Election Campaigns

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Election Campaigns

Election campaigns are extremely crucial for the political sustenance as it can be predominantly seen during the campaign financing, time devoted to the process and the subservience of the other political activities. The budget of the campaigns is estimated up to millions of dollars during the campaigns for general elections. Different canvassing methods are used including phone banking, advertisements on television, radio, internet and other means of public interactions. Intensive campaigning has the potential to change the voter’s views and reform the political views of the general masses ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"07g0pt7k","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Political Campaigns})","plainCitation":"(Political Campaigns)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":597,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/J8QL4QER"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/J8QL4QER"],"itemData":{"id":597,"type":"motion_picture","title":"Political Campaigns: Crash Course Government #39 | Season 1 Episode 39 | Crash Course Government and Politics","publisher":"PBS Digital Studios","source":"www.pbs.org","URL":"https://www.pbs.org/video/crash-course-government-and-politics-39/","title-short":"Political Campaigns","language":"en","issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",11,9]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Political Campaigns). However, recent studies have suggested that these campaigns have fewer effects on changing the behavior of the voters generally in its later stages. There are different opinions whether election campaigns do really matter or not. It is less likely that election campaigns have an influence on changing the political destiny of the country and behaviors of the voters. But it does not seem that these campaigns will stop despite showing no significant results as at present the research study is not sufficient to prove these theories.

Elections in United States are not merely based on the physical appearance of the candidates; rather there is whole process of psychological, ethical and moral evaluation. Such as during the presidential elections, Hillary Clinton was represented as a composed, experienced and indifferent. On the other hand, Donald Trump was considered as outspoken, strong and detestable. People are exhilarated to vote by the infamous claim that every vote matters and that the public can define the future of their nations. Voting does matter and the cumulative of all votes do shape the democratic face of nations as decided by the outcomes of the elections. However, it has been established via research that these different means of canvassing do no basically change the voter’s choices in general elections. But it cannot be deduced from it that political campaigns have no influence at all. Effective campaigns can still anyhow change the voters turn out if the candidates make additional efforts in improvising their stance on particular issues that matter the most to the public. Furthermore, the strategy of election campaigns should also be unique for a specific type of audience and there might be a need for making some unconventional choices ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"J3G6WRkJ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Jacobson)","plainCitation":"(Jacobson)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"f10p8Y3z/5yNOd0Pe","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/HkFX5Fcg/items/XBXKC295"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/HkFX5Fcg/items/XBXKC295"],"itemData":{"id":19,"type":"article-journal","title":"How do campaigns matter?","container-title":"Annual Review of Political Science","page":"31-47","volume":"18","author":[{"family":"Jacobson","given":"Gary C."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Jacobson).

The primary objective of political canvasing is to persuade voters and change their perspective about candidates. However, it has been established through political research studies that these campaigns do not have significant impact on changing voter’s behavior and turn out. Even the effect of persuasion done in the early days of the campaign changes in the last days of elections. Similarly, the effect of advertisements and news on television and other social networks is almost equal to zero and off the point. The presidential campaigns in United States have extremely limited effect on how people choose to vote. Due to partisan loyalties and various other structural factors, majority of the voters already make up their minds about their choices. Their candidates are primarily predetermined long way before the intense election campaigns begin. This leaves only a few chances for the candidates to persuade the voters in their benefits. Especially, the developments in the last few months of the campaign rarely make any difference in shaping views of the voters ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ZfQybuzM","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Broockman and Kalla)","plainCitation":"(Broockman and Kalla)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"f10p8Y3z/gw4qLiHz","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/HkFX5Fcg/items/C8U65QCT"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/HkFX5Fcg/items/C8U65QCT"],"itemData":{"id":20,"type":"article-journal","title":"WHAT ELECTION CAMPAIGNS NEED TO LEARN TO PERSUADE VOTERS ABOUT CANDIDATES AND BALLOT MEASURES","container-title":"Scholars Strategy Netwrok","URL":"https://scholars.org/contribution/what-election-campaigns-need-learn-persuade-voters-about-candidates-and-ballot","author":[{"family":"Broockman","given":"David"},{"family":"Kalla","given":"Joshua"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",9]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Broockman and Kalla). It has also been established by conducting surveys that canvassing can more readily bring about changes in voter’s views when there are no particular partisanships. But it is evident that election campaigns can improve the voter’s turnout especially in significantly competitive elections ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"sJFuWiaT","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(PEW)","plainCitation":"(PEW)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":595,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/JE2S9RT8"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/JE2S9RT8"],"itemData":{"id":595,"type":"article-journal","title":"Fewer Voters Report Getting Robo-Calls, Campaign Ads Still Pervasive","container-title":"Pew Research Center for the People and the Press","URL":"https://www.people-press.org/2014/10/28/fewer-voters-report-getting-robo-calls-campaign-ads-still-pervasive/","language":"en-US","author":[{"family":"PEW","given":""}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2014",10,28]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",11,9]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (PEW). In short, it is needed to conduct more research and surveys on this subject in order to improve the progress of election campaigns and bring reforms as needed to achieve the primary goal.

Works Cited

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Broockman, David, and Joshua Kalla. “WHAT ELECTION CAMPAIGNS NEED TO LEARN TO PERSUADE VOTERS ABOUT CANDIDATES AND BALLOT MEASURES.” Scholars Strategy Netwrok, Sept. 2017, https://scholars.org/contribution/what-election-campaigns-need-learn-persuade-voters-about-candidates-and-ballot.

Jacobson, Gary C. “How Do Campaigns Matter?” Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 18, 2015, pp. 31–47.

PEW. “Fewer Voters Report Getting Robo-Calls, Campaign Ads Still Pervasive.” Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Oct. 2014, https://www.people-press.org/2014/10/28/fewer-voters-report-getting-robo-calls-campaign-ads-still-pervasive/.

Political Campaigns: Crash Course Government #39 | Season 1 Episode 39 | Crash Course Government and Politics. PBS Digital Studios, 2016. www.pbs.org, https://www.pbs.org/video/crash-course-government-and-politics-39/.