Permanent Campaigning: A Meta-Analysis and Framework for Measurement

Abstract

Permanent campaigning emerged as a concept in the 1970s in studies of US politics but is now recognized as a universal phenomenon. Despite its long history, there has been no attempt to build a holistic picture of the elements that constitute a permanent campaign. Generally, researchers focus on tactical elements, situating their use within an overall permanent campaign strategy, but there is a lack of a broader methodological framework for holistically measuring adherence to a permanent campaigning mode. This article presents results of a meta-analysis of relevant research to provide a framework to understand how permanent campaigning is practiced according to scholarship in the field. Our meta-analysis showed there were three reasonably discrete forms of campaigning activities that had been identified: those in which permanent campaign strategies are related to capacity building and strategy; a second, in which permanent campaigning relates to paid and owned media; and a third in which earned media is the main focus. In mapping these studies, we identify the common features of permanent campaigning, identifying strong and weak indicators and the extent these are employed by government, parties or elected representatives and within

Instagram as a Platform for Presenting Various Forms of Subjectivity in Political Communication

“…Whether it is about personal subjectivity, the subjectivity of a party or a state body's subjectivity, the social media platform Instagram provides politicians with unlimited possibilities. Today, politicians have the opportunity to be in a continuous campaign (Jonathan, Lilleker, 2020) in which they will be presented to the public in accordance with their own or the wishes of the PR teams running their profiles on social media. This is achieved by the number of permanent followers, the possibility that anyone can visit the profile because it is "unlocked" and the fact that traditional media often download posts from politicians' Instagram accounts and further distribute them.…”

The challenges of providing certainty in the face of wicked problems: Analysing the UK government's handling of the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…When health becomes politicised, such as contraception or abortion policies, polarisation between partisan stances can occur (Bessett et al, 2015 ). The norms of political communication, particularly permanent campaigning, means there is a constant blurring of information provision with image management (Joathan & Lilleker, 2020 ), practices inappropriate for health crises. Health professionals tend to start from a basis of high credibility and public trust, politicians often do not (Cairney & Wellstead, 2020 ).…”

“…The context for the UK government's handling of the pandemic thus was: the government was elected in December 2019 with a solid 80 seats majority, had the main focus of ‘getting Brexit done’ and a leader whose brand is a blend of optimism and nationalism a National Health Service operating under the strains of a decade of austerity policies 10 a public health communication protocol based on ‘known knowns’ and ‘known unknowns’ (Bammer & Smithson, 2012 , p. xiv), where crisis communication is understood as a tame management problem a political communication protocol that follows permanent campaigning principles (Joathan & Lilleker, 2020 ) …”

“…a political communication protocol that follows permanent campaigning principles (Joathan & Lilleker, 2020 )…”

“…• a public health communication protocol based on 'known knowns' and 'known unknowns' (Bammer & Smithson, 2012, p. xiv), where crisis communication is understood as a tame management problem • a political communication protocol that follows permanent campaigning principles (Joathan & Lilleker, 2020) As the pandemic started to take hold, a fluid set of events and a steady but unpredictable trickle of information required the government to act and respond on a number of levels and in a number of ways to try to keep the country safe. This scenario played out in countries around the globe, and when we consider the evidence from other nations and governments -COVID-19 infection rates and death tolls, social and economic impactwe see differences in outcomes, and commonalities based on political leadership, decision-making and communication.…”