Global Political Campaigning: A Worldwide Analysis of Campaign Professionals and Their Practices

(Hardback)

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This text examines the changing practices of election campaigning worldwide. Based on data of an in-depth survey of campaign managers and political consultants from 43 countries, the book provides insights into the professional role definitions and strategic orientations determining the future of electioneering in media-centred democracies. The first section gives an overview of the international literature and modernization theories describing and analyzing the ongoing process of modernization and growing professionalization of electioneering around the world. The second section deals with the topic of an "Americanization" of campaign practices in countries fundamentally different from the United States from a diffusion point of view. A special focus is the role of US overseas consultants in influencing and modifying campaign practices in foreign countries based on interviews about the professional experiences of leading figures of the Americans overseas consultancy business. The third section deals with central features of campaign practices from a comparative perspective and provides information and data about the media infrastructure and political culture indicators for 50 countries as well as a detailed comparison of country-specific campaign regulations, party system features, and campaign styles. The fourth section focuses on the results of Plasser's Global Political Consultancy Survey among 592 campaign professionals from 43 countries. The results of this first worldwide survey offer insights into professional orientations, role definitions, and practices of campaign managers and political consultants throughout the world. The fifth section discusses different area- and country-specific campaign styles from a comparative perspective. The final chapters present a global typology of distinct campaign styles across the world, summarize the central findings, and link them to the ongoing debate about the future of electioneering in media-centered democracies. An essential research tool for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with comparative electioneering, political management and political communication.

Reviews

[G]lobal Political Campaigning is an impressive study. It creatively summarizes the literature in this growing field of research, provides very useful global overviews of campaign characteristics and their contexts, and presents findings from unique sets of survey data. The wealth of information can be of use in both undergraduate and graduate courses. It is also important reading for political consultants who may want to look beyond their own cultures or borders for new clients.-www.apsanet.org
[T]his book makes a very important contribution to our understanding of how campaigns are changing across the world. It deserves to read widely by scholars and practitioners alike.-Political Science Quarterly
Plasser's book is a remarkable achievement in terms of collation and classification....this volume is an essential adition to our knowledge of elections around the world, of the professionals who fight them, and of the current transnational influences involved.-Journal of Political Merketing
"Global Political Campaigning is an impressive study. It creatively summarizes the literature in this growing field of research, provides very useful global overviews of campaign characteristics and their contexts, and presents findings from unique sets of survey data. The wealth of information can be of use in both undergraduate and graduate courses. It is also important reading for political consultants who may want to look beyond their own cultures or borders for new clients."-www.apsanet.org
"This book makes a very important contribution to our understanding of how campaigns are changing across the world. It deserves to read widely by scholars and practitioners alike."-Political Science Quarterly
"[T]his book makes a very important contribution to our understanding of how campaigns are changing across the world. It deserves to read widely by scholars and practitioners alike."-Political Science Quarterly
"Plasser's book is a remarkable achievement in terms of collation and classification....this volume is an essential adition to our knowledge of elections around the world, of the professionals who fight them, and of the current transnational influences involved."-Journal of Political Merketing
"[G]lobal Political Campaigning is an impressive study. It creatively summarizes the literature in this growing field of research, provides very useful global overviews of campaign characteristics and their contexts, and presents findings from unique sets of survey data. The wealth of information can be of use in both undergraduate and graduate courses. It is also important reading for political consultants who may want to look beyond their own cultures or borders for new clients."-www.apsanet.org

Author Bio

FRITZ PLASSER is Professor of Political Science at the University of Innsbruck and Director of the Center for Applied Political Research in Vienna. He has been author, co-author, or editor of 21 books and has published widely on campaigns and elections from a comparative perspective. GUNDA PLASSER is Senior Research Advisor with the Center for Applied Political Research. She previously worked as an international research manager for a large marketing research company in Vienna, Austria, where she specialized in East Central and Eastern Europe.