involved in political campaigns. The interviews lasted from 60 to 90 minutes. Some

of the interviewees represented more than one category of the above. For example, one of

the interviewees was a college professor who worked on political campaigns as a

volunteer or as a paid consultant for a political advertising agency.

Interviews method has been used to investigate various issues related to

advertising in general. For example, Drumwright and Murphy (2004) interviewed

advertising agency practitioners to examine their views about the role that ethical

consideration play in their job. Hairong, Wenyu, Guangping, and Nan (2008), used

interviews to investigate the relationship between advertising agency structure and the

creative outcome of political advertisements. The interviews analyzed for this study

included questioned the practitioners’ theoretical knowledge of what is an effective

political advertisements and what role do advertisements play in the bigger context of the

campaigning efforts in Kuwait. Similar investigation was done previously by Nyilasy and

Reid (2009) but they limited their scope to the senior-level advertising agency

25
practitioners. On the other hand, interviews in this dissertation explore further the

opinions of the clients, parliament members and campaigning managers too.

Interviewing method is also found useful for studies of trends and changes in

political campaigning efforts. For example when British campaigns began to use

television commercials, staged media events, and newspaper advertisements, aka

American-style campaigning, in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Camille Elebash (1984)

documented the transition and the challenges faced by the political parties, advertising

agencies and the public. Devlin (1994) did a study using the interviewing method about

political advertisements the New Hampshire primaries. New Hampshire campaigning

efforts share some similarities with the Kuwaiti campaigning efforts as will be discussed

below. New Hampshire’s “presidential primary campaign has long had a reputation for

personalized campaigning” (Devlin, 1994, p. 81), which is similar to Kuwait. Yet, New

Hampshire’s primaries advertising spending indicated that mediated communication is

important too. This dissertation, as the studies done by Camille Elebash (1984) and

Devlin (1994), is interviewing parliament members, campaign managers and advertising

agency creatives to explore their views on the current use of political advertising and

political campaigning effort in general.

The interviews aim to answer three broad research questions, and several

questions were asked in the interviews to satisfy each research question (See Appendix

1):

RQ1: What are the important political campaigning efforts in Kuwait and how

have they changed through years.

26
 RQ2: What role do political advertisements play in political campaigns in Kuwait

and what do those advertisements have in common?

RQ3: What laws and cultural considerations influence the practice of political

advertisements in Kuwait?

Method

To better understand the nature of political campaigning in Kuwait and what role

political advertising plays in campaigning efforts, 14 interviews were conducted with

individuals from different backgrounds with various roles in campaigning. The

interviewees were involved in political campaigning and advertising is one or more ways.

The participants included members of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, a former secretary

of information for the Kuwaiti government, experienced campaign managers or

communication directors, advertising agency creatives with political campaign

experience, and mass communication academics.

Interviewing

The interviews took place in various locations at the requests of the interviewees,

including in their place of work, their home or in public places, such as coffee shops. The

interviews ranged in time from 20 minutes to one hour and 25 minutes, and took place in

one of two periods. The first group was interviewed between June and August, 2011, and

the second group between February and April , 2012. The second group of interviews

took place during an election season after parliament was dissolved.

The general purpose of the study was explained to the interviewees when they

were contacted by phone. Those who agreed to be interviewed were given a more

detailed explanation of the study and asked to provide their consent to have their

27
interview audio recorded. was Although each person contacted agreed to participate,

some were not able to do so due to travel plans or other scheduling conflicts.

At the beginning of the interview, the researcher explained the goal of the study

and the nature or the questions. The interviewees were told to respond to the questions as

if the researcher was never exposed to political advertisements in Kuwait. The purpose

was to elicit as detailed answers from the participants as possible. Participants were asked

to sign the informed consent form and told that the interview would be audio recorded for

research purposes and deleted upon completion of the project. In addition, the

interviewees were assured their identity would not be revealed during the research

process or in the final product. In addition to the audio recordings, the researcher also

took extensive notes during the interviews. The names mentioned in the discussion are

not the real names of the interviewees to comply with confidentiality condition.

The interviews were semi-structured in style and re conducted in Arabic. The

transcription of the interviews totaled more than 41,000 words. The researcher translated

into English quotes from the interviews to best reflect the intended meaning. Each

participant was first asked to introduce himself and talk about his personal political

campaign experiences. The interview then took on a more formal structure with the

interviewer posing questions based on the interviewee’s narrative and responses to

questions. Three major areas were discussed in the interviews, with specific questions

asked in each area. The first area concerned political campaigning in general. The

questions revolved around the central campaigning channels used in Kuwait and how

they have changed over the years. The second area discussed was political advertising

and the role it played within the campaign messaging mix. Interviewees were also asked

28
about their impressions of political advertisement content in Kuwait and whether there

are common issues or personality traits promoted in the advertisements. The last area of

discussion was about the legal and cultural environments in Kuwait and their influence

on the practice of political campaigning and political advertising in Kuwait.

Results

Political Campaigning in Kuwait

Face-to-Face Campaigning

All the interviewees agreed that political campaigning in Kuwait is dominated by

personal relationships rather than ideas and ideologies. Candidates are more likely to be

guaranteed votes if they meet the voters personally. These meeting are not necessarily

about discussing the candidate’s platform, but are considered a social “duty” the

candidate performs which puts the voter in a position of wanting to return the courtesy or

honor by voting for the candidate. Fahad Alhazmi, a mass communication professor at

Kuwait University stated "In Kuwait, I think socially meeting the voter in Diwania’s,

which is the place people gather socially, is more beneficial to the candidate than TV

appearances.” The reliance on face-to-face meetings with the voter has been a long-time

practice in political campaigning for many reasons. Among those reasons is the fact that

Kuwait is divided into small electoral districts, making it more feasible for the candidate

or his supporters to reach out to voters directly. In addition, due to the lack of a targeted

medium for the small districts, advertising in newspapers that covered all of Kuwait was

not practical except for the very wealthy candidates.

29
 Street Ads and Sign:

Ali Albanai, a Kuwait University advertising professor, divided the campaigning

efforts in Kuwait into two categories: public relations efforts and advertising efforts.

Campaigns have been relying on newspaper and outdoor advertising in addition to

printing their own flyers and promotional give-away items (Mohammed Albahar).

Albanai notes that government restrictions on outdoor advertising and the banning of

advertising on official Kuwaiti TV stations continue to encourage public relations

activities like face-to-face meetings with voters and public events at candidates’

campaign headquarters. The banning of outdoor advertising deprived candidates from the

best audience-targeting tool in their arsenal. According to Musah Alshatti, a former

campaign communication manager for several candidates who now runs one of the

biggest marketing communication agencies in Kuwait:

Advertising billboards are the most effective medium because the ad stays there
for a month for maximum viewing. On the other hand, you don’t keep the
newspaper advertisement for more than a day. In addition, outdoor advertising
can target the candidate’s specific district, while newspaper ads are read by
everyone.
Although Kuwaiti law regulates commercial street ads, political advertisements in

the streets were not regulated for many years. During the election season, the streets,

turns and roundabouts were filled with signs of different sizes without regard to traffic

safety. Until 2009 candidates were permitted to put such big promotional signs on the

streets sides that “there were days when you almost couldn’t see the road in front of you”

says Abdullah Alobaid, a former communications director and campaign manager with

more than 20 years of experience. According to Alobaid, “some candidates believed that

whoever’s signs dominated the streets would win the election.” Consequently, there was

30
a mad rush to populate the streets with distinguishable advertisement signs. Alobaid adds

that:

After the rich candidates put their signs out there, other candidates try to mimic
the color and design to benefit from the confusion. But we sometimes surprise
everybody by replacing all our signs we with new ones three nights before the
elections and change the face of the district.
Unfortunately, the intent to advertise was not the only goal in the race to fill the

streets with candidates’ signs, according to Alobaid. Due to corruption in the voting

process in Kuwait, some candidates use the dominance of outdoors signs as a signal they

have healthy budgets to potential voters who may cast their vote in return for money.

Mass Media Old and New

In the past, the state’s official television stations in Kuwait, which were the only

television stations licensed to broadcast, avoided lending themselves to political

campaigning. Televised political advertisements, for example, were not permitted during

election cycles. Therefore, televised political advertisements did not flourish or become

commonplace in Kuwaiti as they did in Western democracies. Instead, political

advertisements in Kuwait were traditionally newspaper advertisements. But with the rise

in use of the Internet late 1990s in Kuwait, candidates found a new media outlet with

which to reach out to voters.

In the early 2000s, web pages were the most widely used electronic outlet for

candidates, according to Waleed Alroumi, a young political campaigner who worked as a

communication director for several campaigns. After 2005, blog activists dominated the

scene. According to Alroumi, blogs held great influence after the 2005 Naheeba 5

(translation: We Want It 5) redistricting campaign. However, with the rise in use of

Facebook in 2008, blogging proved less effective. Also at this time, the Kuwaiti

31
government permitted operation of private satellite TV channels, which began to play a

role in campaigns by retransmitting candidate speeches and debates.

Social networking sites became a game changer in political communication in

Kuwait. Although websites and blogs were introduced earlier, Twitter in particular

became very popular among Kuwaitis. Mohammed Alasfour, a member of the Kuwaiti

parliament for 15 years, notes that since he began running for office, political

campaigning practices can be viewed as two phases: The first phase was prior to 2006,

when candidates relied mostly on face-to-face communication and newspaper coverage

of campaign events to reach voters. The second phase began after 2006, when social

media emerged as a major presence in Kuwaiti political life. Alasfour explains that in

most recent years:

Reaching voters electronically became dominant. Although I had a website that

was operated by my assistants, it was not as effective as my Twitter account,
which I rely on heavily lately. I spend a lot of time communicating my ideas
directly to voters and interacting with them on a regular basis.
Some candidates began paying Kuwaiti Twitter stars to tweet to their thousands of

followers in an effort to reach voters (Musab Alshatti). Ali Albanai states that there was

less time to prepare media campaigns and messages because of the political instability in

recent years. This was a result of the government and parliament dissolving several times

and not completing their terms,. However, social networks provided much faster and

more effective communication tools with potential voters. “When we were using SMS

through cellphone carriers, I never imagined there could be a faster or more convenient

way to communicate with voters. Twitter totally changed that” (Waleed Alroumi).

Although television is typically referred to as old media, in the Kuwaiti political

context, television channels actually became more influential than social networks. As

32
mentioned earlier, the government-run television stations in Kuwait avoided heavy

involvement in elections. But after the law changed in 2004, Alrai Sattelite Channel

became the first privately-owned Kuwaiti television channel broadcasting in the Middle

East. Several licenses were later given to other private channels. The late introduction of

those media institutions also changed the dynamics of political communication and

political discourse in Kuwait.

Television interviews became one of the most effective communication tools for

the candidates with charisma and the knowledge to perform well tin that venue, according

to Musab Alshatti. Such interviews can be categorized as either public relations activity

or an advertising tool because “television channels sell you an advertising package that

includes advertising spots and interview appearances” Alshatti. According to Khaleefa

Aqassar, the questions in such interviews are arranged previously with the candidate or

his campaign staff and the interviews are intended to make the candidate look good.

Polls and Research:

In recent years, polls have become more prominent in Kuwaiti elections as more

people pay closer attention to those polls (Alhazmi). The increasing number of private

television satellite channels and the license of new daily newspapers may have

contributed to that because of horse-race coverage. Mahmoud Alsayed finds polls to be

quite influential on the outcome of the election. According to him, many people actually

change their minds to support the person who appears more likely to win. But the general

attitude expressed by the majority of the interviewees was cynical towards the validity

and integrity of the majority of polls. There are three or four decent and objective polls,

according to Mohammed Albahar. Ali Albanai also notes that the criteria for those polls,

33
such as the size of the sample, margins of error and dates when polls were taken, are not

known to the public.

The interviewees agreed that internal polling, which is conducted by or paid for

by the campaigns themselves, is not a common practice. Only a few examples were

mentioned during the interviews of campaigns that actually sought to learn about voter

perceptions and priorities using generalizable data. The campaigns that did were mainly

for wealthy candidates who had the capacity to spend money for that purpose (Alasfour).

Polls usually go no further than trying to predict the outcome of the election, but there is

little done in terms of testing the public support for certain issues or the to help shape the

message of the campaigns, according to Hamad Elenzi, an experienced campaign

manager who also manages an advertising agency.

Some interviewees reported deliberate unethical use of polls by some

organizations. Alhazmi, who worked as a campaign manager, reports that he was

approached once by a newspaper to publish favorable poll results about his candidate in

return for money. He stated that he:

Received a call from a representative of a respected newspaper in Kuwait. And

when I say respected, I mean one of the first tier newspapers that dominate the
majority of the market in Kuwait. The person who spoke to me was the head of
the parliamentary section in the newspaper who wanted to make a deal with the
campaign. They offered to publish favorable pieces about my candidate and two
weeks prior to election day they would publish a poll showing my candidate
holding the first or second place spot in the district.
Those who conduct legitimate polls are few and the rest are biased, according to

Alhazmi. He adds that the fraudulent polls target the gray area of undecided voters not

affiliated with a particular political ideology and not loyal to any specific candidate.

34
 Political Advertising

The Role of Political Ads

Political advertisements play an increasing role in political campaigns in Western

democracies and in other developed democracies around the world. Although political

advertisements are a significant characteristic in Kuwaiti elections seasons, the general

impression expressed by the interviewees regarding political ads is that advertising is nice

to have in the campaign’s toolbox, it is not very important in many cases. Several

responses indicated that candidates do not expect advertising to persuade voters, although

this notion is quickly retracted with further elaboration. Omar Alhamad notes “it is very

difficult to change people’s convictions through an ad. I find reinforcement to be a main

goal of advertising, and advertising only plays a subordinate role to face-to-face visits

and public relations events.” The main element is the personal charisma of the candidates

and their political, ideological and tribal ties. Advertising is only supplemental in getting

some ideas and messages across, so candidates don’t spend much on it,” says Albanai, a

professor of advertising.

There is agreement that the main use of political newspaper advertising is to

invite voters to attend events held in the candidate’s campaign headquarters. Candidates

want to fill their events to show that they have a good chance, according to Ahmed

Alibrahim. On the other hand, some campaigns wanted more from ads, but that was rare

(Ali Albanai).

In general, other than invitations to events, which is a common method of

political advertising, there seem to be two general reasons to use political advertisement.

The first is to introduce a new candidate to the voters. According to Alhazmi, “the use of

35
advertising is dependent on the position of the candidate and how familiar he is to

people.” Mohammed Alasfour notes that “if you are a new candidate, you need to

distinguish yourself through heavy advertising to become a familiar candidate and

eventually invited to appear on television talk shows.” But after attaining the necessary

level of familiarity and name recognition, candidates, and even advertising agency

managers, find it difficult to justify advertisement spending except for invitations for

events (Mohammed Alasfour).

Campaigns also rely heavily on advertisements when a candidate’s chances of

winning are at risk. Both Alasfour and Musab Alshatti thought that advertisements

become less useful when a candidate is well known. However, they noted that in cases of

some candidates, such as the well-known and influenetial member of parliament Ahmed

Al-Sadoun, , the campaigns and candidates decided to run aggressive, well-budgeted

campaigns. Both Alasfour and Alshatti agreed that advertising played a significant role in

his comeback of Al-Sadoun in the election results.

Political advertising is also useful for reaching segments of the population that are

not usually very accessible for the candidates, such as women. Abdullah Alobaid also

notes that there are limited opportunities for candidates to meet face-to-face with voters,

especially given the change in the district system. According to Alobaid:

There is a segment you can’t reach in the traditional ways. They don’t go to the
Diwanias, they don’t pray at the mosque, they just don’t attend social events. We
used to look hard to find those to communicate with them. So if you can’t reach
them that way, you hope they’ll develop a positive attitude towards your
candidate by being exposed to advertisements.
Campaign Funding

Kuwaiti law does not require candidates or their campaigns to make financial

disclosures. Although there is a sense among the interviewees that there is a trend of

36
increasing expenditure, this cannot be officially confirmed. Interviewees were asked to

estimate the average spending on a political campaign by a candidate seriously seeking

office in Kuwait. Responses regarding campaign spending amounts were both extremely

high and low, and served to provide an estimated average.

Interviewees were also asked to provide an estimate of the average percentage of

campaign funds allocated to advertising of any sort. Advertising was defined as the

placement of paid content in a mass communication outlet. Street signs, pamphlets and

other similar methods were excluded. Tthe lowest estimated average of a campaign

budget was 50,000 Kuwaiti Dinars (KD), or approximately $177,620.The highest

estimated average was KD 400,000, or approximately $1.4 million, The average of the

estimates was KD 160,000,or approximately $568,400, Interviewees lowest estimate of

the percentage of campaign funds allocated to advertising was 25%. The highest estimate

was 80% making the average estimate 54%. These estimates are noteworthy if accurate.

There were 389 candidates running for election in 2012. Considering the number of

voters in each election (422,600 in the last election) (Alqabas, 2012), spending per voter

in Kuwait is considered very high compared to that in the U.S.. According to the

estimates, multiplying the number of candidates running by the estimated average

campaign spending divided by the number of voters equals KD 147or approximately

$522, per vote casted. The 2012 U.S. presidential election cost $6 billion, or

approximately KD 1.7 billion (Center for Responsive Politics, 2012a). The total number

of voters in this election was 125.9 million (Huffington Post, 2012). The cost of the

election divided by the number of voters is $47.5, or KD 13.5, which is less than a tenth

of the estimated cost per vote in Kuwait. It is necessary to keep in mind that the average

37
spending per candidate used here is only estimated by the interviewees with previous

campaign experience, and should not be taken as a definitive estimate but an attempt to

get perspective.

Content of Advertisemen:

Mass media effects and political advertisements gained more attention after the

penetration of broadcast television. Criticisms of the limited effects perspective suggest

that it did not account for the revolutionary change that broadcast media made. Thus, the

majority of political advertising studies examined video style and other aspects of

televised political advertisements. By comparison, political advertisements in newspapers

received less attention. That is different in Kuwait, as explained earlier the dominant

political advertisement method is newspapers.

Political newspaper advertisements share common elements in their layouts with

little variance among them. The interviewees agree that the common elements of political

advertisements are the candidate’s name, a portrait photo, the Kuwaiti flag, and the

candidate’s district number (Abdullah Alobaid, Abdullah Alobaid). Mohammed Alasfour

added that if the candidate is new to the scene, he/she will likely include more ideas and

goals in the ad so people will learn more about him/her. Veteran candidates assume that

because people already know them and their platform, they sometimes include only their

names in the ad, omitting even a photo of themselves. Alasfour noted that in one of the

biggest campaigns he ran, he tried something different, i.e. following the American style

of making the advertisements more heavily issue-based. However, the electorate was not

ready for that and the plan backfired.

38
 Issues in Political Ads: The issues usually discussed in advertisements in Kuwait

revolve around ideals such as nationalism and religion (Majed Alturkait). Mahmoud

Alsayed notes that:

From 1980 through the 90s, the constitution has been the major issue left-leaning
candidates tend to include in their slogans and advertisements. On the other hand,
Islamic religious issues, such as ethics and Sharia law, are the main thrust of ads
candidates with religious or tribal background prefer. After Kuwait’s liberation
following the Iraqi invasion, unity and the constitution became the general theme
until the early 2000s, when jobs, services and standards of living became the main
concerns.
Khaleefa Aqassar, a campaign manager, notes that housing, healthcare, education,

women’s social rights, unemployment and corruption are currently the reoccurring

themes in political advertisements.

Candidates Images in Political Ads: When asked what character-based claims

political advertisements usually make, the majority of interviewees dismissed that notion

entirely. In Kuwaiti elections “the personal element is not present in advertisements,”

says Albanai. Ahmed Alibrahim notes that “we didn’t get to a stage where we have the

slogan be about one’s character. We say in Kuwaiti that a self-praising man deserves a

kick by the foot.” But the interviewee’s answers quickly change upon further discussion.

When asked if the advertisements include discussion about honesty and integrity, they

quickly confirm that they do and even, in some cases, offer more character-based

examples. Omar Alhamad, who finished his undergraduate studies in the U.S and

volunteered with U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s presidential campaign, emphasized the

character-based communication efforts that his campaigns utilize in Kuwait. He said that

they put out pieces of personal information about the candidate through different

campaign channels in the hopes of forming a favorable personal image of Kerry. It was

39
necessary to overcome a stereotype that people usually associated with the candidate’s

ideology. According to Alahmad:

The happiest day in my campaign was after my candidate suffered a negative

attack from opponents. One newspaper editorial defended him and reminded
people where he came from and the type of a person he is. The editorial was great
for me because it had all the different pieces of information that I had put out
there in different channels. That’s when I knew that I did a good job.
Negative Advertisement:

Negative advertising is a significant characteristic of political advertising

practiced in most Western democracies. But, for several reasons, Kuwaiti campaigns do

not employ that tactic, according to all the interviewees. Hamad Elenzi notes that:

It does not exist among the candidates. No one attacks directly. But there is a lot
of attacking by partisan television channels directed towards certain candidates,
political movements or parties. Even newspapers play a role and it gets uglier
every election cycle.
Some candidates used to unlawfully distribute pamphlets that specifically

attacked other candidates by name without identifying the attacker (Abdullah Alobaid).

New media makes such anonymous attacks easier to execute. Online discussion forums

and blogs became tools for such attacks. More developed use of YouTube videos and

Twitter are expected (Waleed Alroumi, Majed Alturkait). Negative advertisements could

fall under comparative advertisement, which is banned by Kuwaiti law, said Albanai in

justifying the lack of any ads of this sort in Kuwaiti elections.

Legal and Cultural Environment

Recent legislative changes have influenced the political advertising practices in

Kuwait. Kuwait electorates have been divided among 25 districts since the 1980s. Recent

redistricting has reduced that to only five, which resulted in fewer door-to-door

campaigning activities in favor of mass communication practices. Omar Alhamad notes

40
that “although our candidate has to make more personal visits to the people of the district,

we are required to meet face-to-face with a smaller percentage of the electorate in our

district than before.” The cost of campaigns has increased since the ban of street sign

advertisements and the trend toward advertising in newspapers and private television

channels (Waleed Alroumi).

The message of the advertisements also changed with the changing of the district

system. Mohammed Alasfour notes that “the discourse was narrow and focused on the

direct needs of a specific district.” Some of the candidates or past parliament members

would mention paving streets or renewing the local mosque in their platforms according

to Alobaid. But, as the electoral districts grew, more general and national discourse is

dominating the campaigns and political advertisements. Additionally, with the passing of

the new press law, the government allowed for more daily newspapers to be issued which

changed the dynamics of dependency between the media and the candidates.

The interviewees did not agree on whether or not the new newspapers helped

lower the cost of the campaigns. While campaigns now have more news outlet options,

Hamad Elenzi suggests that it made things more difficult. He notes that “before we

needed to satisfy five newspapers to make it less likely that they attack us but now we

have 15.” On the other hand, Elenzi notes that “we are less stressed about maintaining

good relationships with everybody because we can’t. If someone is going to attack our

candidate, we have other newspapers that will be fair to us.”

There was agreement among the interviewees about the lack of laws pertaining to

political advertising in Kuwait. The laws that apply to political advertising are the same

laws that pertain to commercial advertisements (Ali Albanai). There are no laws

41
mandating that the campaign declare the money they spend on political advertisements,

nor do campaigns declare the source of their funding (Hamad Elenzi).

