IS THERE PERSONALIZATION IN POLITICS - CANDIDATES AND VOTING-BEHAVIORIN GERMANY

In analyzing the democratic political process, political leadership is important. One element of leadership is the role politicians play in shaping public perceptions of politics. A particular concern in this r espect is that television with emphasis on the individual may in the l ong run depoliticize politics in the eyes of citizens and the politica l process itself. Another aspect of leadership is the extent to which candidates for, and holders of, high political office influence voters ' electoral choices. Data from a large content-analysis of the 1990 Ge rman general election as well as survey data from a series of German e lection studies are used to test the extent to which various measures of personalization display the expected rise in importance. All findin gs support the notion that, at least in Germany, personalization canno t be observed. This result emphasizes the role of the institutional ma ke-up of a given political system by stressing the difference between presidential and parliamentary states.