A Functional Analysis of Political Television Advertisements

A Functional Analysis of Political Television Advertisements examines theory and research on election advertisements. William Benoit employs the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse to understand the nature or content of television spots in election campaigns. Beginning with a look at American presidential spots from 1952–2012, Benoit investigates the three functions—acclaims, attacks, and defenses—and the topics of policy and character for these groups of political commercials. The