Discussion

Although scholars gave considerable attention to political advertising in Western

democracies, this is not the case in Kuwait. Interviewees responded with skepticism

about the actual influence of political advertisings in Kuwaiti elections, which may

provide some explanation why so little attention was given to political ads. Those

involved in political advertising are of the opinion that it’s not effective. This is likely so

because political advertisements in Kuwait are regulated under the same laws that

regulate commercial advertisements rather than laws guaranteeing political freedom of

speech.

In addition, many aspects of political advertising financing and buying in Kuwait

are unregulated and not transparent. The interviewees discussed several unethical

practices, such as selling advertisements to candidates bundled with prime time television

appearances where the audience is unaware they are watching an infomercial, not a

journalistic interview. Mention was also made of candidates being approached by

newspapers to make deals where falsified favorable polls results are published a to

improve their chances of winning. Such practices not only threaten the integrity of the

media and the candidates, but also threaten the integrity of the political process in Kuwait

through false methods of political communication and advertisements. These interviews

provided better understanding of political advertising in Kuwait and an important

perspective that wouldn’t yield itself to content analysis only.

42
 The Development of Political Advertisements Practice

According to Dinkin (1989, p. 3):

“The main method of campaigning during the colonial period was canvassing and
handshaking. Probably more so than today, people felt it important to be
personally acquainted with the men for whom they voted. Having less populous
election districts gave representation a greater personal meaning. Thus persons
running for office sought to meet members of the electorate individually--at
church, at taverns, at court, or at a militia training. Candidates in urban areas often
went from door to door or buttonholed voters in the street on the way to the
polls.”
Although some elections results are still influenced by face-to-face campaigning,

mediated communication is a significant part of modern campaigning efforts. The

interviewees had mixed opinions about the role of public relations efforts, such as

meeting the candidate in person and mediated communication efforts such as political

advertisements and television appearances. Some of the interviewees emphasized what

practices are most important in Kuwaiti campaigning practice and they sounded like the

quote above about the colonial period campaigns.

There are indications that the practice of political advertising is developing in

Kuwait. The use of polls, for example, is more present in shaping the campaign message.

In addition, more campaigns are seeking assistance from communications professionals.

And although character-based advertising was dismissed by most of the interviewees,

some of them who are familiar with American campaigning styles indicated the

deliberate use of personal characteristics in various communication channels, including

advertisements that appeal to voter emotions.

Development of Political Ads in Kuwait’s Media System

Studying Kuwaiti political ads offers an opportunity to examine how campaigners

perform in cultures with legal limitations different than Western environments. Because

43
of media ownership and governmental restrictions, the use of websites and social

networks in communicating with voters preceded the use of the most effective political

communication in the western democracies, television advertisements. This delay in the

use of TV and the ineffectiveness of newspaper ads may explain why political

campaigners do not view the role of political advertisements favorably.

In addition, there might be other institutional effects caused by the lack of

televised political ads. Televised political advertisements are expensive to produce.

Although they might be affordable to wealthy candidates, the majority of candidates can’t

afford a sizable campaign on their own. It could be argued that the increase in the cost of

campaigning due to the use of TV ads might restructure the way candidates campaign.

While candidates currently run as individuals for the most part, the rising cost of

campaigns may lead to the institution of a political parties election system, which is a

more advanced democratic practice than is currently used in Kuwait.

Content of Political Ads

Political advertisements in Kuwait can’t be described as attack ads, according to

all the interviewees. Although campaigns and the media are accused of negativity and

attacks on candidates and on the government, political advertisements have not

historically been used for that purpose in Kuwait. This is mostly because there is no

precedent in the region. Kuwait is the first country to hold parliamentary elections among

the countries of the Corporation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC).

Geographically, Kuwait has no close neighbors with more advanced campaigning

practices to model, so worldwide practices such as negative advertisements have not yet

made their way into Kuwaiti political discourse yet.

44
 Voters in other democracies may complain about the disadvantages of negative

ads, but the lack of negative political advertisements has its disadvantages, too. Negative

political advertisements are more informative to voters than positive ads. In addition,

issue-based attack advertisements are a useful part of political discourse that helps voters

to see all sides of the issues. Finally, negative political advertisements might give what

candidates say about their opponents more credibility, i.e. goading them to put their

campaign money where their mouths are.

45
 Chapter 3: Content Analysis

Content of political advertisements received much attention from political

communication scholars (Kaid, 2004b). Studies of political advertisements examined the

politicians’ discourse in the ads and compared it to the discourse in other frequently used

campaign channels. Though some might view political ads with cynicism, Joslyn (1980)

found that political ads are the most informative means of communicating a campaign

message to voters, second only to political debates. Yet, in light of this, the systematic

examination of political advertisements in Kuwait, an Arab and populated mostly by

Muslims, cannot be found in previous literature. This dissertation aims to begin filling

that gap.

The second method used for this study is content analysis of political newspaper

advertisements from the 2008 parliamentary election. Drawing from previous literature,

the research questions posed are:

RQ1a: What are the most common functions in political discourse of acclaim,

attack or defense in Kuwaiti political advertisements? How does that compare to findings

in literature?

RQ1b: What are the most common policy or character topics in the political

discourse of political advertisements in Kuwait?

RQ2a: What policies do candidates find most appealing to Kuwaiti voters as

indicated by the candidates’ political advertisements?

46
 RQ2b: What character qualities do candidates find most appealing to Kuwaiti

voters as indicated by the candidates’ political advertisements?

RQ3A: What are the differences between incumbents and challengers in regard to

functions, and topics used in political advertisements?

RQ3b: What are the differences between winners and losers in regard to

functions, and topics used in political advertisements?

RQ4: Do candidates make changes in their use of political discourse functions

and topics during the campaign?

Method

Sampling

The researcher initially intended to choose one of the largest newspapers in

Kuwait from which to draw advertisement samples. However, during the interviews,

several participants indicated that there are political candidates who boycott specific

newspapers. It was suggested samples be taken from two newspapers for a better

representation of the content of political advertisements in Kuwait. The two newspapers

selected are Alwatan and Alqabas. PDF file copies of every issue of those two

newspapers for the months of March, April and May 2008 were obtained. That was the

period when parliament was dissolved and elections were held. In addition, PDF copies

of every issue of the two newspapers for the months of December 2011 and January and

February of 2012 were obtained. This is also the period when parliament was dissolved

and elections held.

The 2009 election cycle lasted for 31 days. Of those days, political advertisements

appeared in every issue of Alwatan newspaper and appeared 25 days in Alqabas

newspaper. The 2012 Election cycle lasted for 58 days. Of those days, political
47
advertisements appeared in 37 days in Alwatan newspaper and appeared in 29 days in

Alqabas newspaper. In 2009 election 322 pages from alwatan newspaper contained

political ads, which are 14.32% of the 2248 total number of pages for that period. On the

other hand, 113 pages of Alqabas newspaper contained political ads, which are 6.80%

1661 of the total number of pages for that period. In 2012 election cycle, 276 pages of

Alwatan newspaper contained political ads, which are 10.83% of the 2548 total number

of pages for that period. On the other hand, 112 pages from Alqabas newspaper contained

political ads, which are 7.46% 1500 of the total number of pages for that period. The 400

advertisements analyzed for this study came from 319 pages from both newspapers in

both election cycles. The total number of pages that political advertisements appeared in

is 817 pages.

The sampling procedure consisted of identifying every page on which a political

advertisement appeared between the day following parliament being dissolved and

election day. For each of those days, a page was randomly assigned as the first page to

start analyzing when the specific date is randomly chosen. If the date appeared again in

the random selection process, the next page that contained one or more political

advertisements is analyzed, and so on. If the pages of one specific date were all analyzed,

that date is skipped when it appeared in the random selection process. Sampling stopped

when the total of 400 randomly chosen advertisements were selected to achieve a 5%

margin of error at 95% confidence level.

Within each selected page, advertisements were numbered according to their

appearance order from the right side of the page to the left side of the page. When

48
advertisements are chosen horizontally we move vertically to the next advertisement

closest to the right edge of the page and so on.

Analysis procedures

In consideration of the goals of the study, analysis procedures were adopted from

the works of Benoit et al. (1998) and Benoit et al. (2003) as follows:

The first step is unitizing the messages into themes. The political discourse

analysis theory does not consider a whole advertisement as a unit of analysis. Rather it

breaks down every advertisement into the smallest unit of communication. These units

are called themes. A theme should be able to stand alone as an expression of a coherent

idea. It should also serve one of the three discourse functions of acclaiming, attacking or

defending.

A theme may constitute one short phrase or be several sentences in length. Benoit

et al. (1998, p. 49) followed a rule “to break each part of the passage into a separate

theme whenever [they] would have considered that part to be a theme if that part

appeared alone.” If several utterances appeared to express the same topic, it would be

coded as one theme, even if the theme stretches through several sentences.

According to the codebook provided by Benoit (see Appendix 2):

A theme is the smallest unit of discourse capable of expressing a coherent idea (in
this case, not just any idea, but acclaims, attacks, and defenses). Because
discourse is enthymematic (an enthymeme is an argument which is incomplete;
the assumption is that the audience will supply the missing parts) -- and because
several sentences can work together to develop a single idea -- themes can vary in
length from a phrase to a paragraph (several sentences).
After an initial examination of Kuwaiti political advertisements, it was decided

that a unit of analysis can be smaller than a phrase. Several candidates published

advertisements that included only a one or two-word slogan, their name, and district

49
number. It was found appropriate to treat the slogan as a unit of analysis even if it was

only one word, because the candidate was making an argument about a policy or a

character quality by focusing the advertisement around the slogan. For example, a

candidate might use the slogan of “trustworthy” or “hope.” Such phrases were considered

for this study to constitute a theme or an acclaim that the candidate is making to be

viewed more favorably by voters. But typically units of analysis were full sentences like

“Our unity is out path to prosper” or “we work for values.” Examples for themes about

character qualities are “Someone you know and trust” or “Representing everybody with

truthfulness and honesty.”

The second step is the classification of functions. Each theme identified in the

first step is then classified as an acclaim, attack or defense. An acclaim theme portrays

the candidate favorably. In contrast, an attack theme is a one that portrays the opponent

unfavorably. A defensive theme is one that explicitly responds to a prior attack. Any

theme that didn’t fit into one of these categories was excluded from the analysis.

The third step is identification of the theme topic. Each theme topic is then

categorized as either policy centered or character centered. In addition, each theme is

assigned a subtopic category. Policy theme subcategories are past deeds, future plans, or

general goals. The difference between the latter two is that future plans include specifics.

For example, cutting taxes is considered a general goal while cutting taxes by 15% is

considered a specific plan. Future plans can a lso be considered as a means to an end, or a

step towards a goal.

Character themes sub-categories are personal qualities, leadership abilities, and

ideals. Personal qualities refer to intrinsic characteristics, such as compassion and

50
trustworthiness. Leadership abilities are qualities deemed specifically necessary to

perform well in office, such as past experience or a vision for the future. Experience in

the private sector is considered a personal quality while experience in the public sector is

coded as leadership ability. Finally, ideals are values and principles that the candidate

holds and aspires to.

The fourth step in the analysis is summarizing each utterance by key word(s) to

find out which policies candidates find most attractive to Kuwaiti voters during that

election. This same step is taken for personal characteristics.  

The functional analysis approach uses functions as units of analysis rather than

the whole advertisement. In the 400 political advertisements analyzed, the average

number of functions was 2.1. There were a total of 896 functions in the sample used in

the analysis.

In 2009, a total of 86 out of the 293 candidates, or 30.38%, who ran advertised.

The total number of candidates who advertised in the 2012 election was 93, which is

23.9% of the 389 candidates running in that election. Of the 400 advertisements analyzed,

364 were for individual candidates and 36 sponsored by two or more candidates.

