Political Campaign

Political Campaign

Introduction to Political Campaign

Political Campaign, organized effort by a political party or candidate for public office to attract the support of voters in an election. Political campaigns play an important role in the education and mobilization of citizens in most democracies.

In the United States, campaigns precede every election and often begin many months or even years before the election. To launch and operate a successful campaign, candidates first organize a network of committed campaign workers, both volunteer and professional. They also establish a fund-raising apparatus to finance organizational, travel, polling, and advertising expenses. Hired consultants amass voting and polling data that enable candidates to assess in specific terms the electorate’s needs, hopes, fears, and past behavior. Finally, campaigns develop media and advertising strategies for communicating the image and message of the candidate.

Until the mid-20th century, political campaigns depended heavily on armies of campaign workers assembled by political parties. This style of campaigning fostered intense levels of loyalty to party organizations. Voters typically supported entire slates of candidates backed by a political party. During the second half of the 20th century, the strength of political parties in the United States declined. As a result, voter loyalty to parties diminished and campaigns began to center more upon the candidates themselves. Organizational strategies changed as well. Campaigns now rely more on communications technologies than the efforts of party foot soldiers.” (1)

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Notes and References

Guide to Political Campaign

 

About Voting

Voting Rights, Voter Participation, Election Redistricting, Electoral College (including Electoral College Selection, Counting the Votes, Electoral College Origins, Electoral College First Years, Electoral College History and the 12th Amendment, Disputed Elections of 1824 and 1876, Electoral College and the Influence of Political Parties, Winner-Take-All System, Debate Over the Electoral College and Electoral College Reform), Electorate Age and Electorate Constitutional Provisions.

Political Campaign: How Campaigns are Conducted

Introduction to Political Campaign

Modern political campaigning includes five basic elements: (1) professional public relations, (2) polling, (3) the broadcast media, (4) direct mail, and (5) the Internet. These elements all make use of techniques drawn from the worlds of marketing and advertising to mobilize voter support.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

Guide to Political Campaign

Political Campaign How Campaigns are Conducted The Internet

Introduction to Political Campaign

Since the late 1990s, parties and candidates have begun to make extensive use of the Internet as a campaign medium. Most major candidates maintain Web sites that provide biographical data, the candidates’ positions on major issues, endorsements from prominent supporters, and other campaign materials. Citizens visiting a candidate’s Web site can also learn how to become involved with the campaign and make financial contributions. Often, candidates’ supporters also sponsor Weblogs, or Blogs, touting the candidate’s virtues, and they participate in Internet “chats” on behalf of their candidate. In 2000 U.S. Senator John McCain used his Web site to mobilize volunteers and raise funds for his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination. In the 2004 presidential race, former Vermont governor Howard Dean made the Internet a major campaign vehicle, raising about $40 million in campaign funds through online appeals in 2003.

Many observers believed that passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 would increase the use of the Internet for fundraising. The law restricted contributions that could be made to political parties, making it necessary to raise money from individuals who could donate no more than $2,000 to each candidate per election. The Internet platform enabled candidates to reach large numbers of people and to solicit funds at relatively low cost. Some observers estimated that candidates could recover 98 percent of a donation made through Web sites because of low overhead. See also Electoral Reform. ” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

Guide to Political Campaign

 

About Voting and Elections

Election, Voter Registration, Electoral Systems, Election Types, How Voters Decide, Electoral Realignments, Electorate (including Electorate Historical, Electorate Gender, Electorate Race and Social Position, Electorate Property and Poll Tax and Residence) and Electronic Voting (including Electronic Voting Origins and Electronic Voting Problems).

Political Campaign The Impact of Technology

Introduction to Political Campaign

Historically, political parties representing the aspirations of working-class constituencies gained an edge in campaigns through their ability to mobilize and organize large masses of people. For this reason, the weakening of party organizations and the move toward capital- and technology-intensive modes of campaigning have shifted the balance of power from working-class voters to those with more money.

Small, professional staffs employing expensive and sophisticated communications techniques now perform the tasks of raising funds and mobilizing voters, activities once performed by thousands of party workers. In a national race, candidates often spend millions of dollars on media time, polls, and consultants. In the 2000 presidential campaign, costs totaled more than $2 billion.

Capital- and technology-intensive campaigns emphasize the impact of money in politics and help those politicians who speak for wealthier, generally more conservative constituents. The Republican Party has consistently raised more money to finance its campaigns than the Democratic Party. Conservative activists in the Republican Party, most notably Richard Viguerie, also pioneered many of the political techniques now employed by candidates of both parties, especially the use of direct mail.

One exception to this rule is the Internet, which provides candidates with an inexpensive way to raise large amounts of money in small contributions. In 2003 and 2004, for example, Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean used the Internet to raise millions of dollars in small contributions from supporters across the nation. Dean, however, went down in defeat in the Democratic primaries. Thus far, at least, the Internet has not offset the conservative bias inherent in the other elements of technological politics.

Many European politicians who represent conservative constituencies have copied the capital- and technology-intensive methods of American campaigns. A number of American political consultants have shown European conservative politicians how to make use of polling, direct mail, and the broadcast media. In Europe, this phenomenon is sometimes referred to as the “Americanization” of politics.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

Guide to Political Campaign


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