Political communication and referendum. A case study on constitutional reform in Liechtenstein

The subject of the case study was the highly controversial amendment of the Liechtenstein Constitution in 2003 following a referendum initiated by the Head of State. It ended with a clear approval. Against the background of assumptions in the theory of publicity, democracy, and communication, and with a view to the particularities of small States, the factors influencing opinion formation were analyzed in detail. The importance of media publicity, assembly publicity and interpersonal communication was considered. It was shown that the communicative framing of the template was more important for opinion formation than the factual information of the voting campaign. The strategies of the key actors and the existing presettings were largely responsible for the voting result.

Project duration: 2000 to 2003 (publication 2010)