Advertisements sponsored by more than one candidate will be indicated in the results and

discussion sections when relevant to the analysis. Of the individual candidates who

advertised, 25.5% were incumbents. Of the 364 advertisements put forth during both

election cycles, 32.3% were sponsored by candidates who won. The total number of

candidate who registered to run for office for district 1 is 79, districts 2 is 156, district 3 is

249, for district 4 is 292 and for district 5 is 380 for the 2012 election.

51
 Coding and Inter-Coder Reliability

The researcher was the first coder for all the coding steps. The first step was

unitizing the functions, which was done with a second coder. The coders discussed each

advertisement to identify the smallest parts that could constitute a discourse function. The

maximum number of functions that were found in a single advertisement was 35 and the

minimum number was zero. On average, advertisements had 2.11 functions with 3.287

Std.

In their study, Benoit et al. (1998) did not use traditional coder reliability methods

in their study. Instead of using outside coders, the authors coded all the materials

themselves. All the content was coded at least by two of the authors and the analysis was

compared. When there was disagreement among them, the coders discussed their analysis

decisions until one coder was convinced that the other was correct. The analysis for this

dissertation did not follow this method because there are no multiple authors (Benoit et

al., 1998). Instead I used the traditional independent coding as discussed below.

The total number of advertisements analyzed for this study was 400. Of those

advertisements, 100, or 25% of the sample, were chosen randomly and coded with two

more coders. A random number was generated to count 100 advertisements to be coded

by second coders. The second and the third coders analyzed 50 advertisements each, and

their analysis was tested for interceder reliability against the first coder’s analysis. A total

of 214 functions were co-coded .The variable analyzed in this step was the function,

deciding it to be an acclaim, attack or defense. There was a 100 percent agreement among

coders that all functions occurring in the 100 advertisement subset were acclaims.

52
 The next step involved coding the topic of the function as either policy-centric or

character-centric. Three codes were missing codes from the second coders, making the

number of valid cases in this analysis 211 functions. The Cohen Kappa inter-coder

reliability for this variable is .843.

The coders coded the subtopic variable which had six choices based on the topic

variable. If the coder determined the topic to be policy-centric, the coder then chose 1 for

past deeds, 2 for future plan, or 3 for general goal. Likewise, if the coder determined the

function to be character-centric, 4 was chosen for personal quality, 5 for leadership

ability or 6 for ideals. Each option was coded in the same variable with the Cohen Kappa

interceder reliability value of .765.

The second research question concerned the policies and character qualities

candidates think are important to Kuwaiti voters and which are therefore put forth in their

political advertisements. To code these, the researcher compiled a list of 113 potential

subtopics that appeared in the advertisements. Each subtopic was given a code and the

material was co-coded accordingly. The Cohen Kappa inter-coder reliability value for

this variable was .856.

The smile variable also was coded as to advertisements with no picture of the

candidate, and pictures with no smile, smile, a smile showing teeth, or a mix (i.e.an

advertisement with more than one candidate in the advertisement where each has a

different facial expression). The Cohen Kappa inter-coder reliability value for this

variable is .876 for 99 advertisements. One advertisement was missing the smile code

from the second coder’s sheets.

53
 Finally, some variables were coded by only one coder because they were not

subjective, but directly described what was in the ad. Those variables are the newspaper

the ad appeared, date the ad appeared, page number, section name, height and the width

of the advertisement, district the candidate is running to represent if mentioned in the ad,

gender of the candidate, and presence of any communication channel with the campaign

or the candidate, such as phone, email, web page, Facebook account, Twitter account,

Blackberry messenger pin, etc.

54
Results

RQ1a: What are the most common functions of acclaim, attack, or defense in the

political discourse of Kuwaiti political advertisements? And how does it compare to

findings in literature?

The results (Table 3.1) indicate that Kuwaiti political advertising is the least

negative campaign discourse documented in the literature, with only one negative

utterance during the 2012 elections and no negative discourse in the political

advertisements during the 2009 elections. The differences in the variable distribution

were significant using one-sample binominal test with p < .000.

Table 3.1: Political Discourse Functions

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
Acclaim 837 93.5 99.9 99.9
Attack 1 0.1 0.1 100
Total 838 93.6 100
Ads with no Functions 57 6.4

RQ2b: What are the most common topics of policy or character in political discourse in

Kuwaiti political advertisements?

Topics can be either policy-centered or a character-centered and are usually

referred to in the political advertisements literature as issue vs. images. Political

advertisement practitioners, campaign managers, and candidates indicated in interviews

that political advertising in Kuwait is mainly issue-based because of the political culture

in Kuwait. The content analysis of the ads revealed otherwise, as shown in Table 3.6. The

differences in the variable distribution were significant using one-sample binominal test.

55
Table 3.2: Political Discourse Topics

Frequency Percent
Policy 184 22%
Character 654 78%
Total 838 100%
Ads with no functions 57

The functional analysis theory sub-categorizes the policy and character topics for

further detailed understanding of the discourse. The three subcategories of policy topics

are past deeds, future plans, and general goals. As shown in Table 3.3, 94.6% of the

policy discourse concerns general futurist goals. Only 5.4% discussed past deeds with no

mention of future plans. Future plans are different from general goals in providing

specific measurable goals. The differences in the variable distribution were significant

using one-sample binominal test with p < .000.

Table 3.3: Subtopics for Policy Functions

Frequency Percent
Past Deeds 10 5.4%
General Goals 174 94.6%
Total 184 100%

The character subtopics are personal qualities, such as leadership abilities and

ideals. The relatively large percentage of personal qualities discourse is inconsistent with

the expectations from the interviews (Table 3.4). The differences in the variable

distribution were significant using one-sample binominal test with p < .000.

56
Table 3.4: Subtopics for Character Functions

Frequency Percent Cumulative

Percent
Personal Qualities 279 42.7% 42.7%
Leadership Abilities 145 22.2% 64.8%
Ideals 230 35.2% 100%
Total 654 100%

RQ2a: Which policies political do candidates find most appealing to Kuwaiti voters as

indicated by the candidates’ political advertisements?

According to Table 3.5, approximately 40% of the political discourse in Kuwaiti

political advertisements focuses on economic prosperity. The constitution and respect for

the constitution was the fourth most important topic overall in the two election cycles

included in the analysis.

RQ2b: What character qualities do political candidates find most appealing to

Kuwaiti voters as indicated by the candidates’ political advertisements?

According to the operational definition used in this study, when a candidate used

phrases such as “it’s your country and you should do the best for it” or “your country

needs you,” they were coded as a portrayal of leadership. The candidate or the campaign

was found to enable and encourage voters to take action. Such discourse was the most

used choice in the character functions. Second was the display of previous job

experience. These were coded as personal qualities when the job is related to the private

sector experiences, or as leadership abilities when the job is related to the public sector,

according to the functional analysis definitions. (See Appendix 2)

57
Table 3.5: Topics for Policy

Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent

1 Development 43 23.4 23.4
2 Economy 17 9.2 32.6
3 Corruption 13 7.1 39.7
4 Constitution 11 6 45.7
5 Stability 10 5.4 51.1
6 Fix_Country 10 5.4 56.5
7 Parliament 7 3.8 60.3
8 Education 7 3.8 64.1
9 Health 7 3.8 67.9
10 Law 6 3.3 71.2
11 Youth 5 2.7 73.9
12 Women 5 2.7 76.6
13 Housing 4 2.2 78.8
14 Family 3 1.6 80.4
15 Other 36 19.6 100
Total 184 100

58
Table 3.6: Character Qualities in Political Ads

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent
1 Enabler 94 14.4 14.37
2 Job 88 13.5 27.83
3 Nationalism 85 13 40.83
4 Degree/ Certificate 52 8 48.78
5 Religion 32 4.9 53.67
6 Unity 28 4.3 57.95
7 Optimism 17 2.6 60.55
8 Values 16 2.4 63.00
9 Justice 13 2 64.98
10 Faithful 11 1.7 66.67
11 Change 11 1.7 68.35
12 Democracy 10 1.5 69.88
13 Sincerity 10 1.5 71.41
14 Work 10 1.5 72.94
15 Independence/free will 9 1.4 74.31
16 Stability 9 1.4 75.69
17 Good selection 9 1.4 77.06
18 Everyone's-Kuwait voice /for you 9 1.4 78.44
19 Responsibility 9 1.4 79.82
20 Credibility 9 1.4 81.19
21 Other 123 18.8 100
Total 654 100

RQ3A: What are the differences between incumbents and challengers with regard to

functions and topics used in political advertisements?

Previous literature indicates that differences can be found between incumbents

and challengers in percentages of images vs. issues. Yet, that was not found to apply in

Kuwait. According to our data, incumbents and challengers use the same strategies.

RQ3b: What are the differences between winners and losers with regard to functions, and

topics used in political advertisements?

59
 According to the analysis, winners and losers do not differ on the use of policy

and character functions, as they do not differ in the use of negative and positive discourse

in political advertisements.

RQ4: Do candidates make changes in their use of political discourse functions and topics

during the campaign?

In examining the political advertising conduct in Kuwait, this research question

examined the political discourse changes through the period of the election cycle.

Responses to RQ3 revealed there were no differences detected between winners and loser

or incumbents and challengers with regard to the use of policy and character in their

political discourse. This lack of differentiation might suggest that the campaign is not

interactive with the candidate’s situation and that it isn’t taken into account. To further

examine the variance in campaign political discourse, the study looked at the change in

the topics discourse through the campaign cycle. The results for the 2009 election cycle

do not indicate a significant difference in the use of topics of policy and character during

the campaign. On the other hand, examination of the 2012 campaign, which lasted about

two weeks longer, showed a significant difference in the use of policy and character

functions 𝑥 ! =  29.52, 𝑑𝑓 = 6, 𝑝 < .000, Nagelkerke Pseudo r = .17 through the weeks

of the campaign. Figure 1 is a visual demonstration of the variance.

60
 Table 3.7: Use of Topics During 2012 Campaign

Weeks
st nd rd
1 2 3 4th 5th 6th 7th Total
Policy

12 8 14 4 5 43
0 (0 %) 0 (0%)
(44.4%) (19%) (16.7%) (10.3%) (12.5%) (15.5%)
Character

39 6 15 34 70 35 35 234
(100%) (100 %) (55.6%) (81%) (83.3%) (89.7%) (87.5%) (84.5%)

Total 39 6 27 42 84 39 40 277

12  

10  
Functions  'Average  by  Days  

8  

6  

4  

2  

0  
Week1   Week2   Week3   Week4   Week5   Week6   Week7  

Policy   Character   Linear  (Policy)   Linear  (Character)  

Figure 3.1: Topics Appearance in 2012 Election

The interviewees indicated that campaigns use political advertisements in Kuwait

to draw audiences to events. The idea was that candidates and campaigns are less likely

to advertise for image or issues. This was examined in the content analysis to give a more

61
accurate account for this description. Ads containing an invitation for attendance to a

physical event were recorded (Table 3.8). The differences in the variable distribution

were significant using one-sample binominal test with p < .000.

Table 3.8: Events Advertisements

Frequency Percent
No Event 157 39.3%
Event 243 60.8%
Total 400 100%

62
 Chapter 4: Discussion and Conclusions

The goal of this study is to provide a systematic examination of one of the

political discourse channels in Kuwait. Political advertising is an integral part of the

political discourse in democracies around the world, and countless scholarly studies have

examined it in America, Europe, and East Asia. This study aims to help bridge the gap in

the literature by widening scope of to available studies to understand the practice of

political advertising.

Political advertising can be an important tool for advancing democracy as it

increases interest in political issues (Hofstetter et al., 1978) and helps educate the public

(Kaid, 1976). This section discusses the findings from both the interviews and the

analysis of political discourse in Kuwaiti advertisements, and contrasts that with the

literature in political advertisements.

