03/28/2022
This illuminating insider’s view of American politics spotlights—and forcefully critiques—the largely unrecognized role played by campaign operatives. Drawing on anonymous interviews with staffers and consultants from both major parties, sociologist Laurison (The Class Ceiling) argues that political operatives are an insular and unrepresentative group who run campaigns based on long-held yet frequently inaccurate beliefs about what wins elections. “Mostly White, mostly men, and mostly from middle- to upper-middle-class backgrounds,” campaign professionals rarely interact with regular voters, according to Laurison, and tend to perceive the American electorate as uninform and unmotivated about politics. As a result, they rely on “fear-mongering and attacks on opposing candidates” to drive turnout among occasional voters and their party’s base, while ignoring nonvoters, who are “disproportionately poor or working class, and Black, Latinx, Asian American, or Native American.” Laurison also contends that “each campaign is conceived and executed as an isolated event rather than part of an ongoing party project,” alleges that operatives are more concerned about “fitting in and impressing other politicos” than having “honest, open conversations” with voters, and details the obstacles to designing and interpreting polls. Though somewhat repetitive, Laurison’s case for how current campaign practices undermine democracy is detailed and persuasive. Readers will learn much from this peek behind the political curtain. (June)
05/01/2022
Laurison (The Class Ceiling: Why It Pays To Be Privileged) interviewed 72 politicos of all stripes to provide many fascinating insights and tidbits, including what it's like to work on a political campaign and whether campaign consultants make a difference. He debunks the idea of puppet masters dictating outcomes. Instead, Americans have tribal allegiances to a political party. He notes that Trump's 2016 supporters stayed with him in 2020. Campaigns, run by mostly white, college educated elite insiders, work hard to mobilize supporters. Campaigns have a pyramid structure, with a tiny group of professionals, known to each other, determining strategy for many paid and unpaid workers. While the work is grueling, consultants see themselves as carrying out a mission. The book is fairly short, at under 200 pages. It is divided into six chapters, describing the inside operations of campaigns, how advisors got their start, and the impact on democracy. Laurinson's research and ability to get candid responses from his anonymous subjects is impressive. While academic in tone, the book is accessible and well written. VERDICT For readers wanting a glimpse into the closed club of political campaign consultants.—Harry Charles
2022-03-08
A study of the secret machinery of politics that interprets the polls, creates the advertisements, and advises the candidates.
Sociology professor Laurison, who worked on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, draws on interviews with the well-paid professionals (all pseudonymous) of a shadowy business. The author strikes a fairly even balance between Democrats and Republicans. Nearly all are White, college-educated, and from well-off families—a long way from the composition of the national polity. While most genuinely believe that a victory for their favored candidate will make the country better, they often see voters as passive players to be subdivided by various traits and manipulated for their votes, mostly via data. They see the candidate as a bundle of positive and negative characteristics whose main roles are to shake hands, raise money, and give tailored speeches. Working on a campaign is a grueling, exhausting job. Laurison asks, are they effective? Even successful politicos acknowledge that a great deal is out of their hands, determined by the broader environment and thematic issues. The author cites convincing research to show that campaign advertising, for example, does not do much, and voter attitudes are very difficult to change. One of the few campaign activities that seems to make a difference is grassroots contact, especially useful in reaching disinterested voters. But volunteer-based fieldwork is an area that professionals largely disregard. Laurison’s conclusions are interesting, but his own views occasionally distract from his reasoned analysis. Because he clearly loathes Trump and dislikes those who support him, he offers little examination of his 2016 campaign. If nothing else, Trump’s tactics—as dirty as they were—serve as intriguing examples of a successful insurgency campaign. Nevertheless, Laurison makes many important points about how politics reached its current state and where it might go from here.
With the midterm elections looming, this detailed study of how campaigns work shines valuable light into dark corners.
Laurison makes many important points about how politics reached its current state and where it might go from here . . . With the midterm elections looming, this detailed study of how campaigns work shines valuable light into dark corners.”
—Kirkus Reviews
"[An] illuminating insider’s view of American politics....Laurison’s case for how current campaign practices undermine democracy is detailed and persuasive. Readers will learn much from this peek behind the political curtain."
—Publishers Weekly
"[F]ascinating insights and tidbits . . . the book is accessible and well written."
—Harry Charles, Library Journal
“Why, in such a dynamic, diverse country, do so many of our political campaigns feel so repetitively similar? Daniel Laurison’s study of who goes to work for candidates, how they got there, and why they make the choices they do points us to an answer that will change the way you see and participate in elections.”
—Sasha Issenberg, author of The Engagement: America’s Quarter-Century Struggle over Same-Sex Marriage
“Aspiring politicos often ask me for advice about how to get a job on a campaign or in political consulting. From now on, I’ll recommend they read Producing Politics. Daniel Laurison’s book will help you understand the pathways and barriers to getting in the game and the good and not-so-good of the campaign culture that comes with it.”
—Mark Blumenthal, former senior polling editor at The Huffington Post and cofounder of Pollster.com
“With compelling prose and vivid storytelling, Daniel Laurison takes a holistic look at how and why the elections industry sometimes undermines our democracy instead of supporting it. Producing Politics is a fresh, urgent take on one of the most pressing—but overlooked—challenges to democracy in America.”
—Hahrie Han, author of Prisms of the People: Power & Organizing in Twenty-First-Century America
“In Producing Politics, Daniel Laurison pulls back the curtain on the understudied and often misunderstood world of political campaigns. By harnessing the insights and methods from the social sciences, he explains who campaign professionals are and why they hold the key to improving democracy in America. A compelling read.”
—Dana R. Fisher, author of American Resistance and professor of sociology, University of Maryland
“Daniel Laurison has listened closely to the aspirations and strategic considerations that drive American campaign professionals. He reveals that their decisions create the campaigns voters experience, partially guided by evidence but also reflecting their unrepresentative backgrounds. Producing Politics offers an urgent plea that American campaigns can improve when the people who run them better reflect the voters they seek to mobilize and persuade.”
—Matt Grossmann, author of How Social Science Got Better: Overcoming Bias with More Evidence, Diversity, and Self-Reflection
“American political campaigns have become less and less connected to the people they’re supposed to represent. Accessible, compelling, and innovative, Producing Politics takes us behind the scenes and into the burgeoning field of political campaign professionals: how do they make decisions, and why do they set the priorities they do? Anybody wanting to understand the internal machinery of American politics needs to read this book.”
—Andrew J. Perrin, SNF Agora Professor of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University
“Producing Politics is a must-read for all campaign professionals. Drawing on interviews from across the political spectrum, Laurison beautifully grapples with core questions about the state of US politics and democracy: Do campaigns matter? Who gets to run them? And what are the consequences of a growing professional political class that neither reflects the electorate nor attempts to build deeper relationships with regular folks? The candor of the interviews coupled with Laurison’s insights result in a book that is hard to put down.”
—Arisha Hatch, vice president of Color of Change