University of AkureyriGuðmundsson, Birgir2025-11-142025-11-142021-03-01Guðmundsson, B 2021, 'Political parallelism in Iceland', Nordicom Review, vol. 42, no. S2, pp. 53-69. https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2021-00171403-110845089887e529e8db-4799-4f3c-941a-c970a53f191585103817142https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/5748Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Birgir Guðmundsson, published by Sciendo 2021.My main objective in this article is to examine the importance of political parallelism in Iceland through establishing the extent to which political parallelism is perceived to char-acterise political communication in Iceland by politicians and voters. Political parallelism is one of the defining elements of Hallin and Mancini’s typology of media systems. Based on candidate surveys from five elections and a voter survey, indexes of perceived political parallelism are configured for politicians and voters. The analysis suggests a high degree of perceived political parallelism and that the perceptions are reflected in partisan ideologi-cal views of individual media outlets. The same – or at least similar – perceptions about political parallelism in the media system seem to penetrate the system irrespective of age and at the national, local, and individual level of politics. However, voters and candidates of social democratic and liberal internationally oriented parties perceive a significantly lower degree of parallelism than others.My main objective in this article is to examine the importance of political parallelism in Iceland through establishing the extent to which political parallelism is perceived to char-acterise political communication in Iceland by politicians and voters. Political parallelism is one of the defining elements of Hallin and Mancini's typology of media systems. Based on candidate surveys from five elections and a voter survey, indexes of perceived political parallelism are configured for politicians and voters. The analysis suggests a high degree of perceived political parallelism and that the perceptions are reflected in partisan ideological views of individual media outlets. The same - or at least similar - perceptions about political parallelism in the media system seem to penetrate the system irrespective of age and at the national, local, and individual level of politics. However, voters and candidates of social democratic and liberal internationally oriented parties perceive a significantly lower degree of parallelism than others.1755795653-69eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesselectionsjournalismmedia systemspolitical communicationpolitical parallelismCommunicationSDG 2 - Zero HungerSDG 6 - Clean Water and SanitationSDG 3 - Good Health and Well-beingSDG 4 - Quality EducationSDG 1 - No PovertySDG 5 - Gender EqualitySDG 10 - Reduced InequalitiesSDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and CommunitiesSDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and ProductionSDG 13 - Climate ActionSDG 14 - Life Below WaterSDG 15 - Life on LandSDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong InstitutionsSDG 17 - Partnerships for the GoalsSDG 7 - Affordable and Clean EnergySDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic GrowthSDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure/dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/researchoutputtypes/contributiontojournal/article10.2478/nor-2021-0017