This study employs the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse to analyze the 2006 and 2012 presidential elections in Mexico. In the United States, the theory has been satisfactorily validated; nevertheless, in order to investigate the extent to which it can be generalized in other national contexts, this theory tested with Mexican television spots. Four out of seven subsamples were consistent with the predictions. The variations were mainly focused on the themes and incumbency related hypotheses. Themes regarding character were more frequent than policy themes. Candidates of the party in the government attacked more and acclaimed less than challenger candidates. Likewise, referring to past deeds, challengers acclaimed more and attacked less than the candidates from the government party. Apparently, these results are explained by the absence of a direct link between the candidates and the public office for which they compete.
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