Observers and pundits alike suggest that politicians communication with the masses seems to be increasingly polarized. On the one hand, mainstream parties appear to be stuck in complex policy debates weighting the pros and cons of potential policy decisions. On the other hand, populist parties provide simple, one line solutions to the most challenging policy debates of our time. Departing from the idea that communication styles vary across party types I will present two studies addressing some of the key questions arising from these observations. First, using quantitative text analysis I will provide insights into which parties aim to simplify the political discourse and in turn how this affects voters’ knowledge about parties’ policy positions. The study finds that populist parties simplify their campaign messages and that simplifications helps voters to adequately place parties’ left-right positions. Second, I will present a preliminary research design of a randomized field experiment to be conducted in the UK analyzing how MPs communicate to their constituents. We propose a between- and within-subjects experimental design, in which we recruit multiple participants in different constituencies in order to have them contact their MP about a salient political issue. This field experiment will potentially give us further insights into how MPs communicate their positions to voters and how voters are affected by the policy cues provided by their MPs. 

Find more information about Daniel’s research interest at https://danbischof.com/