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Political consulting is the business which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns, primarily in the United States. As democracy has spread around the world, American political consultants have often developed an international base of clients. Though its most important role is probably in the production of paid media (largely television), political consultants advise campaigns on virtually all of their activities, from research to field strategy. The Politics Series Politics Politics Portal Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Ideology Democracy Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Elections Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Political parties Political party Parties by country Parties by name...


Though the practice has earlier precedents (Mark Hanna is sometimes described as the first political consultant), political consulting blossomed with the increasing use of television advertising for campaign communications in the 1960s. It was in that period that Joe Napolitan claims to have become the first person to describe himself as a political consultant (Perlmutter, ed. Manship Guide to Political Communication, pg19). In the subsequent years, political consulting has grown in importance and influence and extended its reach to campaigns at all levels of government in the United States, and beyond. Many consultants work not only for campaigns, but also for other political organizations, including parties and political action committees, sometimes through independent expenditures; some also do public relations and research work for corporations and governments. Marcus Alonzo Hanna (also known as Marcus A. Hanna, and Mark A. Hanna ) (September 24, 1837 – February 15, 1904) was an industrialist and Republican politician from Ohio. ... From the earliest days of the medium, television has been used as a vehicle for advertising in some countries. ... Jump to: navigation, search The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Joseph Joe Napolitan was, by his own claim, the first person to call himself a political consultant (Perlmutter, ed. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group organized to elect or defeat government officials in order to promote legislation, often supporting the groups special interests. ... In elections in the United States, an independent expenditure is a political activity intended to assist or oppose a specific candidate for office which is made without their cooperation, approval, or direct knowledge. ... Jump to: navigation, search The meaning of the term Public relations is controversial. ... A corporation is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name AS (anonymous society) or something similar, depending on language (see below). ...


As the practice has grown, political consultants have increasingly found themselves in the spotlight, with journalists devoting considerable attention to their activities. In such cases, they are sometimes accused of putting their own interests and images ahead of their clients. Occasionally, scandals involving political consultants become headline news, as occurred when Dick Morris, then an advisor to President Bill Clinton, was caught with a prostitute. Many successful political consultants, such as James Carville, have capitalized on their relative fame to become professional or semi-professional pundits, appearing regularly on television news programs, writing books, and otherwise becoming media celebrities. Journalism is a discipline of collecting, verifying, analyzing and presenting information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people. ... Jump to: navigation, search Dick Morris appears on TVs FOX News channel. ... Jump to: navigation, search William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe, III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. ... James Carville (born October 25, 1944), is an American political consultant, commentator and pundit. ... The term Pundit has multiple meanings: A pundit or pandit, in the culture of India, is a master of traditional religious poetry and/or traditional music. ... Celebrity is an abstract word stemming from the Latin celebritas, itself from the adjective celeber famous, celebrated. A celebrity is a person who is widely recognized in a society. ...


The practice is not without its critics, however, who blame political consulting, at least in part, for a variety of ills of the modern election process. In part because broadcast media consultants are often paid on commission, they are blamed specifically for the rising cost of political campaigns and the increasing reliance on paid media. A successful candidate running a low-budget campaign would be a serious economic threat to the political consulting field; such candidates, however, are rare.


Even some within the field allege that too many consultants put their financial interests ahead of the campaigns they are hired to serve, taking on too many clients and focusing too much energy on building their reputations. There is growing professional opposition to what is called a cookie cutter campaign, where the themes and strategies of one campaign are transferred to another campaign, despite what may be major differences in political context. Cookie cutter campaigns are political campaigns, engineered by political consultants who run virtually identical campaigns in different jurisdictions. ...


Others, particularly left-leaning activists within the Democratic Party, charge that political consultants are a major obstacle to participatory democracy, political reform, and electoral success for the Democrats. In a much-publicized e-mail on December 9, 2004, the online activist group MoveOn.org wrote, "For years, the Party has been lead by elite Washington insiders who are closer to corporate lobbyists than they are to the Democratic base. But we can't afford four more years of leadership by a consulting class of professional election losers." Jump to: navigation, search The Democratic Party, founded in 1792, is the second-oldest political party in the world (after the Tories of the United Kingdom). ... Participatory democracy is a broadly inclusive term for many kinds of consultative decision making in a democracy. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Jump to: navigation, search December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A group of MoveOn volunteers helped the get-out-the-vote drive in Cincinnati in the run-up to the 2004 U.S. presidential election. ...


The American Association of Political Consultants is the major trade association for political consultants in the United States, with thousands of members. Like similar professional organizations, it propagates a code of ethics and gives out awards (the much-coveted "Pollies"). The American Association of Political Consultants is the trade group of the United States. ...


See also

The staff of political campaigns are the people who get paid to formulate and implement the strategy needed to win an election. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Political consulting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (592 words)
Political consulting is the business which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns, primarily in the United States.
Though the practice has earlier precedents (Mark Hanna is sometimes described as the first political consultant), political consulting blossomed with the increasing use of television advertising for campaign communications in the 1960s.
As the practice has grown, political consultants have increasingly found themselves in the spotlight, with journalists devoting considerable attention to their activities.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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