The exploratory interviews with candidates and practitioners of political

campaigns gave a glimpse of the importance of political advertising’s role in

campaigning efforts in Kuwait. Several interviewees expressed their skepticism that

political advertising influences voters, but the same interviewees contradicted

themselves, noting that advertising was a key reason why some of the candidates won in

critical tight races. There are several explanations for this view held by practitioners. For

example, Kuwait used to be divided into 25 electoral districts, making it more feasible for

a candidate to rely on other (sometimes unethical) methods of persuasion. Some

63
campaign managers thought that meeting voters in person to be a more effective and

targeted method of campaigning than political advertising. On the other hand, the small

districts made buying votes with money or favors easier. Yet, there was a rise in political

advertisement when the districts system went from 25 districts to five, according to the

interviewees. Because they had a smaller chance of meeting a significant percentage of

the voters, candidates became more reliant on political advertising.

As discussed earlier, the functional analysis theory of political discourse

combines the study of negative and positive political advertisements in addition to image

vs. issue content. Previous studies found several advantages and disadvantages in the use

of negative advertisements in political campaigns. For example, the effects of negative

political advertisements can extend beyond the target of the attack and backfire on the

sponsor of the ads (Ran & Ven-Hwei, 2007) or turn voters off by raising negative

attitudes towards the political process in general (Thorson & Ognianova, 2000). On the

other hand, an unintended advantage of negative advertisements is that sympathizers of

the targeted candidate are encouraged to vote and be more politically active (Garramone

& Atkin, 1990).

Negative and Positive Advertising

The systematic examination of political advertisement in Kuwait found that the

use of negative political advertisement to be practically nonexistent. This is consistent

with previous research that indicated that political advertisement is positive in the

majority of political systems except in the U.S. and Israel (Kaid & Holtz-Bacha, 2006).

Yet, political advertisements in Kuwait stand out as the most positivelpolitical

advertisement discourse. The study examined 400 randomly selected advertisements from

64
two election cycles which had 838 functions. Of those 838 functions only one was found

to be negative. In this single phrase, the candidate specified a target of his attack, which

was the executive branch of government, calling it out on its passive role in dealing with

an urgent internal issue.

Information from interviews conducted with practitioners of political

campaigning in Kuwait indicated that an absence of negative advertising is expected in

political advertisements. The structure of the elections system is one reason why negative

advertisement is not used. There can be dozens or even more than 100 candidates running

to win one of ten seats assigned to each elective district. Candidats in such circumstance

would have no interest in exerting effort and money to demote a competitor and

alienating anyone who eventually share a common electoral base. Interviewees also

indicated that the lack of negative advertisements should not imply a lack of negative

political discourse. To the contrary, discourse in press releases, television interviews, and

campaign events contain negative discourse towards the executive branch of the

government and often towards other candidates. The lack of negative advertisements

stands as a unique characteristic of Kuwaiti political campaigns compared to what is

found in the literature.

Image vs. Issues

The second area of study in the analysis of functional political discourse is the

policy vs. character or issue vs. image dichotomy. Although the common approach in the

study of issue vs. image content in political advertising to use the whole ad as a unit of

analysis, this study treats every word or phrase that appears in an advertisement as a unit

of analysis if it served one of the three functions: acclaim, attack or defense. Political

65
advertisements in the U.S. are usually accused of focusing on image rather than issue and

substance. But a systematic examination of political advertisements found the opposite

(Kaid, 2004b).

In terms of issues vs. images debate, practitioners of political campaigning who

participated in the qualitative interviews for this study offered high praise for the content

of political advertisements for being strictly issue-based. Some referred to the culture of

modesty in Kuwait that prohibits someone from self-appraisal. Yet, the systematic

examination of the advertisements found that those perceptions were not accurate.

According to the operational definition of policy topics and character topics, the majority

of discourse functions in political newspaper advertisements is character based,

constituting 78% of the total functions.

Kaid and Holtz-Bacha (2006) conclude that the more democratically developed

the country is, the more likely political advertisements are to be issue- centric. Kaid and

Holtz-Bacha (2006) compared the outcome of several studies where the lowest

percentage of issues to character-based advertisements was 33%. This study found that

political advertisement content in Kuwait to be less than 22% issue-based.

Some studies examined how much candidates communicate specific positions in

their advertisements. For example, according to Joslyn (1980), only 20% of political ads

specified candidates’ positions on issues. The functional discourse analysis of this study

categorizes policy functions into three categories: past deeds, future plans, and general

goals. The difference between future plans and general goals is providing specific

measurable goals instead of general directions. This study found that 5.40% of policy

66
functions in political advertisements mention past deeds, 94.60% mention general goals,

no mention was made of specific measurable goals.

Previous studies indicate that political advertisements are the most informative

discourse channel, second to political debate. Although political advertisements in

Kuwait are expensive per vote to produce, as interviewees’ estimates show, such ads do

not serve Kuwaiti voters well in educating about policy matters. In addition to the low

percentage of policy-centric discourse in political ads, further examination of that

discourse shows that candidates mainly communicate vague hopes for the future rather

than detailing specifics on how they will serve the public.

Winners, Losers, Incumbents and Challengers

In terms of negative and positive political advertisements, the data indicates that

there is no variance to analyze. Of the 838 functions analyzed, all were positive in nature

except for one. However, in terms of image vs. issues, previous studies found that when

comparing winners and losers, advertisements of winners had a higher percentage of

image advertisements in non-tight races (Latimer, 1985). Our examination of political

advertisements in Kuwait did not yield the same results. There was no significant

difference in the use of character and policy discourse in the advertisements of winners

and losers.

Likewise, our data show no variance among incumbents and challengers when

using acclaim, attack and defense. In addition, the data found no significant difference in

the use of policy and character-based discourse. The lack of any meaningful difference in

these comparisons may suggest that messaging in political advertisements is not adaptive

to the candidate’s situation. Interviewees indicated that although polls sometimes indicate

67
that current strategies and messages are not effective, they were reluctant to make bold

moves for fear of making things worse.

Strategic communication goals such as targeting audience segments and message

differentiation were not presented strongly in interviewees responses. Such advanced

communication skills are usually associated with professional communication

campaigning practices, of which Kuwaiti campaigns show no evidence. General cynicism

towards the effectiveness of political advertisements may be why campaigns don’t invest

heavily in messaging. Perhaps, as one interviewee indicated, political advertisements are

used the same way street signs were used before they were banned. Frequency and

quantity of political ads might have more impact on campaigns than the content of the

messages.

Change During Campaign

To further examine how dynamic the advertising political discourse is during the

campaign, an attempt was made to determine any changes during the weeks of the

campaign. Each election cycle was tested separately to determine if the use of acclaim

and attack functions and the use of issue-centric and character-centric topics, actually

vary.

Because the functions did not vary for both election cycles, all being acclaims but

one, there was no change in its use during the period of the campaign. The topic variable

issue vs. policy was also examined for changes. In the first election cycle of four weeks

and two days, there was no significant change found. But in the second election cycle,

which ran for six weeks and four days, there was a significant statistical difference in the

use of topics of issues and character. In the first two weeks only advertisements

68
containing character-based functions were present (Figure1).In the third week candidates

began introducing policy discourse in their political advertisements, though not during

the weeks where more policy topics than character topics were included. Interviews

indicated that new candidates use political advertisements to introduce themselves to

voters. This observation appears to be correct, especially in the early weeks of the

campaign. New candidates present themselves to voters early in the campaign in an

attempt to get name recognition. And only later, the rest of the candidates join and

advertise for themselves.

It is worth noting that the last two election cycles examined in this study were

held in the wake of an unexpected dissolution of parliament by the Kuwait government.

This is not an ideal political situation, according to the constitution, and, as indicated by

the interviewees, put added pressure on that campaigns that need to get their message out

quickly. Perhaps this also helps explain the lack of variance when comparing winners to

losers and incumbents to challengers. The short election cycle may also explain the lack

of variance in the use of discourse topics.

The search for meaningful trends in the use of the functions and the use of topics

is not related to previous literature, but sparked an interest as to whether a collective

pattern can be detected in the use of political advertisements in Kuwait. Assumptions

based on previous literature of challengers and incumbents or winners and losers

differing in their use of political advertisements were not confirmed in our sample. Thus

the data provided showed a trend of the collective use of ads.

69
Professionalism

Modern campaign practices, sometimes referred to as the Americanization of

political campaigning, are characterized by the use of sophisticated marketing research

and voter- targeting techniques. For example, during election seasons, campaigns rely

heavily on pollsters and marketing researchers to craft a sense of voter preferences and

campaign message. The interviewees explicitly indicated, as can be understood from the

content analysis of the advertisements, that Kuwait’s campaigning efforts have not

adapted to these techniques. Campaigns are run mostly by amateurs and volunteers, with

little internal research being conducted to map out a campaign strategy. The structure of

the election system is a key contributor to this situation. Kuwait being divided into 25

election districts makes it less feasible to rely on mass campaigning efforts. In addition,

the lack of a formal party system constrained campaign budgets.

The lack of professionalism in Kuwait’s elections is also indicated by the

suspicious advertising activity reported in the interviews. It has been said that the major

newspapers and private television channels include interviews in the advertising packages

marketed to candidates and campaigns. In those interviews, the reporter is expected to

relax his journalistic style and try to present the candidate favorably without informing

the viewers that the segment is a semi-infomercial. One interviewee in the study indicated

that newspapers also approach campaigns with advertising packages that include

releasing false poll results that show the candidate in an a favorable position.

This research is a only a starting point in the examination of Kuwaiti political

advertising in that only newspaper advertisements, the most common venue, were

analyzed. The findings provided a description the utilization, management and role of

70
political advertisements in Kuwait. The lack of appropriate regulations certainly has

affected the utilization of political advertisements. While political advertisements in the

U.S. fall under the guarantee of free speech, in Kuwait they fall under commercial

advertisement regulations. While this research is descriptive in nature, it can be

concluded that Kuwaiti political communication in general and political advertisements

in particular are in need of attention for their full potential to be realized within the

Kuwaiti political system.

Future Research

An attempt was made to document the status of political campaigning in Kuwait

that was not found in previous literature. Political advertising in Kuwait, an Arabic and

Islamic country, shares attributes found in the literature focused on similar countries. It

has also proved to have unique characteristics that were unexpected and perhaps not

previously documented, such as the high level of positivity of in the political discourse.

Modern political campaigns have significant influence on the distribution of power in

democracies. Future research can direct more attention to the effects of advertisements

and their role in the persuasion of Kuwaiti voters. Future research might also examine

how paid interviews affect voters in an effort to provide scientifically proven grounds for

legal intervention if needed.

71
 References

Airne, D., & Benoit, W. L. (2005). Political television advertising in campaign 2000.
Communication Quarterly, 53(4), 473-492.

Al-Dekhayel, A. (2000). Kuwait: Oil, State and Political Legitimation: Ithaca Press.

Alsalamah, H. (2012). 39.6% is the Final Percentage of Voter Trunout Alqabas(14169).

Alwqyan, F., & Alsarraf, A. (2011). [Political Communication and Marketing in Kuwait]
‫( االتصال والتسويق السياسي في الكويت‬First ed.).

Ansolabehere, S., & Iyengar, S. (1994). Riding the wave and claiming ownership over
issues. Public Opinion Quarterly, 58(3), 335-357.

Baek, M. (2009). A comparative analysis of political communication systems and voter

turnout (Vol. 53, pp. 376-393): Wiley-Blackwell.

Benoit, W. L. (2000). A functional analysis of political advertising across media, 1998.

Communication Studies, 51(3), 274.

Benoit, W. L., & Airne, D. (2009). Non-presidential political advertising in campaign

2004. Human Communication, 12(1), 91-117.

Benoit, W. L., Blaney, J. R., & Pier, P. M. (1998). Campaign '96: a Functional Analysis
of Acclaiming, Attacking, and Defending: Praeger.

