Permanent Campaigning in Greece in Times of Crisis: The Samaras, Tsipras and Mitsotakis Premierships (Political Campaigning and Communication)

This book investigates the phenomenon of permanent campaigning in Greece over the last decade. It explores the political communication strategies of three recent successive Greek prime ministers from 2012 until the early months of 2022 to deal with economic, migration and pandemic crises, from a permanent campaigning perspective. Moreover, it evaluates and measures, for the first time, their permanent campaign strategies using the proposed framework of Lilleker and Joathan (2020) and the three following indicators: capacity building and strategy, paid and owned media and earned media. The need for presidents to communicate with public opinion and their dependence on public support is anything but new. Τhe difference in the case of the permanent campaign is that the campaign tools, methods, techniques and personnel follow the elected leader in office in order to back his constant efforts to retain or even increase public approval as well as advance their re-election prospects. Thisbook aims to extend the research on the permanent campaigning in European parliamentary systems and will be of interest to political communication and campaigning students and researchers. Acknowledgements Contents About the Author Selected Publications Selected Publications List of Tables 1 Permanent Campaigning in Greece Introduction The Political Communication Context The Political Context The Decline of the Parties and the Increase of Polarization The Media Context The Role of (Private) Television, the Internet and Social Media Hypothesis, Methods and Data Μethodological Limitations Conclusion References 2 Antonis Samaras: The Permanent Campaign Strategy of a Centre-Right Prime Minister Introduction The Political Background Capacity Building and Strategy Institutional Adaptations Conducting Opinion Polls During the Term and Research Citizens’ Preferences and Data Fund-Raising Paid and Owned Media Election Themes Transferred to Governance Negative Campaigning Use of Marketing During Terms of Office Institutional Advertising Frequent Publication Building a Following on Social Media Promotional Discourse and Engaging Political and Personalized Communication Hyperlinking Interactive Communication Earned Media Generating Positive Media Coverage Broadcasted and Face-to-Face Speeches (Media Interviews, Press Articles, Press Conferences) Public Events, Party Conferences and Political Travels Conclusions References 3 Alexis Tsipras: The Permanent Campaign Strategy of a Left-Wing Prime Minister Introduction The Political Background Capacity Building and Strategy Institutional Adaptations Conducting Opinion Poll During the Term—Research Citizens’ Preferences and Data Fund-Raising Paid and Owned Media Themes of Election Transferred to Governance Negative Campaigning Use of Marketing During Terms of Office Institutional Advertising Frequent Publication Building a Following on Social Media Promotional Discourse, Engaging Political and Personalized Communication Hyperlinking Interactive Communication, Microtargeting Audience Earned Media Generating Positive Media Coverage Broadcasted and Face-to-Face Speeches, Media Interviews, Press Articles and Press Conferences Public Events and Political Travels During the Term of Office Conclusions References 4 Kyriakos Mitsotakis: The Permanent Campaign Prime Minister Introduction Capacity Building and Strategy Institutional Adaptations Conducting Opinion Polls During the Term and Research Citizens’ Preferences and Data Fund-Raising Activities Paid and Owned Media Themes of Election Transferred to Governance Negative Campaigning Use of Marketing During Terms of Office Institutional Advertising Frequent Publication Building a Following on Social Media Promotional Discourse and Engaging Political and Personalized Communication Hyperlinking and Interactive Communication Earned Media Generating Positive Media Coverage Broadcasted and Face-to-Face Speeches, Media Interviews, Press Conferences, Press Articles Public Events Travel During the Term of Office: Domestic and Foreign Travels Conclusions References 5 The Permanent Campaign Revisited Introduction The Three Greek Prime Ministers Compared Similarities and Differences Across the Six Greek Premiers (1996–2021) The Greek Case in a Comparative Context References Appendix 1: Permanent Campaigning by Greek Prime Ministers (PMs) on Facebook Coding Table Appendix 2: List of Public Appeals of the Six Greek Premiers 1996–2021 (Speeches, Press Conferences, Greek Media Interviews, Greek Press Articles) Prime Minister Kostas Simitis 1996–2004 (78) Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis 2004–2009 (125) Prime Minister George Papandreou 2009–2011 (181) Prime Minister Antonis Samaras 2012–2015 (106) Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras 2015–2019 (136) Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis 2019 (247) Index