A Functional Analysis of 2008 U.S. Presidential Primary Debates

This study reports a content analysis of 20 Democratic and 16 Republican primary debates from the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. President George W. Bush was completing his second and final term in office and Vice President Dick Cheney decided not to run for president. Thus, the 2008 U.S. presiden...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Argumentation and Advocacy 2011-09, Vol.48 (2), p.97-110
Main Authors: Benoit, William L., Henson, Jayne R., Sudbrock, Leigh Anne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
2008 presidential campaign
Content analysis
Debates
Electioneering
Functional Theory
functions
issue ownership
Ownership
Political aspects
Political campaigns
Political parties
Presidential elections
Primaries
primary debates
topics
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Summary:This study reports a content analysis of 20 Democratic and 16 Republican primary debates from the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. President George W. Bush was completing his second and final term in office and Vice President Dick Cheney decided not to run for president. Thus, the 2008 U.S. presidential primary is the first open campaign (with no sitting president or vice president competing) since 1952. This study uses content analysis to apply Functional Theory to these campaign messages. Acclaims were more common than attacks, which in turn occurred more frequently than defenses. Policy was discussed more often than character. Republicans were more likely to attack other Republicans than Democrats; Democrats criticized members of both parties at about the same rate. The candidates discussed more of the issues owned by their political party than issues owned by the other political party.
ISSN:0002-8533
1051-1431
1051-1431
2576-8476
DOI:10.1080/00028533.2011.11821757