Fritz Plasser

Fritz Plasser (born September 22, 1948 in Vienna ) is an Austrian political scientist .

Life

Fritz Plasser was born in Vienna in 1948. After studying at the University of Vienna and obtaining his doctorate in 1974 , he completed his habilitation at the University of Innsbruck in 1986. Since 1993 he has been a professor at the Institute for Political Science at the University of Innsbruck and since October 2006 (as Anton Pelinka's successor ) dean of the Innsbruck Faculty of Political Science and sociology. He also heads the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Applied Political Research in Vienna.

He is the author, co-author and co-editor of 28 books to date and more than 100 scientific publications in compilations and specialist journals.

Teaching activities abroad

• 2000–2001 Fahrenkopf-Manatt-Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University in Washington DC
• 2004–2005 Shorenstein Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge (Massachusetts) .

Memberships

• Austrian Society for Political Science (ÖGPW)
• American Political Science Association (APSA)
• International Political Science Association (IPSA)
• World Association for Public Opinion Research ( WAPOR )
• International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC)
• Association of Market Researchers Austria (VMÖ)

Functions in scientific organizations

• 1995–1996 Chairman of the Board of the Austrian Society for Political Science
• Member of the scientific advisory board of the Rudolf Sallinger Fund
• Regional representative of the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) for East Central Europe

plant

Fritz Plassers has recognized in the last few years a trend reversal from a “socially anchored party democracy to an unsteady and mood-dependent media democracy.” As a consequence, he sees a tendency towards falling voter turnout and a pessimistic basic mood of the population towards political elites. Confidence in governments and political institutions is waning, citizens feel neglected, which leads to a lack of interest in politics. Plasser understands media democracy as influencing the socio-political image of the population through the media and journalism.

Works

White House election campaign (2001)

In this book, Fritz Plasser and his colleague Peter Filzmaier deal with the American presidential elections and place particular emphasis on the 2000 election. The authors first outline the general mode of the presidential election: the history and different models of the primaries, the nomination party conventions , the selection of the candidate for the office of vice-president, the (non-) importance of the national party apparatus and the role of the media.

The election campaigns Bush and Gore are analyzed , as well as the legal dispute between both parties after the election and its decision by the Supreme Court in Washington.

Both want to illustrate the relationship between the 1996 election and the 2000 election and thus explain the defeat. The importance of the electors is also included. In addition, Plasser / Filzmaier deal in detail with the congressional elections (especially in the 2000 election) and their significance for the (domestic) political situation in the USA.

In particular, the role of money in election campaigns is highlighted - an average election campaign for the House of Representatives costs 600,000 US dollars, that for the Senate even between four and five million - the authors particularly go into the election campaign on the Internet .

Politics in American: Elections and Political Competition in the United States (2005)

In “Politics in American: Elections and Political Competition in the USA” (2005) Fritz Plasser and Peter Filzmaier offer a problem-oriented overview of election campaigns and competitive factors in the US political system. Plasser / Filzmaier examine the election campaign strategies of the Democrats and Republicans, their "campaign management" and the influence of the mass media.

The analysis focuses on television in particular, as is political, marketing journalism in relation to its political communication and the associated dangers of controlled opinion-forming.

Voting behavior in motion. Analyzes of the National Council election 2002 (2003)

In this work, Plasser analyzes the Austrian National Council election campaign in 2002 and the changes in the parties. The voting decision and the political balance of power are included. For Plasser, as is so often the case in his works, the political dispersion of the media and journalism is important for the analysis. Furthermore, the actors of the election campaign and the interactions of the voters' opinion are important to him.

Publications

• Politics in American. Elections and Political Competition in the USA (2005)
• Political communication in Austria. A practical handbook (2004)
• Party Response To Electoral Markets (2004)
• Voting behavior in motion. Analyzes of the National Council election 2002 (2003)
• Globalization of election campaigns. Practices of Campaign Professionals in Global Comparison (2003)
• The Austrian understanding of politics. From a culture of consensus to a culture of conflict? (2002)
• Global Political Campaigning. A Worldwide Analysis of Campaign Professionals and Their Practices (2002)
• La Campana Global. Los nuevos gurues de marketing politico en accion, (2002)
• Election campaign for the White House. Presidential Elections in the USA (2001)
• The future of Austrian democracy. Trends, forecasts and scenarios (2000)
• Austrian voting behavior (2000)
• Parties in complex electoral markets. Response Strategies of Political Parties in Western Europe (1999)
• Elections and Political Attitudes in Germany and Austria (1999)
• Democratic Consolidation in East-Central Europe (1998)
• On the Eve of EU Enlargement. Economic Developments and Democratic Attitudes in East Central Europe (1998)
• American democracy. System of Government and Political Competition in the USA (1997)
• Political culture change in East-Central Europe. Theory and Empirical Democratic Consolidation (1997)
• Election campaign and voting. Analyzes of the National Council election 1995 (1996)
• Political Culture in East Central Europe (1996)
• Voter behavior and party competition. Analyzes of the National Council election 1994 (1995)
• Transformation or Stagnation? Current Political Trends in Eastern Europe (1993)
• Regime change. Democratization and Political Culture in East Central Europe (1992)
• Primaries and nominations in an international comparison (1992)
• Citizens or Subjects? Political Culture of Germany, Austria and Switzerland in Comparison (1991)
• The Austrian Party System (1988)

Web links

• Literature by and about Fritz Plasser in the catalog of the German National Library
• Homepage at the University of Innsbruck
• Center for Applied Policy Research