Advertising and the Image of Politicians in Evolving and Established Democracies

Abstract

The article¹ analyzes the constructivist and realist approaches to research on voting behavior in presidential elections in evolving (Poland) and established (U.S.) democracies. The influence of a politician's image on affective attitudes toward the candidate is stressed in the first approach; the other approach stresses the role of affect in forming such an image. Using experimental data from the 2000 presidential elections in each country, the research applied structural equation modeling and multiple regression analysis to show the best way to use image construction to influence voting behavior and, in the realist approach, the key role of affects as the starting point for designing and creating politicans' images. The results of the research also show that Polish and American voters perceive slightly differently the socio-political reality created by the media, but in both countries political advertising plays an important role in creating political images.