What is Political Consulting? And how does it relate to rationalizatioN
Political consultants specialize in different areas such as:
- marketing
- political strategy
- advertising
- policy positions
Although this is not an exhaustive list of the duties of a political consultant the purpose is, “[to] comprise[s] expert advice regarding all activities deemed relevant for securing electoral success” (Kusche).
As this profession surfaced, it has undergone many changes and rationalized the process of political consultancy. The core tenets of rationalization can be exemplified in political consulting through advertising, spam texting, tailoring a candidate’s image, polling, and statistical analysis to aid in campaign management.
How did Political Consulting emerge as a Profession?
In the Adams and Jefferson elections volunteers “gave their candidates advice about debates, circulating printed materials, making speeches, and getting out the vote” (Thurber). In other words, candidates running for office have needed outside help to organize their campaigns by outside parties. Political consulting was, in a sense, the rationalization of the political process because many responsibilities were unable to be handled by campaign volunteers.
Consultancy became more specialized as the profession developed
“Nimmo also found that consultants became much more specialized in the 1960s and were not only experts in technology and communication but resource allocation as well: ‘Their major contribution to a campaign is rationality in allocating scarce resources—time, money and talent’” (Thurber)
Progressive Era Consulting
The first professional origination of political consulting was through the Progressive Era as an effort to “hold public officials accountable to the voters and help citizens form enlightened opinions about the issues of the day” (Sheingate)
Political consulting developed as a profession in California through the first political consulting agency, Campaign’s Inc, established by a husband-wife team who previously worked in advertising. Advertising was groundbreaking for the political consulting field because of its ability to sway voters’ opinions.
Examples of their work:
- Negative advertising measures Campaign's Inc. used against Upton Sinclair’s California gubernatorial run
- Beating many ballot proposals through widespread advertising and gathered information on opposing campaigns to leverage against them
Advertising as a means of Rationalization:
Advertising exemplifies efficiency in rationalization post World War Ⅱ. Much of this occurred due to an increase in households with televisions, which was quickly converted into a political marketing tool by many campaigns (UVA Miller Center).
The first instance of utilizing advertising is showcased by the Eisenhower and Stevenson presidential campaigns. The Eisenhower campaign, “worked with top advertisers from Madison Avenue in New York City and prominent Hollywood actors like Robert Montgomery and George Murphy to construct catchy television advertisements that emphasized the personality of the GOP candidate” (UVA Miller Center).
By contrast, Stevenson broadcast 30-minute talks late in the night, thus drawing in fewer viewers. The different messaging tactics of the campaigns affected media and voter perception. Due to Eisenhower listening to the advice of professionals and incorporating Hollywood, he picked up the name of being a “TV President.”
Television shifted the meaning of advertising in politics because it was not just snippets of speeches or a voiceover on the radio, but many more factors came into play and Eisenhower used this to his advantage.
Due to the advent of advertising during the 1952 presidential campaign, future presidential candidates such as Nixon and Kennedy used Eisenhower’s tactics to win over the public.
The efficiency of television advertising as a campaign tool started the “era of showbiz politics,” as coined by Kathryn Cramer Brownwell.
Passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and the solidification of Political Consultancy as a Profession
After the passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) in 1972, which forced campaigns to keep track of expenditures relating to the campaign and “[u]nder the new rules, political consulting became a legitimate campaign expense … helping the industry grow into a critical intermediary linking candidates, political parties, and the various donors who financed capital-intensive campaigns” (Sheingate).
After FECA passed, political consulting became a much-needed profession in candidates’ lives due to the consultant’s ability to comply with federal regulations. A direct example of this is how by 1978, 50% of candidates running for the House of Representatives had hired a pollster or consultant (Sheingate). This exemplifies how political consulant’s solidified their place in politics because they were able to fulfill needs of a campaign.
Spam Texting as a means of Rationalization
Spam texting is mass political texts to potentially millions of people to get a message across. The first usage of spam was by President Obama who announced his Vice-Presidential candidate utilizing texting (Khan).
“The appeal of the political text is multi-fold. Campaigns can start a conversation with voters without interrupting dinner. Sending a ‘cold text’ is less awkward for volunteers. And while many door knocks don’t get answered, texts are a fast, low-effort way to deliver a message to voters in far-flung place” (Time Magazine)
Spam Texting encompasses the four elements of rationalization
Efficiency: Easier for volunteers to text than knock on doors
Calculability: Able to figure out what states and areas to focus on, "“In October 2020, California, Florida, Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania residents were among the top receivers with a combined 871 million political text messages - 35% of the total messages sent in October 2020” (RoboKiller). According to the Census Bureau, California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania respectively have the largest populations in the United States. Since the electoral college is appropriated by population size, campaigns took advantage of spam texting to reach all voters and voters in key states.
Control: Non-Human Technology is used in spam texting because spam texting technology can help control what volunteers say to voters
Predictability: Voters can often become used to certain texts from different political organizations
Irrationalities in Political Consulting
Political consultants are a microcosm of the larger impersonality of politics because they pick and choose the issues they find to be important rather than what pressing issues different members of society feel.
“Political consulting offers to manage the relationship between the communication of political ideas, concepts and decisions and the way public opinion observes them. What public opinion means in this regard is not a pre-established fact but itself a result of political consulting services…” (Kusche).
Representation: Since the political consulting field is primarily white (69%) and male (62.1%), it is somewhat problematic that a certain kind of person who sets policy platforms for politicians is primarily someone who cannot relate to minorities and disadvantaged communities. Rather, the rationalization of political consulting and its hold in politics has created a larger divide between the upper political class and voters. Political consulting can be used for malicious purposes, such as a disinformation campaign by the Wilson administration. Wilson ran on the slogan, “He Kept Us Out of War” in 1916, but America entered the war in 1917. The Committee on Public Education’s goal was to convince the country that war was needed, but this was not necessarily true (Sheingate).
In some instances, it is their job to do what is best for the candidate and not for the public. 'The consultants’ favorite stories took a familiar shape: narratives of triumph over popular will” (Ball).
Dark Money in Politics: There is a link between political consultants and Super PACs. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, “Super PACs and independent expenditure hybrid PACs gave out a combined $552 million to the top 10 highest-paid political consultants during the 2018 election cycle.”
Conclusions
Political consulting has evolved as a profession but has deviated from its original mission to keep the public informed of the political happenings. Much of this can be ascribed to corporate interests, people’s attention spans being short, and consultants’ ability to levy propaganda in favor or against a candidate. Many of the technological developments used in political consulting such as spam texting and predictive models indicate a more efficient, controlled, predictable and calculable field.
These four elements are present in the evolution of political consultancy as a profession.
Bibliography:
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- Blake, Aaron. “Democrats Spend Very Little on Minority-Run Consulting Firms, Study Finds.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 26 Nov. 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/06/25/democrats-spend-very-little-on-minority-run-consulting-firms-study-finds/.
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- RoboKiller. “Record Setting 5 Billion Political Texts Sent in October 2020.” Record Setting 5 Billion Political Texts Sent In October 2020, 2 Nov. 2020, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/record-setting-5-billion-political-texts-sent-in-october-2020-301165329.html.
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