DURATION: 2 hours

KEY TOPICS

• Analysis of political and election advertising
• Evaluation of guidelines for political advertising
• Evaluation of regulatory bodies for election advertising
• Media regulations applicable during national elections

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this unit, teachers will be able to:

• Assess political and election advertising
• Evaluate the guidelines in place for political advertising
• Analyze emotional appeals in political and election advertising
• Recommend strategies to maintain an informed citizenship, given the use of emotional appeals in political advertising
• Explain the procedure available to citizens who wish to solicit a regulatory body during an election

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and ACTIVITIES

• Collect examples of political advertising from your country or region. If necessary, conduct research at your local library. Analyze these ads using the guidelines from Unit 2. Consider the reasons why the average citizen would be interested in political advertising. Assess the effectiveness of each ad, considering the purpose, the information and message conveyed, and the target audience. Explain how the design/form of the ads is used to reinforce content
• Examine several ads from the same political campaign. Evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign as a whole in its use of unified graphics, images, slogans and messages
• Using the Internet and/or library resources, investigate the regulatory bodies put in place to monitor political advertising. Examine the guidelines established to monitor the advertising used by political candidates during elections. Assess to what extent the ads selected adhere to these guidelines
• Investigate how these regulatory bodies represent the interests of citizens. Examine the role that citizens can play in ensuring that political advertising is truthful, fair and accurate. Outline any suggestions you would make to a regulatory body regarding political advertising
• List the media regulations (established by the national election commission) on reporting elections. See whether there are guidelines for reporting opinion polls, allocating airtime by the national broadcasters to different political parties, broadcasting election results, etc.
• Political consultant Frank Luntz tells his political clients that ‘80 per cent of our life is emotion and only 20 per cent is intellect. I am much more interested in how you feel than how you think.’ Examine political advertising in light of this comment. Explain to what extent political ads are based on emotional appeal. Examine the language used to ‘sell’ a candidate and his or her ideas or policies. Assess whether or not the language used is accurate or misleading
• Given the use of emotional appeal in political advertising, recommend strategies for maintaining an informed citizenship