A political campaign is an organised effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referendums are decided. In modern politics, the most high-profile political campaigns are focused on general elections and candidates for head of state or head of government, often a president or prime minister. The message of the campaign contains the ideas that the candidate wants to share with the voters. It is to get those who agree with their ideas to support them when running for a political position. The message often consists of several talking points about policy issues. The points summarise the main ideas of the campaign and are repeated frequently in order to create a lasting impression with the voters. 

In this section of the Higher Politics course we will be researching, in detail the effectiveness of the following political campaign management strategies:

1. Traditional grassroots campaign strategies

2. Media strategies

3. The use of new technology

It is important to research the ways in which each strategy has been used in a general election in the UK. You need to be able to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of each strategy and compare them.

There are a number of questions that you could be asked in the final examination. It is worth considering these now so that you have this in your mind when you are carrying out your research:

A 20-mark extended response comparing two different political campaign management strategies

You may be asked a general question about political campaign management strategies. You may also be asked to compare one to another, as was seen in the 2019 examination paper:

'Traditional grassroots campaign strategies have a much greater impact on the electoral performance of political parties than the use of new technology.' Discuss. (20)

A 20-mark extended response that has an isolated factor (shown below in bold) and requires you to discuss all three political campaign management strategies

To what extent does the use of new technology have the greatest impact on electoral performance of political parties (20)

To what extent does the use of media strategies have the greatest impact on electoral performance of political parties (20)

'Grassroots campaign strategies have the greatest impact on electoral performance of political parties'. Discuss (20)

A 12-mark extended response about one political campaign management strategy

Where a type of political campaign management strategy is mentioned in a 12-mark question (the isolated factor), you should ONLY write about that strategy. You may add in analytical comments that relate to the effectiveness of the strategy (isolated factor) relative to other strategies but other strategies must not be discussed in depth.

In 2017, the following question appeared:

Evaluate the impact of media strategies used by political parties during election campaigns. (12)

You should also be prepared to write other forms of 12-mark essays, such as :

Analyse the impact of new technology on the electoral performance of political parties of political parties during election campaigns. (12)

Evaluate the impact of traditional grassroots campaign management strategies on the electoral performance of political parties during election campaigns. (12)

Evaluate the impact of political campaign management strategies on the electoral performance of political parties during election campaigns. (12)

A 12-mark extended response comparing two political campaign management strategies

Compare the effectiveness of grassroots campaign management strategies and the use of media strategies on the electoral performance of political parties during election campaigns. (12)