Election Time 05

The European Association of Campaign Consultants (EACC) issued a third in a series of European yearbooks of political campaigning, which summarize the advertising campaigns of elections at national, regional and local level in Europe and make it available to a wider audience. Election Time 05 was presented by Mr. José Manuel Talero García, a member of the Managing Board of EACC, on the 27th of April at the GONG office.

Campaigns

In Election Time 05, 23 experts in political communication from different European countries have analyzed the 18 most interesting political campaigns conducted in Europe in 2005. Of special interest are the analyses of the four referendums on the European Constitution that were conducted in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, which resulted in two approvals and two rejections. But Election Time 05 does not only focus on the European Union. This edition includes, among others, analyses of Parliamentary and Presidential Elections in Great Britain, Germany, Denmark and Poland and also of non-EU-members such as Bulgaria, Croatia and Andorra. Election Time 05 also includes some regional and local elections of great interest, such as the last regional elections in Italy, and some others in Germany, Spain, Portugal and Austria, from which we may learn that professionalism is not only important in larger campaigns.

Professionalism

Elections are becoming more professional and sophisticated every year. For this reason, the knowledge of political campaigns in Europe is becoming more and more important, especially for those who have something to do with politics as journalists, politicians, political consultants, scientists or students. With that in mind, the European Association of Political Consultants (EAPC) in collaboration with Hartinger Consulting has been publishing Election Time since 2004 as a European yearbook of political campaigning. Year after year, every new issue presents about 20 of the most important political campaigns conducted in Europe during the previous year, analysed by recognized practising political consultants and experts in political communication.

Croatia

At the end of 2005, GONG received a proposal from the EAPC to have someone from the organization write an article on the campaign for the Presidential elections that were held in 2005 in Croatia. In response, Suzana Jasic, Sandra Pernar and Dragan Zelic wrote an analysis of the Presidential elections held in Croatia. Apart from analysing the election campaign, the article also gives some information on the history and general context in which the elections occurred. GONG closely monitors all elections that take place in Croatia and gives recommendations regarding the election laws. The same was done during this campaign and some of the most important findings and conclusions regarding the overall conduct of the election were also included in the article. For instance, the need for improving the regulations on election campaign financing was stressed. This was the first presidential election in Croatia in which such regulation was introduced and it proved to be insufficient in its provisions, leaving the candidates with many options for concealing the financial sources of their campaigns.

Available

Election Time 05 is available in English and German and will soon be followed by the Turkish version also. It may be ordered online at www.election-time.com and www.eapc.com or directly at your bookstore giving the ISBN codes 3-9502163-1-6 (English Version) and 3-9502163-0-8 (German Version). Both websites also offer the opportunity to order the previous editions Election Time 03 and Election Time 04.

Sandra Pernar, GONG, Zagreb