Presidential campaigning in the Internet age

Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age challenges popular claims about the democratizing effect of Digital Communication Technologies (DCTs). Citizen involvement in the campaign historically has been and, as this book shows, continues to be a means to an end: winning the election for the candidate. For all the proliferation of apps to download, polls to click, videos to watch, and messages to forward, the decidedly undemocratic view of controlled interactivity is how most campaigns continue to operate.

Presidential candidates and their campaigns in the United States are fully invested in the use of social media. Yet, since 1996 presidential campaigns have been experimenting with ways to use digital communication technologies on the Internet to their advantage. This text tells the stories of the practices of campaigning online between 1996 and 2016, looking at winners and also-rans. The stories provide rich details of the factors that contribute to the success or failure of candidates, including the influence of digital media. The stories also show how political campaigns over six election cycles transitioned from the paradigm of mass media campaigning, to networked campaigning, and finally to mass-targeted campaigning.

Presidential candidates and their campaigns in the United States are fully invested in the use of social media. Yet, since 1996 presidential campaigns have been experimenting with ways to use digital communication technologies on the Internet to their advantage. This text tells the stories of the practices of campaigning online between 1996 and 2016, looking at winners and also-rans. The stories provide rich details of the factors that contribute to the success or failure of candidates, including the influence of digital media. The stories also show how political campaigns over six election cycles transitioned from the paradigm of mass media campaigning, to networked campaigning, and finally to mass-targeted campaigning.

As the plugged-in presidential campaign has arguably reached maturity, this book challenges popular claims about the democratizing effect of Digital Communication Technologies (DCTs). Analyzing campaign strategies, structures, and tactics from the past five presidential election cycles, Stromer-Galley reveals how, for all their vaunted inclusivity and tantalizing promise of increased two-way communication between candidates and theindividuals who support them, DCTs have done little to change the fundamental dynamics of campaigns

As the plugged-in presidential campaign has arguably reached maturity, this book challenges popular claims about the democratizing effect of Digital Communication Technologies (DCTs). Analyzing campaign strategies, structures, and tactics from the past five presidential election cycles, Stromer-Galley reveals how, for all their vaunted inclusivity and tantalizing promise of increased two-way communication between candidates and theindividuals who support them, DCTs have done little to change the fundamental dynamics of campaigns.