The how's and why's of party manifestos: Some guidance for a cross-national research agenda

It is the purpose of this article to highlight some of the variants that can serve as important avenues for future exploration into the hows (production methods) and whys (purposes) of party manifestos (aka platforms). Beyond discussing conceptual and theoretical issues pertaining directly to the hows and whys, the piece also includes a section on alternative dimensions of the what of manifesto content (i.e. alternatives to the much more studied salience and position dimensions). While it draws heavily from literature on established, western democracies, attention is also paid to special needs for extending manifesto research to include newer, less institutionalized democracies.

Overview