ABSTRACT
The modern election campaign that attempts to brand and market political parties and candidates has in many respects been a product of the American election campaign. Indeed the term the ‘Americanization’ of elections is often used as a short-hand way of referring to the professionalization of political campaigns, with all that that entails: polling, television ads, focus groups, segmentation and targeting of voters, direct-mailing, and the hiring of a plethora of campaign consultants. Despite the fact that American campaigns pioneered many of the techniques that are essential to a marketing strategy, the application of a comprehensive political marketing framework to American political parties and candidates has been somewhat limited. At the same time, the evidence to support the notion that American parties have become market-oriented is, at best, mixed. This chapter will examine the political and structural factors that both contribute to and limit the applicability of market-oriented parties in the United States. It then assesses the nature and degree of political marketing in recent presidential elections and concludes by examining the future scope of political market-orientation in American elections. The chapter is primarily based on observations of the political parties and candidates and their campaigning, accounts in the news media and on the Internet, the National Election Studies, and an analysis of others’ research.
