Election Campaigning: The New Marketing of PoliticsISBN: 978-0-631-19811-6
Paperback
288 pages
October 1995, Wiley-Blackwell
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"In 1978, with Thatcher's agreement, a contract for media promotion
of the Conservative Party's election campaign was awarded to the
advertising agency, Saatchi and Saatchi. The contract with this
agency was to be renewed over the ensuing years; in 1992, the
Saatchi election budget was around u5 million and the account was
still being paid off 24 months later by a Conservative Party
heavily in debt. Over the past decades, methods of conducting
election campaigns have greatly changed. Politicians increasingly
rely on the skills of 'professional communicators' - advertisers,
pollsters, public relations advisers - to help them fight
media-orientated campaigns. There has been a sharp decline in
door-to-door canvassing, while public meetings, which used to be
widely attended, have been largely abandoned. Membership and
activity in political parties is now at a post-war low, while
voters have become spectators rather than participants in debate.
In this illuminating study, the author examines how and why the
changes in electioneering methods have come about. It raises many
important but unresolved questions." Labour Research
"This is a book that Mr Major and Mr Blair should make sure is thumbed through by their present day publicists and media advisers." Parliamentary Brief