Political Marketing A Comparative Perspective

Political Marketing is becoming a global phenomenon as parties try to copy the market-oriented approach employed by Tony Blair to win New Labour power in the UK in 1997. This book shows how political marketing has spread to the new democracies of Brazil and Peru, the PR-elected coalition governments of Europe including Germany and Austria, multi-party systems in Canada and New Zealand, and the new devolved systems in Northern Ireland and Scotland. However it also considers problems with the market-oriented approach, examining the difficulties faced by New Labour in government in terms of delivering the political product and George W. Bush's delicate balancing act between compassionate conservatism and traditional Republicanism. It also shows that conviction is not completely dead in the 21st century, showing how Sinn Fein have used a sales-oriented approach to win support for their ideals.

Darren G. Lilleker is Senior Lecturer in Political Communication at Bournemouth University and Fellow of the Centre for Public Communication Research. Jennifer Lees-Marshment is Founding Director for the Centre for Political Marketing and Management at Keele University.