Election campaign is a course of action designed to win votes for a certain candidate, party, or proposal. Election campaigns usually include advertisements, use of social media, public appearances, interviews, speeches, and debates. In the United States, the best-known campaign is the one for president held every four years. But thousands of other campaigns—including those for national legislative bodies, city councils, and local school boards—also take place on a regular basis. Still other campaigns involve referendums or initiatives, in which proposals are submitted to voters for approval.
Running for government office has changed dramatically as a result of technological, political, and legal developments. The campaign methods of the past—including torchlight parades, bus tours, and “whistle-stop” tours by train—are less important today. Today, air travel enables candidates to visit many places in one day, and television allows candidates to appear before national audiences on a daily basis. Most candidates have websites or use social media to provide information about their campaign positions and other topics.
Election campaign laws and procedures vary from country to country. This article focuses primarily on election campaigns in the United States. However, campaigns in other democracies share similar characteristics.
Stages of a campaign
Most election campaigns start months before the public knows the candidates are running. A candidate asks community and party leaders and possible contributors if they will give their support. In major campaigns, polls also indicate the possible support for a candidate. If the candidate and his or her advisers think they have enough backing, they begin to develop a campaign strategy.
Planning campaign strategy.
Most campaign strategy is based on both research and ideology. Campaign planners study such economic and social conditions as an area’s industrial production and the age, race, and income distribution of the people. They use such information, along with data from public opinion polls and the results of previous elections, to determine key issues and areas of possible strength and weakness. They attempt to craft their message and present themselves to the widest possible audience. Then the planners choose their targets—that is, the people and groups at whom the campaign will be aimed. The candidate and the candidate’s advisers develop positions on issues that will likely be discussed during the campaign. They may write a series of statements called position papers to explain the candidate’s views. They also begin to raise funds, recruit volunteers, and purchase advertising.
Announcing the candidacy
marks the official start of a campaign. Most candidates hold a news conference to make their announcement. Candidates may tour their state or district and repeat their declaration several times through the media in different geographic areas.
Developing support.
The pace quickens after the announcement of candidacy, and the campaign becomes more apparent to the public. The campaign organization holds meetings and fund-raising events. Signs and bumper stickers appear. The candidates and their workers strive to develop voter support through publicity, advertising, and personal appearances. They try to receive endorsements, financial support, or both from key organizations and individuals.
Candidates reach the greatest number of people through the media. Men and women who run for office receive publicity in a number of ways. For example, they issue news releases, grant interviews, hold news conferences, and appear on televised debates and talk shows. Candidates also buy advertising, including appeals on billboards, commercials on television and radio, and advertisements in newspapers. Almost all major candidates present themselves and their ideas through websites and social media. Most campaigns use a media mix, which is a combination of these methods.
A candidate spends a lot of time making speeches and other personal appearances. Campaign officials encourage newspaper and television coverage of each appearance. Candidates also exchange views and debate their qualifications on short TV and radio commercials, as well as through campaign websites and social media. In addition, they may present themselves and their ideas in large blocks of program time that they have purchased on radio or TV.
Winning the nomination.
A person wishing to stand as a candidate in an election at a national or local government level may first have to be nominated through an election in a political party. In some countries, a candidate may have to win a primary election before being chosen as the party’s nominee. A primary election determines the candidates who will represent a political party or an alliance in the general election.
In the United States, most major presidential candidates must run against one or more other members of their party to win the nomination. The two major U.S. parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, hold national conventions to officially select their nominees for president and vice president. Most states hold primary elections to determine delegates to each party’s national convention. Primary elections also determine who will represent the party in contests for most other offices. In most states, independent candidates and minor-party candidates get on the primary ballot by filing a petition signed by a specified number of voters. In some states, a state or district convention of party members selects delegates to the national convention. To get the support of national delegates from those states, a presidential candidate must first win the backing of delegates to the state or district convention. A few other states hold local party meetings called caucuses to select national, state, or district delegates.
See Primary election.
Getting out the vote.
As the election approaches, the pace of the campaign quickens. Candidates usually issue more frequent news releases and increase advertising. Campaign workers step up efforts to persuade voters to go to the polls and vote for their candidate.
Much activity in this period is devoted to getting out the vote. In a process called canvassing, volunteers contact voters to ask which candidates they favor. The campaign workers then try to make sure the probable supporters of their candidate will register and vote. Modern canvassing techniques have proved to be successful at increasing voter turnout. The algorithms (computer programs) used by candidates and parties to target their likely supporters for get-out-the-vote efforts became increasingly sophisticated in the first decades of the 2000’s.
On the day of the election, campaign workers may provide transportation and baby-sitting service for voters. Volunteers at the polls may keep track of supporters who have voted and contact those who have not done so. Other volunteers may observe the voting and the counting of ballots to discourage fraud.
