IntroductionContemporary political campaigns are multi-million dollar affairs in which candidates amass small armies of volunteers and workers to engage in combat with their opponents. And like any war, there are skirmishes, casualties, and, of course, objections. Campaigns have come under fire in recent years for everything from finances and data-mining practices, to attack ads and even their choice of music at rallies, so it will come as no surprise that political scientists have also been studying the nuts and bolts of political campaigning. Whether we look to ancient advice in the form of a letter on How to Win an Election from Quintus Tullius Cicero to his brother Marcus Cicero or to a contemporary discussion of economic messaging in political campaigns like that found in Lynn Vavreck’s The Message Matters, the books listed below offer invaluable insight into the nuts and bolts of political campaigns. –Chuck Myers, group publisher in social sciences and editor in political science
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![]() Exclusive ExcerptClick here to download an article on the history of Campaign Consultants in American politics Excerpted from The Concise Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History.
Featured BookHow to Win an Election
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The Reading List
![]() How to Win an Election An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians Quintus Tullius Cicero Translated and with an introduction by Philip Freeman |
![]() The Persuadable Voter Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns D. Sunshine Hillygus & Todd G. Shields |
![]() The Message Matters The Economy and Presidential Campaigns Lynn Vavreck |
![]() Campaign Talk Why Elections Are Good for Us Roderick P. Hart |
![]() The Spectacle of U.S. Senate Campaigns Kim Fridkin Kahn & Patrick J. Kenney |
![]() The Politics of Cultural Differences Social Change and Voter Mobilization Strategies in the Post-New Deal Period David C. Leege, Kenneth D. Wald, Brian S. Krueger, & Paul D. Mueller |
![]() The Race Card Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality Tali Mendelberg |
![]() Unfree Speech The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform Bradley A. Smith |
![]() Blessed Are the Organized Grassroots Democracy in America Jeffrey Stout |
![]() Ground Wars Personalized Communication in Political Campaigns Rasmus Kleis Nielsen |
![]() Local Elections and the Politics of Small-Scale Democracy J. Eric Oliver, With Shang E. Ha & Zachary Callen |
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