A terrorizmus elleni harc a spanyol választási kampány napirendjén
The Impact of Terrorism on the Agenda of the 2004 Spanish Electoral Campaign

Summary/Abstract: This study seeks to prove the devastating impact of the terrorism frame on the political agenda with a new example, the 2004 Spanish electoral campaign. Just like after the tragedy of 9/11 in the United States, the topic of terrorism in Spain also played much bigger role than its real importance, eclipsing every other issue of the agenda. The terrorism frame did not change the real risk of terrorism but increased Spanish perception of vulnerability and security. News related to international and domestic terrorism (the war in Iraq, the activity of the Basque terrorist group, ETA and the strengthening of regional nationalist movements) attracted the greatest attention in Spanish press during the 2004 electoral campaign. The public opinion became extremely sensitive to the topic of terrorism and this led to the fact that the terrorist attacks of 3/11 in Madrid could influence the result of the elections causing the unexpected victory of the Socialists. The effect of framing terrorism in Spain is certified by a new research in which the author goes through the front pages of the two leading Spanish daily newspapers, El País and El Mundo in the last two months of the campaign, between January and March 2004.

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