Campaigns & Elections
Elections and campaigns are fundamental to democracy. They help elect representatives and determine referendum outcomes. However, they have become lengthier and more expensive, fueling calls for reform.
Moreover, campaigns allow candidates and political parties to convey their positions to citizens. As a result, they enlighten voters and enable them to make informed choices on election day.
Issues
Many people who work on political campaigns develop a wide assortment of skills in an extremely fast-paced environment. Some find that this experience leads to government employment down the road.
There are also negative issues that candidates must deal with, particularly if they have a troubled past – such as an arrest for DUI, bankruptcy, or a failed marriage. These negatives, which consultants refer to as a candidate’s baggage, must be dealt with carefully by the campaign team.
Campaigns generate large amounts of paperwork – legal documents and contracts, for example – that must be reviewed by lawyers. They often produce employment disputes and tort claims, just like any business. They may also be subject to complex ballot access laws, which include fees and signature requirements from certain populations and/or specific dates. In addition, these laws place restrictions on how and when a candidate can communicate with voters. This requires careful management of resources and staff.
Campaigns
A political campaign is a series of activities that help a candidate or party win votes in an election. A candidate or party may host events and put out informational materials like posters, pamphlets and stickers in order to entice supporters and undecided voters to vote for them.
During elections, candidates or parties must comply with laws regarding ballot access (fees, signature requirements and deadlines) and election finance. Lawyers review these laws and ensure that all communications with the public are in compliance.
While many investigations of campaign effects are agnostic about whether or not they influence individual voters, it is important to note that several generations of research confirm that elections do matter. Whether this is due to direct campaign effects or indirect effects, it is clear that elections are necessary for democratic participation and effective governance.
Elections
As a major component of democratic politics, elections provide citizens with opportunities to convey their positions on issues and compete for public office. Election campaigns, the activities undertaken by contestants to convey their positions, often involve the allocation of public resources such as media space or time (considered indirect public campaign funding).
While there is considerable debate over how much individual campaign events and activities affect vote intentions, most scholars agree that they do matter. The most prominent examples of such effects are the party conventions and presidential debates, which disrupt the equilibrium distribution of votes and tend to have a more robust impact than other campaign events.
Even so, such effects typically decay quickly and the fundamentals of candidate choice are generally more important in determining electoral outcomes. Campaigns also enlighten citizens about candidates’ issue positions, qualifications, competence, and character, which may be especially relevant in situations where voters begin with little or no knowledge of the contestants.
Funding
The availability of financial resources is a key factor in the success of electoral contestants. These resources may consist of financial donations from private individuals, free or discounted materials and services (“in-kind” contributions) or coercive resources (e.g. police or other law enforcement institutions that may be used to intimidate, obstruct, or prohibit the campaign of opposition candidates).
Countries have different systems for financing electoral campaigns, including limits on contributions and expenditures as well as rules for reporting and disclosure of information and ways of monitoring and sanctioning compliance with regulations. Some systems also include provisions for public funding, such as through matching funds programs or clean elections programs.
In general, proponents of these schemes claim that they decrease corruption and enhance civic participation and faith in the political system. However, if the amount of public funding is too large or if it becomes the dominant source of funding, there is a risk that electoral contestants will lose contact with their voters and become too dependent on centralized financing.
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