Media Visibility and Electoral Careers in Brazil and Germany

This book compares the link between the use of media in political campaigns and electoral connections amongst MPs of the Brazilian and German Parliaments. Both polities are federal in nature providing voters with choices – and candidates with opportunities – at different territorial levels. This creates variation in the size of the local electorate and the nature of the electoral connection between voters and MPs. The author tests the claims that just as candidates have distinct electoral connections they might also have different media strategies for gaining mandates and being reelected. The nature and magnitude of the electoral districts -- well researched in US-based studies on representation -- is under-studied elsewhere. The book explores and tests hypotheses derived from the theoretical distributive model--based on rational-choice theory-- and the party model--built off neo-institutionalism--for a specific set of media strategies of MPs in Brazil and Germany.