Benoit, W. L., McHale, J. P., Hansen, G. J., Pier, P. M., & McGuire, J. P. (2003).
Campaign 2000: a Functional Analysis of Presidential Campaign Discourse:
Rowman & Littlefield.

Benoit, W. L., & Pier, P. M. (1997). A functional approach to televised political spots:
Acclaiming, attacking, defending. Communication Quarterly, 45(1), 1-20.

Bradley, S. D., Angelini, J. R., & Sungkyoung, L. (2007). Psychophysiological and

memory effects of negative political ads. Journal of Advertising, 36(4), 115-127.

Casey, M. S., Thackeray, F. W., & Findling, J. E. (2007). The history of Kuwait.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

72
Center for Responsive Politics. (2012a). 2012 election spending will reach $6 billion,
center for responsive politics predicts, 2012, from
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/10/2012-election-spending-will-reach-
6.html

Center for Responsive Politics. (2012b). The money behind the elections, 2012, from
http://www.opensecrets.org/bigpicture/

Chaffee, S. H., Saphir, M. N., Graf, J., Sandvig, C., & Hahn, K. S. (2001). Attention to
counter-attitudinal messages in a state election campaign. Political
Communication, 18(3), 247-272.

Chang, C. (2001). The impacts of emotion elicited by print political advertising on

candidate evaluation. Media Psychology, 3(2), 91-118.

Chang, C. (2003). Party bias in political-advertising processing. Journal of Advertising,

32(2), 55-67.

CIA. The World Factbook - Kuwait, 2012, from

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ku.html

Cohen, J., & Davis, R. G. (1991). Third-person effects and the differential impact in
negative political advertising. Journalism Quarterly, 68(4), 680-688.

Dardis, F. E., Shen, F., & Edwards, H. H. (2008). Effects of negative political advertising
on individuals' cynicism and self-efficacy: the impact of ad type and message
exposures. Mass Communication & Society, 11(1), 24-42.

Dermody, J., & Scullion, R. (2000). Perceptions of negative political advertising:

Meaningful or menacing? An empirical study of the 1997 British General
Election Campaign. International Journal of Advertising, 19(2), 201-223.

Devlin, L. P. (1994). Television advertising in the 1992 New Hampshire presidential

primary election. Political Communication, 11(1), 81-99.

Devlin, L. P. (1995). Political Commercials in American Presidential Elections. In L. L.

Kaid & C. Holtz-Bacha (Eds.), Political advertising in Western democracies :
parties & candidates on television (pp. 186-205). Thousand Oaks, California.:
Sage Publications.

Dinkin, R. J. (1989). Campaigning in America : a History of Election Practices. New

York: Greenwood Press.

Dinzes, D., Cozzens, M. D., & Manross, G. G. (1994). The role of gender in "attack ads:"
Revisiting negative political advertising. Communication Research Reports,
11(1), 67-75.

73
Drumwright, M. E., & Murphy, P. E. (2004). How advertising practitioners view ethics.
Journal of Advertising, 33(2), 7-24.

Elebash, C. (1984). The americanization of british political communications. Journal of

Advertising, 13(3), 50-58.

Elebash, C., & Rosene, J. (1982). Issues in political advertising in a deep south
gubernatorial race. Journalism Quarterly, 59(3), 420-423.

Faber, R. J., & Storey, M. C. (1984). Recall of Information from Political Advertising.
Journal of Advertising, 13(3), 39-44.

Faber, R. J., Tims, A. R., & Schmitt, K. G. (1993). Negative political advertising and
voting intent: the role of involvement and alternative information sources. Journal
of Advertising, 22(4), 67-76.

Garramone, G. M. (1984). Voter responses to negative political ads. Journalism

Quarterly, 61(2), 250-259.

Garramone, G. M., & Atkin, C. K. (1990). Effects of negative political advertising on the
political process. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 34(3), 299-311.

Golan, G. J., Banning, S. A., & Lundy, L. (2008). Likelihood to vote, candidate choice,
and the third-person effect: Behavioral implications of political advertising in the
2004 presidential election (Vol. 52, pp. 278-290).

Hairong, L., Wenyu, D., Guangping, W., & Nan, Z. (2008). The effect of agency
creativity on campaign outcomes. Journal of Advertising, 37(4), 109-120.

Hill, R. P. (1989). An Exploration of Voter Responses to Political Advertisements.

Journal of Advertising, 18(4), 14-22.

Hofstetter, C. R., Zukin, C., & Buss, T. F. (1978). Political imagery and information in an
age of television. Journalism Quarterly, 55(3), 562-569.

Hong, C., & Riffe, D. (2008). Attention, perception, and perceived effects: Negative
political advertising in a battleground state of the 2004 presidential election. Mass
Communication & Society, 11(2), 177-196.

Huffington Post. (2012). Election Results, from

http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/results

Humke, R. G., Schmitt, R. L., & Grupp, S. E. (1975). Candidates, issues and party in
newspaper political advertisements. Journalism Quarterly, 52(3), 499-504.

Ismael, J. S. (1982). Kuwait : Social Change in Historical Perspective (1st ed.). Syracuse,
N.Y.: Syracuse University Press.

74
Jablonski, P. M., Gome, K., & Galbraith, K. (1998). Political vs. product advertising: An
experimental investigation of recall. Florida Communication Journal, 26(1), 37-
50.

Jaeho, C. (2008). Political ads and citizen communication. Communication Research,

35(4), 423-451.

Johnston, A. (2006). Methodologies for the study of political advertising. In L. L. Kaid &
C. Holtz-Bacha (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of political advertising (pp. 15-34).
Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.

Joslyn, R. A. (1980). The content of political spot ads. Journalism Quarterly, 57(1), 92-
98.

Kaid, L. L. (1976). Measures of political advertising. Journal of Advertising Research,

16(5), 49.

Kaid, L. L. (2004a). Handbook of political communication research. Mahwah, N.J.:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kaid, L. L. (2004b). Political advertising. In L. L. Kaid (Ed.), Handbook of political

communication research (pp. xviii, 541 p.). Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.

Kaid, L. L. (2006). Political advertising in the united states. In L. L. Kaid & C. Holtz-
Bacha (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of political advertising (pp. 37-61). Thousand
Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.

Kaid, L. L., & Gagnere, N. (2006). Election broadcasts in france. In L. L. Kaid & C.
Holtz-Bacha (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of political advertising (pp. 83-96).
Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.

Kaid, L. L., & Holtz-Bacha, C. (2006). Television advertising and democratic systems
around the world. In L. L. Kaid & C. Holtz-Bacha (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of
political advertising (pp. 445-457). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE
Publications.

Kern, M., & Just, M. (1995). The focus group method, political advertising, campaign
news, and the construction of candidate images. Political Communication, 12(2),
127-145.

Kotler, P., & Kotler, N. (1999). Historical origins of political marketing. In B. I. Newman
(Ed.), Handbook of political marketing. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage
Publications.

Latimer, M. K. (1985). Political Advertising for Federal and State Elections: Images or
Substance? Journalism Quarterly, 62(4), 861-868.

75
Lazarsfeld, P. F., Berelson, B., & Gaudet, H. (1944). The People's Choice; How the Voter
Makes up his Mind in a Presidential Campaign. New York,: Duell.

Lee Kaid, L., Postelnicu, M., Landreville, K., Hyun Jung, Y., & LeGrange, A. G. (2007).
The effects of political advertising on young voters. 50, 1137-1151.

Lopez-Escobar, E., Llamas, J. P., McCombs, M., & Lennon, F. R. (1998). Two levels of
agenda among advertising and news in the 1995 spanish elections. Political
Communication, 15(2).

Mahmoud, H. S. (1968). ‫ ماضيها وحاضرها‬:‫ الكويت‬AL KUWAIT: PAST & PRESENT. :‫بغداد‬
.‫المكتبة األهلية‬

McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media.
Public Opinion Quarterly, 36, 176-187.

Meirick, P. C. (2005). Political knowledge and sponsorship in backlash from party‐ and
candidate‐sponsored attacks. Communication Reports, 18(2), 75-40.

Merritt, S. (1984). Negative political advertising: some empirical findings. Journal of

Advertising, 13(3), 27-38.

Min, Y. (2004). New coverage of negative political campaigns: an experiment of

negative campaign effects on turnout and candidate preference. Harvard
International Journal of Press/Politics, 9(4), 95-111.

Mulder, R. (1979). The effects of televised political ads in the 1975 chicago mayoral
election. Journalism Quarterly, 56(2), 336-340.

Newman, B. I., & Sheth, J. N. (1987). A Theory of Political Choice Behavior: Praeger.

Nyilasy, G., & Reid, L. N. (2009). Agency practitioner theories of how advertising
works. Journal of Advertising, 38(3), 81-96.

O'Cass, A. (2002). Political advertising believability and information source value during
elections. Journal of Advertising, 31(1), 63-74.

Procter, D. E., & Schenck-Hamlin, W. J. (1996). Form and variations in negative political
advertising. Communication Research Reports, 13(2), 147-156.

Quinn, P., & Kivijarv, L. (2005). US political media buying 2004. International Journal
of Advertising, 24(1), 131-140.

Ran, W., & Ven-Hwei, L. (2007). The third-person effects of political attack ads in the
2004 u.s. presidential election. Media Psychology, 9(2), 367-388.

Roberts, M., & McCombs, M. (1994). Agenda setting and political advertising: origins of
the news agenda. Political Communication, 11(3), 249-262.

76
Rogers, E. M. (2004). Theoretical diversity in political communication In L. L. Kaid
(Ed.), Handbook of political communication research (pp. 3-16). Mahwah, N.J.:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Rospir, J. I. (1996). Political communication and electoral campaigns in the young

spanish democracy In D. L. Swanson & P. Mancini (Eds.), Politics, media, and
modern democracy : an international study of innovations in electoral
campaigning and their consequences (pp. x, 288 p.). Westport, Conn.: Praeger.

Rothschild, M. L. (1978). Political advertising: A neglected policy issue in marketing.

Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 15(1), 58-71.

Rugh, W. A. (2004). Arab Mass Media : Newspapers, Radio, and Television in Arab
Politics. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.

Scammell, M., & langer, A. I. (2006). Political advertising in the united kingdom. In L.
L. Kaid & C. Holtz-Bacha (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of political advertising
(pp. 65-82). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.

Schenck-Hamlin, W. J., & Procter, D. E. (2000). The influence of negative advertising

frames on political cynicism and politician accountability. Human
Communication Research, 26(1), 53.

Sheinkopf, K. G., Atkin, C. K., & Bowen, L. (1972). The functions of political
advertising for campaign organizations. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR),
9(4), 401-405.

Surlin, S. H., & Gordon, T. F. (1976). Selective exposure and retention of political
advertising. Journal of Advertising, 5(1), 32-44.

Sweetser, K. D., Golan, G. J., & Wanta, W. (2008). Intermedia agenda setting in
television, advertising, and blogs during the 2004 election. Mass Communication
& Society, 11(2), 197-216.

Tedesco, J. C. (2002). Televised political advertising effects: evaluating responses during

the 2000 robb-allen senatorial election. Journal of Advertising, 31(1), 37-48.

Tétreault, M. A. (2000). Stories of Democracy : Politics and Society in Contemporary

Kuwait. New York: Columbia University Press.

The Kuwaiti Constitution. (1961). Kuwait.

Thorson, E., & Ognianova, E. (2000). Negative political ads and negative citizen
orientations toward politics. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising,
22(1), 13.

Tichenor, P. J., Donohue, G. A., & Olien, C. N. (1970). Mass media flow and differential
growth in knowledge. Public Opinion Quarterly, 34, 159-170.

