In this section, we examine four aspects to the election law that pertain to the role of the media in elections.
The first dimension concerns the criteria for allocating free broadcast time and/or free advertisement space to political parties. Many different criteria are utilized, such as the number of candidates put forward in the election, the outcome of the previous election, and the size of the legislative caucus. In a few cases a special committee is charged with the task. But the most frequent approach, used in 64 countries, is to give each party equal time. This is found in 55% of the cases for which we have information.
Variations across regions in the propensity to choose the equality principle are minimal. Interestingly, the equality clause is not more popular in more democratic countries. It is, however, somewhat less frequent in former French and British colonies.
The second aspect has to do with paid advertising. In only 24 (18%) of the 133 countries about which information is available (it should be kept in mind that in many countries paid advertising is not allowed) there is a limit on advertising. The only region where limits are frequent is the Americas, where it exists in almost half of the cases. None of the former British colonies has implemented specific limits on advertising (note that there can be limits on total spending, which indirectly affect the amount of money that can be spent on advertising). Again, there is no correlation between imposing limits on advertising and the degree of democracy. Finally, limits on advertising are more frequent in Spanish colonies.
The third item concerns the presence or absence of televised debates in legislative elections. Among the 131 cases for which there is information, 55% do hold such debates (note that in 18 countries televised debates are organized only for presidential elections). They are clearly the norm in Europe, where four fifths (80%) of the countries have them, and are particularly infrequent in the Americas (with only four countries out of 16: Canada, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique; note, however, that in many cases there are debates for presidential elections). We find debates to be held more frequently in countries with high scores on the Freedom House Political Rights scale.
The last aspect to be examined is the presence or absence of a blackout period during which the results of pre-election polls may not be released to the public. Such blackout prevails in 58 (45%) of the 130 countries about which information is available. In 30 cases (23%), this is a short ban, of three days or less, but in another 17 countries 13%), the ban applies to a period of more than one week. Blackouts are more frequent in Europe and the Americas and rarer in Africa and the Middle East. Former British and French colonies seem more reluctant to implement such legislation, but more democratic countries do not appear more inclined to have blackouts.
With respect to the regulation of the media in election campaigns, there appears to be no clear norm about what should be and should not be done:
- In the case of the specific measures that we have examined here, at least, countries seem to be split down the middle, more or less on half adopting such legislation and the other half not adopting it.
- The only exception is more apparent than real. Only a minority of countries explicitly establishes a ceiling on advertising expenditures but this is because some of them simply ban advertising while others regulate total expenditures rather than advertising as such.
- Not only do we find a great variety of approaches but it is seldom the case that more democratic countries go in a particular direction. On three aspects out of four there is just no correlation between the degree of democracy and the propensity to regulate the use of the media in election campaigns.
- The only exception and this is tellingly a case for which no legislation is usually required, concerns televised debates, which are more frequent in more democratic countries.
- We have observed some regional variations in the use of these four measures but they have not proven to be huge. Region seems to be less important than colonial legacy. Former French and British colonies emerge as systematically less prone to regulate the media than other countries.
| MEDIA AND ELECTIONS |
Degree of democracy |
Former French colony |
Former British colony |
Former Spanish colony |
Economic development |
Equal time criteria
|
-
|
less likely
|
less likely
|
-
|
-
|
Limits on paid advertising
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
more likely
|
-
|
Televised debates
|
more likely in more democratic countries
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
| Blackout period |
- |
less likely |
less likely |
-
|
-
|
