Dommett, K. orcid.org/0000-0003-0624-6610, Power, S. orcid.org/0000-0001-5803-2660, Barclay, A. orcid.org/0009-0002-1225-1766 et al. (1 more author) (2025) Understanding the modern election campaign: analysing campaign eras through financial transparency disclosures at the 2019 UK general election. Government and Opposition, 60 (1). pp. 141-167. ISSN 0017-257X
Abstract
What do modern election campaigns look like? According to the most recent accounts, they are data-driven operations in which extensive data are collected and targeted messages are deployed in efforts to maximize support. Whilst highlighting important new developments, in this article we argue that a focus on novel practices offers a distorted picture of modern campaigns. Presenting a unique analysis of over 22,720 separate items of expenditure made by political parties at the 2019 UK general election, we demonstrate that whilst there is some evidence of a ‘fourth’ era of campaigning, these novel practices do not define campaigns. Taking a more holistic approach that examines how campaign activities are blended and entwined, we offer unprecedented insight into the nature of modern campaigns, revealing variation in parties’ campaign strategies. We also introduce a new dataset for those interested in party campaigns and call for others to pursue a more holistic analysis.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Government and Opposition Ltd. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. |
Keywords: | elections; ideal type; fourth era; data-driven campaigning; campaign finance |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Politics and International Relations (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Mar 2024 12:00 |
Last Modified: | 12 Feb 2025 15:12 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/gov.2024.3 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:210952 |