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2016 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

A Functional Analysis of 2012 United States General Election Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates

Authors : Ph.D. William L. Benoit, Ph.D. Mark Glantz

Published in: Die US-Präsidentschaftswahl 2012

Publisher: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden

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Abstract

This study used Functional Theory to content analyze three presidential debates between Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney as well as the sole debate between vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan in the 2012 election. The three presidential debates were mostly positive (63 % acclaims) with many attacks (33 %) and some defenses (5 %). Obama, the campaign’s incumbent, was relatively more positive than Romney, the challenger. The vice presidential candidates also used attacks (48 %) more than acclaims (39 %) and defenses (14 %). However, there was no significant difference between the vice presidential candidates’ use of attacks and acclaims. The presidential candidates stressed policy (76 %) more than character (24 %). The vice presidential candidates also stressed policy (65 %) more than character (35 %).

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Title: A Functional Analysis of 2012 United States General Election Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates
Authors: Ph.D. William L. Benoit
Ph.D. Mark Glantz
Publisher: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
Book: Die US-Präsidentschaftswahl 2012
Print ISBN: 978-3-531-19766-1

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-531-19767-8

Copyright Year: 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-19767-8_13