Political consulting is a form ofconsulting that consists primarily of advising and assistingpolitical campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production ofmass media (largelytelevision,direct mail, anddigital advertising), consultants advise campaigns on many other activities, ranging fromopposition research andvoter polling, to fieldstrategy andget out the vote efforts.
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United States presidentWilliam McKinley's closest political adviserMark Hanna is sometimes described as the first politicalconsultant.Whitaker and Baxter established the first true politicalconsulting firm,Campaigns, Inc.,[1] which focused exclusively onpolitical campaigns inCalifornia in the 1930s–1950s.[2] However, political consulting blossomed with the increasing use oftelevision advertising forcampaign communications[3] in the 1960s.[4]
Joseph Napolitan was the first person to describe himself as a politicalconsultant;[5]The New York Times described him in a 1968 profile as"that newest American phenomenon, the professional campaign manager" anda "pioneering campaignconsultant".[6] In recent years, political consulting has become more commonplace throughout the world and has extended its reach to campaigns at all levels of government. Many consultants work not only for campaigns, but also forparties andpolitical action committees, while some focus onpublic relations and research work. Many consultants also take up official positions inside governments while working for an officeholder of the ruling party.
Political consultants sometimes act as political strategists,[7] a senior political consultant who promote theelection of certaincandidates or the interests of certain groups. This is achieved by planning campaignstrategies, coordinating campaign staffers, and arranging events to publicize candidates or causes.
Political consultants act aspublic relations specialists, salespeople and managers. By using many forms ofmarketing-suitable media, includingadvertising andpress releases, the general goal of politicalconsultants is to make voters aware of their candidates'party platform.
As political consulting has expanded worldwide,journalists have noted the influence of political consulting on candidates, voters, presidents and governments of different nations.[8] Well-knownAmerican political consultants such asJames Carville,Frank Luntz,Joseph Napolitan and David H. Sayers,[9] have traveled to othercontinents, acting as consultants on several political campaigns and advising heads of state. For example,Napolitan acted as a consultant of French PresidentValéry Giscard d'Estaing, severalVenezuelan presidents, andCosta Rica'sÓscar Arias Sánchez,[10] andDick Morris"has consulted for candidates in other countries of the western hemisphere, including the campaigns ofFernando de la Rua for President of Argentina,Jorge Batlle for President of Uruguay,Vicente Fox for President of Mexico, andRaphael Trotman for President of Guyana."[11]
ManyLatin American political consultants have also ledpolitical campaigns outside of their native countries.[12] One such example is Brazilian political consultantJoão Santana, who simultaneously led three winning presidential campaigns inLatin America:Danilo Medina, in theDominican Republic;Hugo Chávez, inVenezuela; andJosé Eduardo dos Santos, inAngola, in theAfrican continent.[13] Venezuelan political strategistJJ Rendon (who lives inUnited States),[14] has also been recognized internationally, having been ranked as one of the top five most prominent Latin American consultants by the U.S.-based publicationCampaigns & Elections[15] (Latin American edition)[16] and who was the 2014 winner ofThe Victory Awards[17] for his work as the lead strategist of successful presidential campaigns ofJuan Manuel Santos inColombia (including his reelection campaign in 2014),[18]Porfirio Lobo andJuan Orlando Hernández inHonduras[19] andEnrique Peña Nieto inMexico, among others.João Santana has been described by the news magazineVeja as"capable of mapping out the weaknesses of adversaries with an acupuncturist's precision."Rendon has been described byMiami New Times as the"Latin America'sKarl Rove".[20]
Notable political consultants are:David Plouffe,Steve Bannon,Kellyanne Conway,Lynton Crosby,Joel Benenson,Brad Parscale, Michael Spreng (Angela Merkel),Dominic Cummings, Anne Méaux,Michel von Tell,Alastair Campbell,Paul Manafort,Ivan Redondo,Michel Barnier, Philipp Maderthaner,Prashant Kishor.[21][22][23][24][25]
As political consulting has become more prevalent, consultants have become subject to increasing scrutiny and involvement in scandals as journalists have devoted considerable attention to their activities.[citation needed] Some successful political consultants, such asJames Carville andNewt Gingrich, capitalize on their consulting fame to become professionalpundits. Such political consultants routinely appear on televisionnews programs, write books and are treated as social mediacelebrities.[26]
Some detractors accuse political consultants of putting their own interests and images ahead of their clients. Some consultants allege that too many consultants put their own financial interests ahead of the campaigns they are hired to serve, take on too many clients, or focus too much energy on building their own reputations.[27]
In 2007, theWashington Post noted that Democratic presidential candidateJohn Edwards employed Harrison Hickman, a principal atGlobal Strategy Group, as hiscampaign pollster. The article described this hire as evidence of the "pitfalls of hiring consultants who conduct work for corporate clients and campaigns at the same time", noting that:
"...Edwards's own pollster, Harrison Hickman, is a principal at Global Strategy Group, which represents a range of corporate clients -- including oil and pharmaceutical companies -- that don't always mesh with the candidate's message."[28]
Critics of the political consulting industry blame consultants for what they see as problems in the American election system.[29]
Social media has dramatically changed the way in which modernpolitical campaigns are run.[32][33] With younger and more tech-savvy citizens entering into the voting population, social media are the platforms on which thepoliticians need to establish themselves and engage with the public. In years to come, social media is anticipated to overtake traditional media in terms of importance to political campaigns.[34][35]
For example, inAustralia 86% of Australians access theInternet, and with a 17,048,864 voting age population (according to IDEA),[36] around 14,662,023 voting population has access to Internet, and 65% of them usesocial media, which means 9,530,314 Australian voters use social media (The 2013 Yellow™ Social Media Report found that among internet users 65% of Australians use social media, up from 62% last year).[37]
The implication of this for political consulting is that social media are the channels through which an increasingly larger portion of the population receives political messages. As a consequence, unless a political consultant addresses the part of the electorate which can preferentially be reached through social media, the portion of the electorate which will be reached through traditional communication technologies will increasingly shrink in the future. For instance, social media is already the main source of information for 26% of young voters in Spain.[38]
TheAmerican Association of Political Consultants is the major trade association for political consultants in theUnited States, with thousands of members. Like other professional organizations,[39] it propagates a code of ethics and gives outawards. Similar organizations for political consultants exist for many other countries and regions.
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