Political Campaign and Advertising



Political Campaigns

Political campaigns are a key aspect of representative democracy. During campaigns, candidates are responsible for attracting the votes of citizens. Under democratic theory, this is the juncture in the process during which citizens may reward parties and candidates that have performed in desirable ways during the past term or punish candidates and parties that have been corrupt, incompetent, or advocated policies and positions that the voter does not desire. During the campaign season leading up to the election, candidates use a variety of tactics to persuade citizens to vote for them, and indeed to vote at all. Campaigns and elections form a unique means of selecting leaders. In other realms, such as business, academics, or even non-elected government employment, leaders are selected based on experience, skills, interpersonal contacts, and other qualifications. In democracies, however, we select leaders according to far different criteria. Candidates must appeal to wide swaths of the population. The voters may have little or no firsthand knowledge of the candidate and may not even understand in much detail what skills or qualifications are truly necessary for the position. Nevertheless, the legitimacy of leadership is determined by the ability to inspire enough trust and enthusiasm to win a majority or plurality of the vote (DiClerico, 2000).

Other Uses of Political Campaigns

Another form of political campaign can actually take place between elections. Increasingly, interest groups will employ a targeted advertising campaign to try to persuade constituents to pressure their members of Congress to vote a particular way on a piece of legislation. They tend to target the ads to districts or states in which the members of Congress are potentially persuadable. The members tend to brush off any suggestion that such efforts have any influence on their votes, but if they succeed in activating enough of their constituents, the pressure may be difficult to resist, especially if a re-election bid is imminent. A good example of this is the 2009 to 2010 battle in Congress over health insurance reform. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce coordinated much of the anti-overhaul advertising with ads about various tax horrors that would presumably occur if the bill passed. A coalition of labor and liberal groups that came together specifically for this fight, called Health Care for America Now, ran positive ads full of what were intended to be inspiring and emotionally positive images. In this sense, political campaigns are not just for securing office anymore (Baker, 2009).

Advertising

Advertising may be considered a form of persuasive communication that promotes market goods and services. Advertising companies engage in informing, persuading, and prompting consumer awareness of the value propositions of particular products and services. Institutional advertising in any media demands payment—it is not personal, advertising's task is to identify the sponsoring company and/or the advertised product or services. Political advertising focuses on promoting a party or candidate with the aim of winning votes. Advertising can also be used for social purposes; for example, urging drivers to wear seat belts, promoting antismoking campaigns, and informing ...