Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T15:24:38.286Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Campaigning as an Industry: Consulting Business Models and Intra-Party Competition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Matt Grossmann
Matt Grossmann*
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

American political campaigns have become a multi-billion dollar industry. Rather than assume that only political factors affect the campaigns that voters see, scholars must assess the importance of the business incentives associated with political consulting. Economic competition does not match political competition; firms compete for clients within the two major parties, against their political allies. I argue that the supply of firms in each party, the revenue models in the industry, the diversification of client types, and the cooperative structure in each party all may affect political campaigns. The way the industry operates and the different patterns of behavior within each party create incentives and practices that may alter campaigns in response to economic factors having little to do with optimal political strategy. Using two original surveys and a network analysis, I analyze how the industry is changing and how consultants in each party cooperate and compete.

Keywords

campaignsconsultantsbusiness practicesparty differencesnetworks
Type
Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , April 2009 , pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2009 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armstrong, Jerome and Zuniga, Markos Moulitsas. 2006. Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Bartels, Larry M. 1985. “Resource Allocation In a Presidential Campaign.” Journal of Politics 47 (3): 928–36.Google Scholar
Blumenthal, Sidney. 1980. The Permanent Campaign: Inside the World of Elite Political Operatives. Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Dickinson, Tim. 2007. “The Enemy Within.” Rolling Stone, 5 April.Google Scholar
Dulio, David A. 2004. For Better of Worse? How Political Consultants are Changing Elections in the United States. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Francia, Peter L. and Herrnson, Paul S. 2007. “Keeping it Professional: The Influence of Political Consultants on Candidate Attitudes toward Negative Campaigning.” Politics and Policy 35: 246–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganz, Marshall. 1994. “Voters in the Crosshairs: How Technology and the Market are Destroying Politics.” The American Prospect, 16 May.Google Scholar
Grossmann, Matt. Forthcoming. “Going Pro? The Professional Model and Political Campaign Consulting.” Journal of Political Marketing.Google Scholar
Herrnson, Paul. 1992. “Campaign Professionalism and Fund-Raising in Congressional Elections.” Journal of Politics 54: 859–70.Google Scholar
Howell, Susan E. 1982. “Campaign Activities and State Election Outcomes.” Political Behavior 4 (4): 401–17.Google Scholar
Klein, Joe. 2006. Politics Lost: How American Democracy was Trivialized by People who Think You're Stupid. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Langley, Monica and Chozick, Amy. 2008. “Clinton Team Seeks to Calm Turmoil.” Wall Street Journal, 14 February, pg. A1.Google Scholar
Medvic, Stephen K. 2001. Political Consultants in Congressional Elections. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.Google Scholar
Medvic, Stephen K. 2003. “Professional Political Consultants: An Operational Definition.” Politics 23 (2): 119–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penn, Mark and Kinney Zalesne, E. 2007. Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes. New York: Twelve Books.Google Scholar
Plasser, Fritz and Plasser, Gunda. 2002. Global Political Campaigning: A Worldwide Analysis of Campaign Professionals and their Practices. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.Google Scholar
Sabato, Larry J. 1981. The Rise of Political Consultants: New Ways of Winning Elections. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Sellers, Patrick J. 1998. “Strategy and Background in Congressional Campaigns.” American Political Science Review 92 (3): 159–71.Google Scholar
Shaw, Daron R. 2006. The Race to 270: The Electoral College and the Campaign Strategies of 2000 and 2004. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shea, Daniel M. and Burton, Michael John. 2001. Campaign Craft: The Strategies, Tactics, and Art of Political Campaign Management. Westport, CN: Praeger.Google Scholar
Sides, John. 2006. “The Origins of Campaign Agendas.” British Journal of Political Science 36: 407–36.Google Scholar
Thurber, James A. and Nelson, Candice J., eds. 2000. Campaign Warriors: Political Consultants in Elections. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Wasserman, Stanley and Faust, Katherine. 1994. Social Network Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Zeleny, Jeff. 2008. “An Obama Refrain Bears Echoes of a Governor's Speeches.” New York Times, 18 February.Google Scholar