The political campaign is one of the most important organizations in a democracy, and whether issue- or candidate-specific, it is one of the least understood organizations in contemporary political life.

This book is a critical assessment of the role that information technologies have come to play in contemporary campaigns. With evidence from ethnographic immersion, survey data, and social network analysis, Philip Howard examines the evolving act of political campaigning and the changing organization of political campaigns over the last five election cycles, from 1996 to 2004.

Over this time, both grassroots and elite political campaigns have gone online, built multimedia strategies, and constructed complex relational databases. The contemporary political campaign adopts digital technologies that improve reach and fund-raising and at the same time adapts its organizational behavior. The new system of producing political culture has immense implications for the meaning of citizenship and the basis of representation.

Awards

• Outstanding Book Award 2008, International Communication Association.
• Best Book Award 2006, Communication Technology & Society Section, American Sociological Association.

Academic Reviews

Chadwick, Andrew. Review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, by Philip N. Howard. European Journal of Communication 22, no. 2 (2007): 239–41. 

Gitlin, Todd. “Thick Communications and Thin Citizenship.” Contemporary Sociology 37, no. 3 (2008): 209–11. 

Klotz, Robert. Review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen by Philip N. Howard. Journal of Information Technology and Politics 4, no. 1 (2007): 91–93. 

Nielsen, Rasmus Kleis. Review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen by Philip N. Howard. Tidsskriftet Politik 4, no. 1 (2008).

Sides, John. Review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, by Philip N. Howard. Political Science Quarterly 121, no. 3 (2006): 529–30. 

Taylor, Matthew. Review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, by Philip N. Howard. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 83, no. 2 (2006): 441–5.

Tewksbury, David. Review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, by Philip N. Howard. Political Communication 24, no. 4 (2006): 448–9. 

Tuchman, Gaye. “Commodifying Politics.” Contemporary Sociology 37, no. 3 (2008): 202–06. 

Zaret, David. “American Media and the Public Sphere.” Contemporary Sociology 37, no. 3 (2008): 197–201. 

Zube, Paul. Review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, by Philip N. Howard. International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 2, no. 3 (2006): 362–64.