ABSTRACT
Farrell and Wortmann in one of the first European attempts at testing out marketing as a framework for political analysis come out somewhat undecided, as well. Margaret Scammell identifies two strands of political science research which in different ways and to varying extents have provided important input and contributed to the development of the political marketing literature namely campaign studies and political communications studies. Lock and Harris, in an insightful article point to the differences between commercial markets and politics and question the direct applicability of marketing theory in political theorising, come to the conclusion that exchange theory can provide a most useful vehicle for exposition and analysis. Although the theoretical limitations of conventional market-based approaches to politics are not new to most political scientists, criticism is not typically directed at the generic ambitions or cross-contextual applicability claims that such approaches tend to carry with them.
