Kontakt, Nähe, Vertrauen: Mobilisierungstechniken und -taktiken im Haustürwahlkampf der SPD zur Landtagswahl 2022 im Saarland

This article analyses the SPD’s doorstep campaign for the 2022 state election in Saarland. Based on the assumptions of the microsociological approach to election research, the article assumes that door-to-door campaigning has an overall mobilization effect that should not be underestimated and can have a vote-maximizing effect. On the basis of ten interviews with campaigners and leading politicians, strategies and tactics, such as the use of data-based tools, are presented and critically discussed that were used during door-to-door campaigning. Last but not least, the interviewed experts provide an assessment of the potential of door-to-door campaigning, which, however, only has anecdotal evidence. Remarkably, however, the interviewees ascribe an essential role to door-to-door campaigning for the election outcome. The presumed added value of door-to-door campaigning as a campaign instrument lies in personal dialogue, which can be the basis to build interpersonal trust.