Political Campaign Communication: Principles and Practices (8th Edition).

• Author: Rathore, Khushi Singh
• Position: Book review

By Judith S. Trent, Robert V. Friedenberg and Robert E. Denton, Jr.

Lanham, Boulder, New York, London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016, 360 pages, $45.01, ISBN: 9781442243347

Thoroughly researched, insightful and well into its eighth edition, Political Campaign Communication: Principles and Practices is a seminal text for anyone interested in a comprehensive understanding of electoral campaigning and the communication strategies undertaken therein. This is book is a part of the series titled Communication, Media, and Politics edited by Robert E. Denton, Jr. that aims at understanding the role played by communications in the broad domain of politics. As the title suggests, this book focuses on the communication aspect of political campaigning (set in the American electoral milieu). Deftly structured, the text is essentially divided into two broad categories. The first section is devoted to a thorough study of the principles of political campaign communication. Taking the reader through each stage of the American election process, the authors give a sound descriptive analysis of the foundational tenets of campaign communication and its styles. Divided into four chapters, this section primarily acquaints readers with the fundamentals of political campaign communications and the utility that it holds at different stages of the electoral journey of a candidate in the U.S. elections. Here, the authors walk readers through the germination and evolution of political campaigns as they take place in the American political system, and chart out the efficacy of different communication styles at each stage.

The second section of the book covers the practices of political campaign communication. As the theme suggests, this part of the writing elaborates upon the strategies and the media employed by political candidates during election campaigning. It not only traces the different spheres of communication with the electorate, but also acquaints the reader with the historicity of the practice (in the chapter on recurring campaign communication practices), and its potential efficacy. It studies aspects like public speaking (strategies and kinds of speeches), debates, interpersonal communication, advertising and new communication technologies (social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and how they interact with political campaigns. It would be safe to say that the second half of the book progresses from the first. It provides readers with the tools required to...