77
Trent, J. S., & Friedenberg, R. V. (2008). Political Campaign Communication :
Principles and Practices (6th ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Underation, C. (2009). Political rhetoric that strikes a responsive chord: Why some
negative ads hit the mark while others miss it. Ohio Communication Journal, 47,
247-263.

Valentino, N. A., Hutchings, V. L., & Williams, D. (2004). The impact of political
advertising on knowledge, internet information seeking, and candidate preference.
Journal of Communication, 54(2), 337-354.

Weaver Lariscy, Ruth Ann, & Tinkham, S. F. (1999). The sleeper effect and negative
political advertising. Journal of Advertising, 28(4), 13-30.

78
 Appendix 1: Interviews Questions

Political Campaigning in Kuwait

1. Describe political campaigning communication channels, emphasizing their
importance in reaching and persuading voters in Kuwait.
2. What changes have occurred in campaigning practices over the years since your
involvement in politics? And what led to those changes?
3. What is the average amount you estimate are spent on political campaigns? How
much usually goes toward advertising?
4. What research do candidates usually conduct to help them form their campaign
messages?
Political Advertising in Kuwait
5. What roles does political advertising play in political campaigns?
6. What is the dominant content of political advertising? What do candidates usually
say to their voters?
7. What issue do candidates usually address in political advertising?
8. What personal qualities do candidates usually address in political advertising?
9. Negative advertising is a significant characteristic in political advertising in
Western democracies. Is this type of advertising used in Kuwaiti campaigns? And
if so, why?
10. Please identify the most effective political advertisements you were exposed to.
What made them effective?
11. Identify the least effective political advertisements you were exposed to. Why
were they ineffective?
Cultural and Legal Environment
12. How did the districting changes affect political advertising efforts?
13. How did the changes in press law and new newspapers being permitted to publish
in Kuwait affect political advertising efforts?
14. What laws currently deal with aspects of political advertising in Kuwait
(purchase, content, sponsorship, funding)? What needs to be changed about them
and why?
15.Which cultural factors affecting political advertising do you think are specifically
unique to Kuwait?

79
 Appendix 2: Functional Analysis of Political Discourse Codebook

The coding unit is the theme. There are four basic steps in coding. First, the
messages must be unitized into themes. Then themes are classified into function
(acclaim, attack, defend). Third, themes are classified by topic (policy, character). Next,
the proper sub-form of policy (past deeds, future plans, general goal) or character
(personal quality, leadership ability, ideal) is identified. It is possible that Research
Questions or Hypotheses might call for addition steps (see “Other Possible Coding
Decisions” at the end of this document).

1. Unitizing Themes. A theme is the smallest unit of discourse capable of expressing a

coherent idea (in this case, not just any idea, but acclaims, attacks, and defenses).
Because discourse is enthymematic (an enthymeme is an argument which is incomplete;
the assumption is that the audience will supply the missing parts) -- and because several
sentences can work together to develop a single idea -- themes can vary in length from a
phrase to a paragraph (several sentences).

Examples of Themes

In 1996, a Clinton spot acclaimed his accomplishments:

Ten million new jobs [T1]. Family income up $1,600 (since 1993) [T2].
President Clinton cut the deficit 60% [T3]. Signed welfare reform --
requiring work, time limits [T4]. Taxes cut for 15 million families [T5].
This passage contains five themes: T1 jobs, T2 income, T3 deficit reduction, T4
welfare reform, T5 tax cuts.

Richard Nixon’s Acceptance Address attacked the failures of the Democratic

Administration in 1968:
When the strongest nation in the world can be tied down for four years in
a war in Vietnam with no end in sight [T1], when the richest nation in the
world can’t manage its own economy [T2], when the nation with the
greatest tradition of the rule of law is plagued by unprecedented
lawlessness [T3], when a nation that has been known for a century of
equality of opportunity is torn by unprecedented racial violence [T4], and
when the President of the United States cannot travel aborad or to any
major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration [T5]. (p. 675)
This passage contains five themes: T1 Vietnam, T2 poor economy, T3 crime, T4

80
 racial violence, T5 demonstrations against the President.

A message which said “I will reduce taxes, create new jobs, and keep our country safe
from terrorism” would be unitized into three themes, one for each topic (taxes, jobs,
terrorism), even though these are all contained in a single sentence.

On the other hand, a statement which said “Jobs are the backbone of a strong economy.
We cannot have economic recovery without jobs. That’s why I will increase jobs” would
be coded as one theme, jobs (the first two sentences explain why jobs are important, but
do not comment on a problem or a solution for jobs).

Finally, a message which said “The present administration has lost over a million jobs. If
elected, I will create new jobs” would be coded as two themes: the problem of lost jobs
under the current administration; my solution to create more jobs if elected.

The context unit, used to interpret the theme, consists of the rest of the message; the part
of the message that preceded and/or followed the theme. In a debate, the context unit
could be other statements from the candidate on the same topic as the theme being coded;
the context unit in a debate could also include a question prompting a candidate’s
statement or the statement of an opposing candidate which prompted the theme. If a
television spot has more than one theme, the rest of the spot can be used to interpret the
theme. Other portions of a speech (or any other message form) relevant to the theme
constitute the context unit.

2. Classifying Themes by Function: Acclaims, Attacks, Defenses. Some themes do not

function as acclaims, attacks, or defenses (themes which do not enact these functions are
not coded). For example, “Vote for Smith” does not give any reason to prefer Smith over
other candidates and should not be coded. “I am happy to be here to speak to you”
similarly does not give a reason to prefer one candidate over another and should not be
coded. Coders must decide whether a theme performs one of these functions, and, if so,
identify which one.

Acclaims are themes that portray the candidate (or the candidate’s political party) in a
favorable light.

In the first 1960 Nixon-Kennedy debate, Nixon acclaimed the past deeds of the
Eisenhower administration, when he was Vice President:
We have built more schools in these last seven and a half years than we
built in the previous seven and a half.
It is obvious that Nixon believes building more schools is a desirable
accomplishment, one that “we” accomplished.

Attacks are themes that portray the opposing candidate (or that candidate’s political party)
in an unfavorable light.

In the third 1960 debate, Kennedy attacked his opponent by declaring that

81
 I don’t think it’s possible for Mr. Nixon to state the record in distortion of
the facts with more precision than he just did.
Distorting the record is clearly considered to be an undesirable act. Kennedy adds
a touch of humor, saying that Nixon distorts the record with great precision.

Defenses are themes that explicitly respond to a prior attack on the candidate (or the
candidate’s political party).

Later in the third debate, Nixon responded to Kennedy’s accusation, denying that
he had distorted the record:
Senator Kennedy has indicated on several occasions in this program
tonight that I have been misstating his record and his figures. I will issue a
white paper after this broadcast, quoting exactly what he said. . . and the
record will show that I have been correct.
Nixon explicitly denies that he misstated the record, promising to prove this claim
later

Themes that do not perform one of these functions are ignored. Mark P (acclaims
[praise]), A (attack), or D (defense).

3. Classifying Themes by Topic: Policy or Character. These themes may address either
policy or character.

Policy: Utterances that concern governmental action (past, current, or future) and
problems amenable to governmental action.

George Bush touted his past deeds:

Over the past six years, eighteen million jobs were created, interest rates
were cut in half. Today, inflation is down, taxes are down, and the
economy is strong (“Bush Positive Economy”).
Jobs, interest rates, inflation, taxes, and the economy all concern policy.

Michael Dukakis stressed his future plans:

Mike Dukakis wants to help. His college opportunities plan says that if a
kid like Jimmy has the grades for college, America should find a way to
send him (Dukakis, 1988, “Jimmy”).
Education is also a policy topic.

In 1984, Republican Katherine Ortega’s Keynote described President Reagan’s

general goals:
President Reagan is a candidate who can and will achieve peace without
caving into Soviet threats (p. 12).
Peace without caving in is obviously a desirable state of affairs.

Character: Utterances that address characteristics, traits, abilities, or attributes of the

candidates (or their parties).

82
 In 1988 George Bush lauded his preparation for office:
“Perhaps no one in this century is better prepared to be President of the
United States” than Bush (Bush, 1988, “Oath of Office”).
This does not tell what he will do (policy) but his (personal) preparation for
office.

Bill Clinton listed one of his positive personal qualities in 1992:

“I care so much about people” (Clinton, 1992).
Again, he does not tell how he plans to help people (policy), but discusses his
character.

In the 1988 presidential debates, Michael Dukakis proclaimed that:

I desire “a future in which there is opportunity for all of our citizens.”
“Opportunity for all” is an ideal and not a policy proposal.

Every acclaim, attack, or defense should concern either policy or character. Mark each
utterance as P (policy) or C (character).

4. Classify each Policy or Character Utterance According to the Forms of Policy and
Character.

4A. Classify Form of Policy Utterance. Policy utterances can address Past Deeds, Future
Plans, or General Goals. Past Deeds are, of course, actions taken in the past, while future
plans are proposed actions. Both PD and FP are more specific than GG.

Past Deed
Dole attacks Clinton’s record on teen-age drug abuse in 1996:
The stakes of this election? Our children. Under Clinton, cocaine and
heroin use among teenagers has doubled. Why? Because Bill Clinton
isn’t protecting our children from drugs. He cut the drug czar’s office 83
percent, cut 227 Drug Enforcement agents, and cut $200 million to stop
drugs at our borders. Clinton’s liberal drug policies have failed. Our
children deserve better (Dole, 1996, “At Stake”)
These are listed as failures of the Clinton administration (undesirable past deeds).

This spot acclaimed Clinton’s accomplishments on welfare reform, also in 1996:

He signed tough welfare reform. Work requirements. Time limits. Force
teenage mothers to stay in school or lose benefits (Clinton, 1996,
“Responsibility”).
These are touted as positive accomplishments of Clinton’s first term in office.

Future Plan
Bob Dole’s Acceptance Address in 1996 explained that if elected, he
will reduce taxes 15% across-the-board for every taxpayer in America”
(1996, p. 7).

83
 This is a specific future plan for tax relief, one that was attractive to many voters.

In 1996, Bill Clinton’s Acceptance attacked Bob Dole’s future plans, his proposed
tax cut:
our opponents have put forward a very different plan, a risky $550 billion
tax scheme that will force them to ask for even bigger cuts in Medicare,
Medicaid, education, and the environment that they passed and I vetoed
last year” (p. 9)
Clearly, Clinton portrays this proposal from Dole in an unfavorable light.

General Goal
George McGovern’s Acceptance Address describes general goals in 1972:
It is also the time to turn away from excessive participation overseas to
rebuilding our own nation” (p. 611).
An emphasis on domestic, rather than foreign, policy is a general goal.

George Bush’s 1992 Acceptance Address attacked the general goals of Bill
Clinton and the Democratic Congress:
Clinton and Congress don’t want to close legal loopholes and keep
criminals behind bars” (p. 709).
Bush does not specify which legal loopholes would be closed by the Democrats.

Code each policy utterances for form of policy (PD, FP, GG).

4B. Classify Form of Character Utterance. Character utterances can address Personal
Qualities (e.g., courage, compassion, honesty), Leadership Ability (e.g., experience,
vision), or Ideals (e.g., values, principles).

PQ (Personal Qualities)
In 1976, Gerald Ford discussed the personal qualities important to him in his
Acceptance Address:
I have demanded honesty, decency, and personal integrity from everybody
in the executive branch of the Government (p. 708).
Honesty, decency, and personal integrity are elements of character (personality).

John Kennedy’s Acceptance Address attacked his Republican opponent’s

personal qualities, explaining that the Republicans
will invoke the name of Abraham Lincoln on behalf of their candidate--
despite the fact that his [Nixon’s] political career has often seemed to
show charity toward none and malice for all (1960, p. 610).
A lack of charity and malice are personality traits.

