Abstract:

There is growing interest in how much a political candidates' media skills, sometimes referred to as 'charisma', are critical to their electoral success and political survival. According to one hypothesis, the effects of media skills might be so strong, that actors who do not posses media skills quickly vanish from the political arena. However, while many believe that media skills are an important aspect of getting elected, few have actually tried to measure their effects. Part of the reluctance no doubt stems from methodological difficulties in measuring them. In this study we look more directly at the media skills that are likely to play an important role in the electoral competition and suggest a new methodology for measuring such skills. Findings are presented that show that media skills can have an important impact on long-term electoral success of Israeli members of the Knesset. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]