After the election,
candidates, political parties, and the media typically analyze the campaign that just ended. They review and analyze returns from a variety of perspectives. Interested parties analyze demographic factors such as age, gender, and ethnicity, along with the importance of various issues, and draw conclusions about the interests of the voters. Parties and candidates attempt to learn as much as they can from past elections in preparation for future campaigns.
Campaign organizations
Candidates and political parties assemble campaign organizations to carry out the many tasks and activities associated with election campaigns. A campaign organization usually consists of paid and unpaid staff members and consultants.
A presidential campaign in the United States may involve as many as 500 paid staff members and hundreds of thousands of volunteers. A campaign director heads the organization and coordinates activities. Other officials of a large campaign may include a general manager, a research director, a finance director, and a media director, who supervises advertising and publicity. Most candidates make frequent public appearances. Specialists called advance people may travel ahead to make arrangements, and professional political consultants usually help plan and conduct various operations. For example, many candidates employ a polling organization to take public opinion polls. Many hire marketing and messaging specialists to create advertisements and send messages that target likely voters. Mail, email, text messages, telephone calls, and social media are frequently employed by campaigns. Volunteers may distribute leaflets, prepare mailings, call voters, and perform many other important tasks. The leadership, organization, and support of a campaign are critical to a candidate’s success.
Campaign financing
Campaign funds are necessary to pay personnel and to finance advertising, travel, and other needs. The chief sources of funds are personal solicitations, appeals by direct mail, internet contributions, fund-raising events, and matching funds. Bank loans are also a common source of campaign money.
Personal solicitations
are individual requests by the candidate or a campaign worker. The majority of candidates raise most of their funds by soliciting donations from friends, supporters, associates, and organizations.
Appeals by direct mail
involve fund-raising letters sent to party members, to people who have contributed to past campaigns, and to members of groups likely to agree with the candidate’s views.
Internet contributions
became an important source of campaign funding in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Campaign websites and social media sites allow candidates to reach large numbers of supporters at a relatively low cost. Candidates may also use email lists to contact people who will likely contribute money.
Fund-raising events
include parties, dinners, and concerts. Most such activities make less money than personal solicitation or direct mail, but they provide opportunities for personal appearances and help build support for a candidate.
Matching funds
are available to presidential candidates in the United States if contributions to their campaign meet certain requirements. Candidates can qualify for the funds by raising at least $100,000 in individual contributions of $250 or less. The $100,000 minimum must consist of at least $5,000 in contributions from each of at least 20 states. The federal government then gives the candidate an amount of money equal to the total of each individual contribution of $250 or less.
Campaign finance laws
have greatly affected campaign financing and spending in the United States. Since 1940, federal law has limited the size of campaign contributions. For years, however, the law was difficult to enforce and generally ineffective. Many people became concerned about excessive campaign spending and the candidates’ dependence on large contributions from wealthy people.
The Revenue Act of 1971 encouraged small contributions by allowing an income tax credit for them. This law also enabled taxpayers to specify that $1 of their federal income tax each year be used for public financing of presidential election campaigns.
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 required detailed reporting of both campaign contributions and expenses. In 1974, amendments to the act established public financing of presidential campaigns and created the Federal Election Commission to enforce the rules. The amendments limited the amount of money a candidate could raise in hard money contributions—that is, contributions by individuals or groups to any one candidate. The amendments also put a ceiling on presidential and congressional campaign spending in each state.
However, there were few limits on state and local party spending for candidates, and large contributions were channeled legally into general party funds. These contributions became known as soft money. In 1976, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that only presidential candidates who accept public financing must stay within the spending limits. Many states enacted stricter regulation of campaign funds in the late 1900’s.
In 2002, Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) to further reform the campaign finance system. The central feature of the legislation was a ban on unregulated soft money donations to national political parties. The law still allowed soft money donations to state and local party organizations in limited amounts.
In 2010, the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. FEC struck down parts of the campaign reform act, ruling that those provisions unconstitutionally limited political speech. The federal decision allows corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on electioneering communications. Electioneering communications are any broadcast, cable, or satellite communications—such as public service announcements, infomercials, and commercials—that refer to a particular federal candidate and are broadcast shortly before an election in the district or state that the candidate seeks to represent. The ruling increased the funding and prominence of Super PAC’s—political action committees that are able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. A political action committee is an organized group dedicated to raising money for political activity.
In 2014, the Supreme Court struck down overall limits on campaign contributions. In McCutcheon v. FEC, the high court ruled that the $123,200 maximum limit on political donations “intrude[s] without justification on a citizen’s ability to express the most fundamental First Amendment activities.” The ruling in effect allows donors to contribute as much money to as many political candidates or causes as they choose during an election, as long as individual donors limit the amount given to a single candidate to $5,200.
