Text and Context in Dutch Television Election Debates

Abstract

During the weeks before the elections of September 2012, several debates were broadcasted in the Netherlands, giving politicians the opportunity to show their skills. The candidates, perhaps unconsciously, had to follow a communication contract consisting of rules and habits brought forward by the format of the television program. To what extend did this contract structure the content of speech that was established throughout the debates? And how much freedom did the participating politicians have for strategically maneuvering and negotiating the program? In this thesis numerous fragments are analyzed, showing that candidates have many ways of performing the strategies they want. Both moderator questioning parts and direct debates are included in the research. The format and the moderator prove to be not very stringent if it comes to time limits, prescriptions of form, content and strategy. Consequently, there needs to be a greater emphasis on the role of politicians in both critical texts and content analyses of election debates.