Negative campaigning in modern elections: Ethical and legal aspects

Byulegenova B. Bolysbek M. Rystina I. Onychko M. Kamaljanova T.
April 2022 John Wiley and Sons Inc

Politics and Policy
2022 #50 Issue 2 186 - 200 pp.

This research investigates how existing political and legal instruments can affect democratic power structures and civil society and examines prospects for their development. The article seeks to analyze current views and approaches related to negative campaigning, its sociopolitical perception, and countermeasures by looking at them through the lens of post-Soviet countries and states within the Anglo-Saxon legal tradition. Hence, the study views negative campaigning as a practice undermining democracy. We provide reliable evidence that Western nations are more likely to take a liberal approach to negative campaigning and assign it the role of a political struggle element. In addition, we found multiple confirmations that legislators in Russia have been toughening measures against negative campaigning and general defamation-related rules. Related Articles: Caillier, James. 2010. “Citizen Trust, Political Corruption, and Voting Behavior: Connecting the Dots.” Politics & Policy 38(5): 1015–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2010.00267.x. Craig, Stephen C., and Paulina S. Rippere. 2014. “Political Trust and Negative Campaigns: Two Tests of the Figure-Ground Hypothesis.” Politics & Policy 42(5): 693–743. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12091. Jones, David A., Kathleen Ferraiolo, and Jennifer Byrne. 2011. “Selective Media Exposure and Partisan Differences about Sarah Palins Candidacy.” Politics & Policy 39(2): 195–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.17471346.2011.00288.x.

defamation , democracy , electoral process , free and fair elections , legal assessment , legislative regulation , libel , negative campaigning , offense , political communications , post-Soviet countries , promotional campaign

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Department of Political Science, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Department of Journalism and Political Science, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Department of Social and Political Studies, Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of The Republic of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Department of International Relations, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

Department of Political Science
Department of Journalism and Political Science
Department of Social and Political Studies
Department of International Relations

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