A brief historical overview of political campaigning: Theories, concepts, and approaches

Abstract

The chapter recapitulates the development of campaigning during the twentieth century, and it reflects changes in the nature of relationships among political parties and their voters. The discussion starts with Stein Rokkan’s concept of cleavages (which explains the origin of political parties in most European countries) and his finding about ‘freezing of the party systems’. In the first phase, voter loyalty was high; the overall purpose of party communication was to mobilise support at the right time. After WWII and the expansion of television, however, the situation changed. Voting became more individualised, and ideology became less important (at least for some) than image. Political parties also changed their approach to communication in this period: more customer-oriented and open to hiring polling, advertising, and other professionals to help with campaign planning, testing and execution. The purpose of campaigning broadened as well: besides the mobilisation of core voters, it aimed to persuade undecided and/or swing voters. The second part of the chapter explores concepts connected with campaigning which are important in understanding (post)modern political campaigns to serve as a basis for the understanding of the country case studies.