Party unity is of central importance in parliamentary democracies. It is a necessity for parties that want to be effective in the parliamentary arena and it is crucial in elections. Voters equate disunity with intra-party conflict and unreliability, making it an obstacle to electoral success. Accordingly, we observe parties trying to avoid signs of disunity. While much literature has dealt with the determinants and consequences of party unity in parliament and recent studies have revealed the detrimental electoral implications of disunited appearance, we know little about how these two arenas are connected. Which aspects of intra-party politics are deemed relevant to party unity and transmitted to citizens?

We analyze newspaper reports of party activity heading up to the German federal election of 2021 with a twofold aim. First, we describe the development of party unity as evinced in newspapers. In particular, we consider the hypothesis that party unity increases as the elections approach. Second, we analyze how journalists describe and what they count as indicators of party unity. These questions go hand in hand if one aims to understand how citizens make up their mind about party unity, a central criterion as to how they evaluate political parties. If voters’ perceptions are largely based on media coverage, understanding how intra-party affairs are described and framed by the media is crucial for the link between voters and parties.