Testing the Situation

In Spain, there is a great deal of talk about the phenomenon of the Americanization of politics, that is, the influence of the U.S. campaign model in Spain and on the different political campaigns held in its territory—national campaigns and campaigns to elect the parliaments of the 17 autonomous communities into which the country is divided politically. The differences between the electoral systems, and between the cultures and the societies, of the United States and Spain are evident, but there are some characteristics that show that they have increasingly more elements in common, attributable mainly to the American training of the Spanish spin doctors and to how the opportunities of the new mass media are leveraged. However, this article suggests that the debate on the Americanization of electoral campaigns in Spain is insufficient. It is essential to see how the political parties should adapt their communication processes and their rhetorical strategies to an ever-changing society where the weight of the media and new technologies is becoming increasingly greater. Society changes, it becomes modernized, and therefore, the way we reach it should also change, as has been seen in the latest electoral campaigns in Spanish territory. The subject of this study are the latest elections to the Spanish Parliament and to the Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia