Inside the Campaign

Political leaders are the public face of a party during an election campaign. But what type of work is conducted behind the scenes by lesser-known party members attempting to propel their leaders to victory at the federal level in Canada? Inside the Campaign is a behind-the-scenes look at the people involved in an election campaign and the work they do. Each chapter reveals how campaign staffers, as well as by those covering and organizing election-related events, perform their duties and overcome obstacles during the heat of a campaign to get their respective leaders elected. Practitioners and political scientists collaborate to present real-world insights that demystify over a dozen occupations, including campaign chairs, fundraisers, advertisers, platform designers, communication personnel, election administrators, political staff, journalists, and pollsters. Inside the Campaign provides an inside look at, and unparalleled understanding of, the nuts and bolts of running a federal campaign in Canada.

Alex Marland researches communications management in Canadian politics and government. He is the author of Brand Command: Canadian Politics and Democracy in the Age of Message Control (UBC Press, 2016), which won the Donner Prize for best public policy book by a Canadian. Thierry Giasson publishes about political communication, political journalism, and digital politics in Canadian and comparative contexts. He is the Director of the Groupe de recherche en communication politique (GRCP) based at Université Laval and a member at the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CSDC). He is coeditor, with Alex Marland, of the Communication, Strategy, and Politics series at UBC Press.

Contributors: Donald Booth, Colette Brin, John Chenery, Thomas Collombat, Michel Cormier, Erin Crandall, Brooks DeCillia, Susan Delacourt, Anna Lennox Esselment, Éric Grenier, Mireille Lalancette, Andrea Lawlor, Ryan MacDonald, Marie Della Mattia, Marc Mayrand, David McGrane, Anne McGrath, Michael McNair, Renze Nauta, Jane Philpott, Magali Picard, Vincent Raynauld, Dany Renauld, Michael Roy, Tamara Small, André Turcotte, Lori Turnbull, Jared Wesley, Paul Wilson, and Stéphanie Yates

Helping to pull back the curtains are a slate of academics and practitioners—individuals who have been actively involved in these behind-the-scenes processes, including during the 2019 campaign—who paired up to pen each chapter, an arrangement Mr. Marland flagged as unique.

--- As a first attempt to expand our appreciation of the many faces of a modern election campaign the book is a success...Inside the Campaign ought to open the way to interesting comparative research.