LA (Leadership Ability)
George Bush’s 1988 Acceptance Address touted his leadership ability when he
declared that
I have held high office and done the work of democracy day by day (1988,

84
 p. 5).
Surely this experience would serve him well if elected.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan attacked the Carter Administration’s (and the Democratic
Congress’s) leadership abilities in his Acceptance Address when he declared that
The major issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal, and
moral responsibility of the Democratic Party leadership--in the White
House and in the Congress--for this unprecedented calamity which has
befallen us (1980, p. 642).
Reagan indicts Carter’s leadership ability.

ID (Ideals)
In 1980, Reagan’s Acceptance Address declared that his party is
ready to build a new consensus with all those across the land who share
the community of values embodied in these words: family, work,
neighborhood, peace, and freedom (p. 642).
These values represent ideals toward which he strives. These passages illustrate
acclaims on character grounds.

Barry Goldwater’s Acceptance Address criticizes the ideals of his opponents in

this passage:
Their mistaken course stems from false notions, ladies and gentlemen, of
equality. Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood
it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly
understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to
conformity and then to despotism (1964, p. 643).
These excerpts reveal how attacks may be advanced on character grounds.

Code each character utterance for form of character (PQ, LA, or ID).

Other Possible Coding Decisions

5. Target of Attack. In the primary campaign – or in a multiparty election with more than
two contenders – the target of each attack can be identified. The possible target includes
other candidates (for example, in the 2004 American Democratic presidential primary,
Kerry could have attacked another Democrat such as Dean, Edwards, Clark, or
Lieberman or Kerry could have attacked President Bush (of course, Dean, Edwards,
Clark, and others could also attack another Democrat or Bush). It is also possible to
attack the status quo generally (e.g., attacking the war in Iraq, which was approved by
Bush and Congress, including many Democrats).
The basic idea is that it makes a difference in the primary whether Democrat
Edwards attacks another Democrat, such as Kerry, or a Republican (President Bush).
Similarly, in a multiparty system, it makes a difference which candidate is being attacked.
For example, in the 1992 presidential debates, we argued that both Clinton and Perot
attacked Bush; Bush attacked Clinton (but Perot rarely attacked Clinton) and neither
Bush nor Clinton attacked Perot. This meant Bush had about twice as many attacks to

85
contend with as Clinton, and Perot almost never had to respond to an attack. The
situation would have been different had each candidate attacked his two opponents
equally.

6. Issue Topic. Each policy theme can be coded by issue topic, such as jobs, education,
health care, terrorism, Social Security, environment, crime. Usually this analysis is
guided by a public opinion poll which determines the issue categories. A correlation
between the public opinion poll data and the candidates’ frequency of addressing each
topic can be used to answer the question of which candidate devotes the most themes to
the issues that matter most to voters. If public opinion polls are available before and after
the message, these data could be used to study agenda-setting.
Issues can also be divided into those “owned” by the Democratic and Republican
parties (Petrocik, 1996; Petrocik, Benoit, & Hansen, 2003-2004: Issue Ownership
theory). Democrats are considered by more (American) voters to be best able to handle
problems/issues including jobs, education, environment; Republicans are considered by
more voters to be best able to handle problems such as war, crime, and business.
We’ve also been using Peterson’s (1995) theory of Functional Federalism. The
U.S. government allocates different responsibilities to different levels of government
(e.g., for the most part the federal level handles defense and foreign policy; local
governments handle most of education). Candidates for federal office (Senate, House)
should discuss national issues more, and local issues less, than candidates for local office
(Governor). We have extended this to argue that candidates for president (because they
seek federal office AND have a national constituency) should discuss national issues
even more, and local issues even less, than candidates for U.S. Congress.

7. Personal Qualities. Specific personal qualities (one of the forms of character) can be
coded just as specific issues can be coded. Four global dimensions of character have
been identified:
Sincerity (trust, honesty, consistency, openness), Morality (decency, integrity,
responsibility, fairness), Empathy (understanding, similar to voter, fights for voter,
compassion), Drive (courage, work, strength, determination). See Benoit and McHale
(2003, 2004).

8. Classifying Form of Defense. Defenses are relatively rare so we rarely classify them.
However, the theory of Image Repair Discourse
(http://www.missouri.edu/~commwlb/research.html) can be used to classify the forms of
defense. When done, bolstering and corrective action are considered acclaims and attack
accuser is considered an attack, so this leaves 11 potential defense forms that can be
classified. (One could also classify the topic of defense as policy or character and one
could classify which form of policy or character is being defended.)

9. News Coverage of Campaigns. We’ve started analyzing news coverage of campaigns.

Several studies have compared the content of debates (functions, topics) to the content of
news stories about those debates (Benoit & Currie, 2001); Benoit, Hansen, & Stein, 2004;
Benoit, Stein, & Hansen, 2004; Reber & Benoit, 2001). We’ve also looked at New York
Times coverage of presidential campaigns (Benoit, Stein, & Hansen, 2005). New

86
categories were added to reflect horse race coverage.

87
Excerpts from the First 1996 Clinton-Dole Presidential Debate: 10/6/96, Hartford, CT

CLINTON: Now there’s a record: Ten and a half million more jobs, rising incomes,
falling crime rates and welfare rolls, a strong America at peace. P Pol PD x 5

P Pol PD
We cut the deficit by 60 percent. Now, let’s balance the budget and protect Medicare,
Medicaid, education and the environment. P Pol GG x 5

P Pol PD
We cut taxes for 15 million working Americans. Now let’s pass the tax cuts for education
and child rearing, help with medical emergencies, and buying a home. P Pol GG x 4

P Pol PD
We passed family and medical leave. Now let’s expand it so more people can succeed as
parents and in the work force. P Pol GG

P Char PQ
DOLE: Now, I’m a plain-speaking man and I learned long ago that your word was your
bond.

P Char ID A Char ID
I think the basic difference, I trust the people. The President trusts the government.

A Pol PD
I look at the slowest growth in the century. He inherited a growth of 4.7 4.8 percent, now
it’s down to about 2.4 percent.

A Pol PD
We’re going to pass a million bankruptcies this year for the first time in history.

A Pol PD
We’ve got stagnant wages. In fact, women’s wages have dropped 2.2 percent. Men’s
wages haven’t gone up, gone down. So we have stagnation.

A Char PQ A Pol PD
They talk about family income being up. That’s not true in Connecticut, family income is
down.

P Pol GG
We’re going to give them tax cuts so they can spend more time with their children,
maybe even take a vacation. That’s what America is all about.

A Pol PD x 2
Drug use has doubled the past 44 months all across America. Cocaine is up 141 percent --
marijuana, cocaine up 166 percent.

88
 P Pol FP
Well, the people need it. This is a family tax cut,15% across -- let’s take a family making
$30,000 a year, that’s $1261. Now, maybe some [here tonight think] that it’s not a lot of
money, but people watching tonight with a couple of kids, a working family, that’s four
or five months of day care, maybe a personal computer; it’s may be three or four months
of mortgage payments.

P
Pol FP
This economic package is about families but it’s a six-point package. First of all, it’s a
balanced budget amendment to the Constitution which President Clinton defeated. A Pol
PD

P Pol FP P Pol FP
It’s balancing a budget by the year 2002. It’s a tax cut, cutting capital gains 50 percent.
So you can go out and create more jobs and more opportunities.

P Pol FP P Pol FP P Pol GG

It’s a state tax relief. It’s a $500 per child tax credit. It’s about litigation reforms. Now
that the President gets millions of dollars from the trial lawyers, he probably doesn’t like
this provision.
A Char PQ

A Char PQ
The administration says they support the instant check [for buying guns]. They’ve
appropriated about $200 million, but only spent about $3 million to get it underway.
A Pol PD
P Pol GG
In our administration, in my administration, we will expedite. This keeps up with
technology. It keeps guns out of the hands of people who should not have guns.

P Char PQ
I care about people. I have my own little foundation that’s raised about $10 million for
the disabled.
A Char PQ
DOLE: Well, there he goes again, that line has been used before, I mean, exaggerating all
the things that he did. He didn’t do all these things.

D [Char PQ]
CLINTON: I do not for a moment think I’m entitled to all the credit for all the good
things that have happened in America.

D [Char PQ]
I also personally took responsibility tonight when Senator Dole asked me about the drug
problem.

89
90
 Coding Rules

1. Function can be identified in two ways

A. target
1. acclaims are about self
2. attacks are about an opponent
3. defenses responses to an attack by opponent (or journalist who repeats attack)
B. tone
1. acclaims are positive
2. attacks are negative
3. defense are rejection of criticism

2. Although candidates use the present tense in speaking, there is no “present tense” in
the coding system. If something has been done, it is a PD; if it is something the candidate
is working on, it is FP if specific or GG if general. When candidates use the present tense
(“I am creating jobs” instead of “I have created jobs” -- PD -- or “I will create jobs” –
GG) codes must decide whether it sounds like something has already been accomplished.

3. Campaigning is not policy (even though making and airing an attack ad, for example,
is a action). Attacks on campaign style are coded PQ (my opponent is a nasty person).
Even “My opponent ignores the issues” tells us about the candidate (Char, PQ) and
nothing about any issue such as jobs, education, or health care.

4. “It has to be in the talk.” For an utterance to be considered a defense, it must allude to
the attack in the discourse (otherwise, virtually any acclaim could be considered a
defense). Sometimes the attack lurks in the defense: “I am not soft on crime” rejects the
accusation that the candidate is soft on crime. “I am a staunch crime fighter” does not
allude to an accusation and should be coded as an acclaim.

5. We unitize an utterances as a theme if it could have been an utterance on its own. So,
“I created jobs, reformed welfare, and lowered taxes” is three themes (not one), because
each one could have been worded as an utterance on its own: “I created jobs. I reformed
welfare. I lowered taxes.”

6. The idea is to try to put your self into the state of mind of the audience. How would an
“average citizen” have interpreted a message? Would a voter have caught the allusion
that you noticed? For example, if the audience probably thinks Dole has a plan to cut
taxes 15%, it is a plan not a goal even if he doesn’t always give the details. Of course,
saying “I will cut taxes 15%” sounds more like a specific plan, whereas “I will cut taxes”
sounds more like a general goal.

7. General goals can sound like Ideals. Goals tend to refer to policy (cut taxes, improve
education, reduce the deficit, create jobs) while Ideals concern principles and values (the
government should work for the people not the other way around, everyone has the right
to an education, it is wrong to mortgage our children’s futures, the American dream
includes the chance to find a decent job).

91
 GG: I will reduce taxes. We will create better jobs. We can improve the quality
of education.

ID: It is wrong for people to work four months of the year to pay taxes. Everyone
has a right to a good paying job. Everyone has a right to a decent education.

8. Generally, government experience is LA, while private work experience is PQ.

However, if the candidate says something like “I can run this country because I have run
a company,” or “I can create jobs as president because I created them in the private
sector,” code the theme as LA.

9. If a candidate refers vaguely to decisions without providing any specifics, that

utterance is probably trying to show experience in office (LA).
I’ve had to make thousands of decisions since I’ve been President, serving in the
Oval Office. And with each one of those decisions that affect the future of my
country, I have learned in the process (Carter, 1980)
Code this as LA, not PD

10. PD means accomplishments. If a candidate says he’s (she’s) been working or

fighting, but doesn’t tell that he’s (she’s) actually done something, code as GG not PD.

“I’ve been working on protecting the environment since day one” = GG

“I’ve signed three bills for clean air and water” = PD
(And “I’m fighting for you” is PQ because no issue is mentioned.)

11. If a campaign promise is specific, code it as FP; if it is general, code as GG. FP

generally are means to an end, whereas GG are goals or ends.
“I want to improve health” GG
“I want prescriptions covered under Medicare” FP
“We must improve morale in the armed forces” GG
“We must pay our enlisted personnel enough to bring them above the poverty
line” FP

92