Political Campaign Communication: Principles and Practices

by Robert E. Denton Jr., Ben Voth, Judith S. Trent

The tenth edition of Political Campaign Principles and Practices provides a clear and thorough survey of the strategic decisions vital to the success of contemporary political campaigns. The authors draw on a host of examples involving political campaigns at local, statewide, and national levels to illustrate all aspects of campaign communication, from forms of public address to buttons, yard-signs, and billboards, to traditional media and the use of internet and social media platforms. Throughout the volume they draw on communication theories to clearly explain contemporary political campaign practices. Updated to reflect the most recent practices and events from the 2020 presidential campaign, the book also considers journalistic practices and ethical considerations of today. Features of the tenth

494 pages, Hardcover

Published November 28, 2023

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even for what is supposed to basically be a textbook, this was hard to get through. That’s not because it was dry or complicated, but because it needed to go through at least one more revision before publication.
The writing and headings were frequently less than logical (why was Chat GPT included with the social media category, while mobile devices and text messaging were entirely separate?). They would lead a section saying there were a certain number of factors, say three, and only mention one or two, leaving me wondering what happened to the others, or if there was a reason they chose to omit them.
It’s also so blatantly obvious the personal ideological beliefs of the writers, which would be more fine if this wasn’t obviously marketed as an academic information source. The language choices were inflammatory, and the examples chosen were often skewed. Extrapolations and conclusions based on datasets were also somewhat suspect, with the framing not necessarily telling the story that the images, often directly from Pew Research, showed.
Definitely not my favorite book I’ve had to read for my degree, and I wouldn’t recommend this for professors looking for a book to teach from. There are better ones out there.