The Political Persuaders

by Nimmo,Dan

• ISBN13: 9780765806130
• ISBN10: 0765806134
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2000-09-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

For better or worse, political image is now more important to electoral victory than a spontaneous exchange of conflicting views over matters of substantive policies. Campaign managers, polling specialists, and communication consultants define issues, set agendas, and explore policy options primarily for electoral gain. In short, campaign contrivances replace substance at all phases and levels of electoral contests. Political estrangement, as illustrated by declining voting levels, may well be a by-product of deceptive political consultant and political journalistic practices rather than Americans being frustrated by insoluble problems.In The Political Persuaders, Dan Nimmo analyzes and critiques the emerging political industry of professional political management and consulting. His volume was the first book-length treatment to do so; it is a seminal work on the subject for both academic scholars and political practitioners. In his new introduction, Nimmo hones his critique in light of the past thirty years and its effects on campaign organization, research, and communication. He assesses changes in campaign technology, stable and shifting practices of candidate marketing, and the consequences for democratic governance inherent in professionally mediated campaigns at the close of the twentieth century.Nimmo succinctly reviews his well-nigh prophetic conclusions, determining that trends discovered in 1970 not only persist, but continue to intensify with a vengeance. Although evolving campaign techniques claim to involve citizens in the electoral process, the actual involvement is more cosmetic than real -- this, Nimmo argues is the principle source of deepening populardisappointment and a general political apathy. This timely volume should be read by political scientists, policymakers, and those in the fields of mass communication and journalism.

Author Biography

Dan Nimmo has been a professor of political science, journalism, and communication at various institutions, notably the University of Missouri, University of Tennessee, and the University of Oklahoma. He is currently distinguished visiting professor of political science at Baylor University.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction to the Transaction Edition	1	(32)
Campaigns and Persuasion	33	(32)
Characteristics of Electoral Campaigns	38	(24)
Campaigns and Elections	38	(3)
A Paradigm of Political Campaigns	41	(21)
Describing Campaign Technology	62	(3)
Campaign Management: From Craft to Profession?	65	(34)
Managing the New Technology of Politics	65	(6)
The Emergence of an Industry	66	(2)
Managers, Agencies, Consultants, and Specialists	68	(3)
The Tasks of Campaign Management	71	(21)
Recruiting Candidate-Clients	72	(3)
Planning the Campaign	75	(17)
Dilemmas in Campaign Management	92	(7)
Campaign Research: Profiling the Electorate	99	(42)
Researching Political Interests and Issues	99	(4)
Researching Constituents	103	(31)
Informal Sources of Voter Sentiment	103	(2)
Recorded Data about Voting Behavior	105	(8)
Opinion Polling and Estimating Voting Decisions	113	(21)
Problems in Profiling Democracy	134	(7)
Campaign Communication: The Tactics of Mass Persuasion	141	(50)
Campaign Communicators and Audiences	141	(6)
Channels of Campaign Communication	147	(44)
Personal Media	148	(2)
Organizational Media	150	(2)
Display Media	152	(2)
Printed Media	154	(6)
Auditory Media	160	(4)
Television Media	164	(27)
Professionally Mediated Campaigns: Effects and Consequences	191	(36)
A Theory of Attitudinal Effects	192	(13)
Persuasion and Attitude Change	192	(3)
The Law of Minimal Consequence	195	(10)
A Theory of Perceptual Effects	205	(13)
Persuasion and Perception	205	(3)
A Uses-and-Gratifications Approach	208	(10)
Campaigns and Democratic Politics	218	(9)
Appendix A: Types of Campaign Management Personnel, Their Services, and Previous Involvement	227	(8)
Appendix B: Political Polls and Pollsters, 1960s	235	(4)
Index	239