Political Parties and Campaigning in Australia: Data, Digital and Field (Political Campaigning and Communication)

Big data and microtargeting steal the headlines about campaigning. But how important are they really to the way that political parties campaign? This book provides a fine-grained account of the campaign practices of three Australian political parties. It explores how prevalent data-driven campaigning is, introduces an original theoretical framework to understand these practices, and demonstrates that there is a disconnect between what Australian voters think about these issues and the way that parties campaign in the 21 st century. Drawing on 161 interviews, participant observation and original survey data, it shows that the reality of contemporary campaigning is often different to what we are led to believe. "Glenn Kefford has dragged scholarship about party campaigning into the modern day, with a study that for the first time properly integrates the campaign elements of data, digital and field work." -Stephen Mills, University of Sydney, Australia "This compellingly written, ground-breaking book is underpinned by a treasure trove of original analyses: from participant observation in fieldwork campaigns, extensive interviews with party insiders, to public opinion data." -Ariadne Vromen, Australian National University, Australia "Kefford offers the most extensive analysis of contemporary campaigning to date in the field.... This is a fascinating and nuanced account of how data is powering digital and field campaigning, and how its effects might be less directly on voters and more on parties as organizations." -Daniel Kreiss, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA "Presenting unparalleled insight into the activities of Australian parties, Glenn Kefford dives beneath the hype and sensationalised reporting of political campaigns to offer a detailed, and vitally important discussion of how parties actually work... this book makes an important contribution to debates on political parties that will resonate far beyond Australia's shores." -Katharine Dommett, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom Big data and microtargeting steal the headlines about campaigning. But how important are they really to the way that political parties campaign? This book provides a fine-grained account of the campaign practices of three Australian political parties. It explores how prevalent data-driven campaigning is, introduces an original theoretical framework to understand these practices, and demonstrates that there is a disconnect between what Australian voters think about these issues and the way that parties campaign in the 21stcentury. Drawing on 161 interviews, participant observation and original survey data, it shows that the reality of contemporary campaigning is often different to what we are led to believe. Glenn Kefford is a lecturer in political science at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He is an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow for 2019-2021 Preface Acknowledgements Praise for Political Parties and Campaigning in Australia Contents List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction Campaign Effects: Fact and Fiction The Study of Political Parties and Campaigning Cases and Macro-Political Context Research Questions, Key Argument & Structure of Chapters References 2 Theorising Contemporary Campaign Practices Political Parties and Campaigning Data-Driven Campaigning Campaigning and Party Organisation: A New Theoretical Framework Conclusions References 3 Data and Analytics Collecting Data Analysing Data Data and Modelling Issues Conclusions References 4 Campaigning Online Why Do Parties Turn to Digital? Digital Campaigning in Australia Digital Challenges Conclusions References 5 Winning the ‘Ground War’ Members, Supporters and Australian Parties How Do the Field Campaigns Operate? Conversations, Stories, Persuasion Do Field Campaigns Work? Conclusion References 6 Data-Driven Campaigning: A Case Study from the Ground The Campaign Confronting the Populist Radical Right Red One Nation, Blue One Nation Conclusion References 7 Voter Attitudes to Data-Driven Campaigning Voter Attitudes to Australian Parties Privacy and Data in Australia Targeting and Disinformation Conclusions References 8 Campaigning and Political Parties Campaigning by Political Parties in Australia Members, Supporters and Campaigning Campaigning and Party Organisation Conclusions References 9 Conclusion Theorising Campaigning Campaign and Organisational Effects Voters and Democracy Conclusions References 10 Research Appendix Interviews Participant Observation Conversing with Voters References Index