A Credible Change: How Parties Use Election Promises to Counteract The Loss of Reputation When They Dilute Their Policy Positions.
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| Title: | A Credible Change: How Parties Use Election Promises to Counteract The Loss of Reputation When They Dilute Their Policy Positions. |
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| Authors: | Vestergaard, Mathias Bukh1 (AUTHOR) bukh@ps.au.dk |
| Source: | Political Communication. 2026, Vol. 43 Issue 3, p477-500. 24p. |
| Subject Terms: | Campaign promises, Political parties, Trust, Political communication, Source credibility |
| Abstract: | When parties change their political positions, they risk being perceived as opportunistic and insincere by voters. How can parties change their positions without losing face? In this study, I argue that parties can combine positional change with a promise-based strategy to try to mitigate the reputational loss of this shift. Instead of focusing on the past, a party can attempt to gain credibility by taking high responsibility for a future policy. Since parties mostly lose credibility by diluting their ideological positions, I expect the promise-based strategy to be particularly useful in such situations. After identifying promises in hundreds of election manifestos across 32 countries, I show that parties make more promises when they dilute their position compared to when they stick to their position or crystallize it. This effect is statistically significant and increases when parties dilute their positions on their most salient issues. These results have implications for parties' communication strategies and our understanding of credibility in modern politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Political Communication is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 193891446 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: A Credible Change: How Parties Use Election Promises to Counteract The Loss of Reputation When They Dilute Their Policy Positions. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Vestergaard%2C+Mathias+Bukh%22">Vestergaard, Mathias Bukh</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> bukh@ps.au.dk</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Political+Communication%22">Political Communication</searchLink>. 2026, Vol. 43 Issue 3, p477-500. 24p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Campaign+promises%22">Campaign promises</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+parties%22">Political parties</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Trust%22">Trust</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+communication%22">Political communication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Source+credibility%22">Source credibility</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: When parties change their political positions, they risk being perceived as opportunistic and insincere by voters. How can parties change their positions without losing face? In this study, I argue that parties can combine positional change with a promise-based strategy to try to mitigate the reputational loss of this shift. Instead of focusing on the past, a party can attempt to gain credibility by taking high responsibility for a future policy. Since parties mostly lose credibility by diluting their ideological positions, I expect the promise-based strategy to be particularly useful in such situations. After identifying promises in hundreds of election manifestos across 32 countries, I show that parties make more promises when they dilute their position compared to when they stick to their position or crystallize it. This effect is statistically significant and increases when parties dilute their positions on their most salient issues. These results have implications for parties' communication strategies and our understanding of credibility in modern politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Political Communication is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=193891446 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/10584609.2025.2600004 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 24 StartPage: 477 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Campaign promises Type: general – SubjectFull: Political parties Type: general – SubjectFull: Trust Type: general – SubjectFull: Political communication Type: general – SubjectFull: Source credibility Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: A Credible Change: How Parties Use Election Promises to Counteract The Loss of Reputation When They Dilute Their Policy Positions. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Vestergaard, Mathias Bukh IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 05 Text: 2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 10584609 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 43 – Type: issue Value: 3 Titles: – TitleFull: Political Communication Type: main |
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