The Problem of Political Marketing

In recent years the extent to which marketing strategies inform political behaviour has grown to unprecedented levels, fundamentally reshaping politics. Based upon an analysis of existing theoretical literature and current political practice, this book argues that markets are no longer simply the mechanisms which governments regulate, but are now the arena in which all political activity is undertaken. Heather Savigny provides a critical evaluation of the way in which contemporary politics is now being recast as a marketing exercise and shows how this both subverts democracy and disconnects the public from the political process.

Heather Savigny is Lecturer in Politics at the University of East Anglia.