Measuring Agenda Diversity in an Elastic Medium: Candidate Position Papers

Abstract

Analysis of position papers of 12 (of 13) presidential candidates in the 1988 election year finds that the more liberal the candidate, the greater the agenda diversity of his position papers. Also discovered in this content analysis study is that candidates who remained longest in the race display greatest agenda diversity. The study suggests that it would be fruitful if future studies determine if candidate diversity is reflected in audience learning.