Election posters as a stress test of party organization
By Mark Desholm, PhD, manager and columnist
Election posters do not put themselves up. They are the result of hundreds of volunteers who, within just a few days, must make party candidates visible in the urban space. Precisely for this reason, posters can tell us something beyond candidates’ appearances and party policies: they also offer a small glimpse into the organizational engine room of the parties.
Out of sheer curiosity, I therefore recorded 1,000 election posters in Copenhagen about a week before the election, noting the party for each poster and whether it was hung in accordance with the rules. The result was surprising: in places where the rules are typically challenged—along sidewalks, bicycle paths, and in parks—just under half of the posters were not placed according to regulations.
Looking at parties with a reasonable number of observations, the share of illegally placed posters varies markedly. In my data, the Danish People’s Party (DF) topped the list with 90 percent, the Social Liberal Party (R) at around 63 percent, SF at 57 percent, and the Liberal Alliance (LA) at 54 percent. Venstre (V), the Red-Green Alliance (Ø), and the Alternative (Å) were around the middle with roughly half. The Social Democrats (S) stood at 40 percent, while the Conservatives (C) and the Moderates (M) were significantly lower, at 25 and 19 percent respectively.
These figures do not provide a definitive answer as to who is best or worst at following the rules. For some parties, the samples are small, and the results may be influenced by chance. But they point to something interesting: differences in organizational capacity.
In political science, we speak of parties’ ability to mobilize volunteers, coordinate activities, and translate strategy into practice. Election posters are perhaps the most visible and transparent part of this organizational engine room.
Election posters are often regarded as visual noise in the urban landscape, but they can also be seen as a small stress test of party organization. Strategy is decided centrally, but in the end it is determined by volunteers out on the streets.
Voters normally evaluate parties based on their policies in the voting booth—but perhaps it is also worth looking up at the lampposts.
According to the rules, the posters must be taken down within the first eight days after election day. So in the coming days, we as voters have one last opportunity to assess the parties’ organizational capacity.
Happy lamppost observing out there on the streets!
