Campaigns and Elections
Political campaigns are very significant in American politics and elections. It is the period before the electorate makes political decisions in the form of elections. The attention of the citizens towards politics intensifies as the date of the elections draws near. The salience of voters improves as the election date draws near and could manifest in the form of increased media attention. Political discussions, campaign interest, strength of the intention to vote, and knowledge about the candidates are other manifestations of increased salience of voters. Another indication of improved intensity is the effort put by the candidates and their political parties in the campaigns. Parties increase their efforts in the campaign by increasing the funds disbursed for the campaign such as increasing the amount of TV advertisement (Brady, Johnston, & Sides, 2007). The increase may also be a result of redistribution of the overall campaign amount, which increases the effect of the campaign to the media and some voters.
Effectiveness of political campaigns
Campaigns are a significant part of the democratic process in American politics. Individuals who make decisions individually and interdependently characterize the democratic process. It aids decision making for the citizens and enables them come up with a summary political judgment based on how they view the different candidates. Campaigns are the primary strategy used by candidates and parties to make political communication to the citizens. US political campaigns are informative and provide a chance for candidates to notify their electorate about their ideologies and policies. Through political campaigns, the citizens are able to assess the policies that the...
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...Stanford University Press.
Schmidt, S. W., Shelley, M. C., & Bardes, B. A. (2009). American Government and Politics Today. Mason: Cengage Learning.
Reuters Foundation. (n.d.). The Media and the Election Process: Reference material. Reuters Foundation. Retrieved from http://webworld.unesco.org/download/fed/iraq/english/media_elections_en.pdf
The Museum of Broadcast Communications. (2011). Political Processes and Television. Retrieved from http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=politicalpro
Brady, H. E., Johnston, R., & Sides, J. (2007, May 18). The Study of Political Campaigns. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from GWU: http://home.gwu.edu/~jsides/study.pdf
Miller, C. C. (2008, November 7). How Obama’s Internet Campaign Changed Politics. New York Times. Retrieved from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/how-obamas- internet-campaign-changed-politics/
O’Connor, K., Sabato, L. J., Yanus, A. B, Gibson, Jr., L. T., & Robinson, C. (2011). American Government: Roots and Reform 2011 Texas Edition. United States: Pearson Education, Inc.
Buying media slots for candidates, which used to be a small business just over half a century ago, has grown so that these companies manage “more than $170 billion of their clients’ campaign funds” (Turow 230). This fact about the growth of such an industry should at a minimum raise an eyebrow, as it characterizes the shift and importance this data analysis has become. It also serves as an important point because it fuels the common fear of corruption in politics, as this data essentially offers a window to the responses and how people think to what politicians say. This could lead to the next phase of the “polished politician” where candidates will say statements that statistically receive favorable responses from the population. This strong pathos is a central pillar of the argument Turow is trying to make, effectively playing the emotion of pity from the hypothetical family situation, and building it into a fear of the system and establishment. Such emotions are strong motivators, and this combination encourages the reader to take action, or at the very least inform someone they know about such issues they weren’t even aware were
Schiller, W. J., Geer, J. G., & Segal, J. A. (2013). Gateways to democracy: introduction to American government, the essentials. (2nd ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth ;.
It is very common among the United States’ political sphere to rely heavily on T.V. commercials during election season; this is after all the most effective way to spread a message to millions of voters in order to gain their support. The presidential election of 2008 was not the exception; candidates and interest groups spent 2.6 billion dollars on advertising that year from which 2 billion were used exclusively for broadcast television (Seelye 2008.) Although the effectiveness of these advertisements is relatively small compared to the money spent on them (Liasson 2012), it is important for American voters to think critically about the information and arguments presented by these ads. An analysis of the rhetoric in four of the political campaign commercials of the 2008 presidential election reveals the different informal fallacies utilized to gain support for one of the candidates or misguide the public about the opposing candidate.
MARTIN KELLY, Overview of United States Government and Politics Foundation and Principles, 2011, retrieved February 21st 2011 from http://americanhistory.about.com/od/governmentandpolitics/a/amgovoverview.htm
Landy, Marc and Sidney M. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Rhetoric is often used by the media to sway or influence the opinion of the reader. This influence is not always deliberately used, but it is used nonetheless. This influence can affect a number of things, including politics. This influence on politics makes the rhetoric a useful yet possibly dangerous tool. The connotations in the words used by the media in regards to politics can greatly influence potential voters. This rhetoric influences the way that ordinary citizens see the candidates and the election system as a whole. Studying the way that the rhetoric influences these citizens may help future candidates use this language to their advantage. Also, citizens may be abIe to better equipped to determine whether or not they have formed their own opinions without bias from the media or outside sources. Knowing how the media influences citizens can help one to remain logical. Also,
Ken Kollman, The American Political System, (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2012), 25, 322-323, 330, 449.
of a political campaign, to hit hardest at those who are in power or running
The aim of this paper is to look at the relationship between the mass media, specifically television, and presidential elections. This paper will focus on the function of television in presidential elections through three main areas: exit polls, presidential debates, and spots. The focus is on television for three reasons. First, television reaches more voters than any other medium. Second, television attracts the greatest part of presidential campaign budgets. Third, television provides the candidates a good opportunity to contact the people directly. A second main theme of this paper is the role of television in presidential elections in terms of representative democracy in the United States.
Landy, Marc and Sidney M. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
(853464.pdf) To explore new insight and new dimension of progress of political parties, marketing in politics is the new way forward. Political marketing basically aims at satisfying voter’s need as the existence of party or candidate depends on it. (Mauser, 1983; Newman and Sheth, 1987; Reid, 1988).
Gaski, John. "The Washington Times." 29 October 2010. Positive effects of negative political ads. 15 September 2011 .
As previously mentioned, campaign effectiveness was and still is of central concern to communicators. In today’s world campaign effectiveness is to some extent quantifiable, but when this form of communication first started being used, its concepts and ideas...
The main aim of this report is to analyze the impacts of changes in the media concerning the societal and individual view of politics and politicians. The report also describes significant milestones in mass media since the year 1960 and examines the impact of mass media on how people think politically. The report then considers the effect of technological advancements in mass media and the effect on the results of elections. The use of mass media has increased over the last fifty years in that it is a primary medium through which supporters of various campaigners share their ideas and views concerning politicians and different political parties. Through social media, behaviors and performance of several activists have brought