Permanent Campaigning: A Meta-Analysis and Framework for Measurement

Permanent campaigning emerged as a concept in the 1970s in studies of US politics but is now recognized as a universal phenomenon. Despite its long history, there has been no attempt to build a holistic picture of the elements that constitute a permanent campaign. Generally, researchers focus on tactical elements, situating their use within an overall strategy, but there is a lack of a broader methodological framework for holistically measuring adherence to the permanent campaigning. This article presents results of a meta-analysis of relevant research to provide a framework to understand how permanent campaigning is practiced. Our study showed there were three reasonably discrete forms of campaigning activities that had been identified: those in which permanent campaign strategies are related to capacity building and strategy; a second, in which permanent campaigning relates to paid and owned media; and a third in which earned media is the main focus. In mapping these studies, we identify the common features of permanent campaigning, identifying strong and weak indicators and the extent these are employed by the government, parties, or elected representatives and within which political systems: parliamentarism or presidentialism. Our framework can be applied in future comparative research to understand trends in political communication

Just like us: everyday celebrity politicians and the pursuit of popularity in an age of anti-politics

In a supposedly ‘anti-political’ age the scholarly literature on celebrity politicians argues that politicians gain popularity by adopting strategies from within the world of entertainment. This article offers the findings of a research project that has detected a marked shift in the interplay between celebrity culture and the presentational strategies adopted by politicians. At the heart of this shift is an increased focus on the concept of ‘normality’ as politicians increasingly attempt to shake-off the negative connotations associated with ‘professional politicians’ and instead attempt to appear ‘just like us’. As such, this article offers an original approach by distinguishing between ´superstar’ celebrity politicians and ‘everyday’ celebrity politicians before identifying three aspects of each strategy (i.e. media platform, marketing technique, and performative role). It offers numerous empirical examples that serve to underpin this distinction before using the example of Boris Johnson as a case study in the attempted shift from ‘superstar’ to ‘everyday’ celebrity. This focus on normality offers a fresh entry-point into the analysis of contemporary political statecraft while also posing distinctive questions about the tension between political popularity and credibility in an anti-political age. As such, the approach also has significant implications for normative ideas about how celebrity can be ‘democratised’ to remedy anti-politics

Political public relations and mediatization: The strategies of news management

In highly mediatized democracies, political parties and other political actors have to manage the news and adapt to the fact that news media have become largely independent and highly influential. In this chapter, the authors bridge theory and research on strategic party behavior, mediatization, and political public relations to analyze why and how political parties seek to manage the news to further their strategic goals. Based on a review of the literature, the authors suggest a typology of strategies and tactics that political parties can use to manage the news. One conclusion is that adaption to news media need to follow from the strategic goals of the party. Otherwise adapting to news media is not strategic but rather surrendering to news media and news media logic