‘The Peculiar Four’ and Europe takes an in-depth look at political communication in the Visegrád countries during the 2024 European Parliament campaign. Since this election provided a rare opportunity to observe how political parties in the region operated under similar conditions—competing simultaneously under comparable rules—it serves as a valuable case study for cross-country comparison.
The contributions analyze how political actors in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia used social media, particularly Facebook, to influence electoral discourse amid rising political polarization, populist narratives and growing concerns about democratic backsliding. They combine country-level case studies with comparative, cross-national research to reveal differences in party strategies, issue-framing, levels of negativity and use of European versus national frames. Notably, they also examine how illiberal tendencies influence the tone and substance of parties’ communication on social media, offering further insights into the digital campaign strategies of both incumbent and opposition political actors. By combining empirical data with theoretical reflection, the book fills a major research gap and offers a current perspective on electoral communication in Central and Eastern Europe.