Campaign Craft: The Strategies, Tactics, and Art of Political Campaign Management

by Michael Burton

Political campaigning reinvents itself at a furious pace. This highly respected text recounts the evolution of modern campaign management and shares strategies and tactics common to American elections. Informed by the practical political experience of three scholarly authors, the book weaves important academic perspectives with insights garnered from close observation of electoral practice. The fifth edition lays out the foundations of modern campaign management, going on to explore critical steps in running a "new style" campaign. Using fresh stories and recent research, the book follows American electioneering from the planning stages through Election Day and concludes with a view to the future of political campaigning. Critical updates examine the Tea Party movement, new political technologies, advances (and challenges) in opinion polling and field experimentation, and increasing polarization within the American electorate. New material includes an exploration of the Super PACs and non-candidate campaigns that are changing the strategic context of American elections.

Genres: Politics

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 23, 2015

About the author

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Reviews

[Enzo Miguel De Borja · Rating 4 out of 5]

I promised not to read this book immediately after the 2024 US presidential election, but the midterm elections in the Philippines are fast approaching, and I couldn't resist. Haha!

The book made clear that new-style campaigning is, much like politics itself, both a science and an art. There is no one proven way of winning an election; the character and strategy of each campaign must always depend on the candidate, the message, the electorate, the terrain, and a dizzying array of other factors. Despite having limited time, resources, and knowledge, a good campaign should be able to make sense of what it needs to do to win.

Much has changed in the American political and technological landscape since this book was published. Campaign craft is continuously evolving. Non-American readers also bear the burden of adapting the book's contents to their local contexts. Nevertheless, the book is worth reading for aspiring campaign operatives like me.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good analysis of everything that goes into a campaign. Definitely needs a post 2020 update but otherwise we’ll articulated and fairly easy to access info for people that don’t know much about campaigns.

[Connor Oswald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction