Building a Business of Politics: The Rise of Political Consulting and the Transformation of American Democracy

Political races in the United States rely heavily on highly paid political consultants. In Building a Business of Politics, Adam Sheingate traces the history of political consultants from its origins in the publicity experts and pollsters of the 1920s and 1930s to the strategists and media
specialists of the 1970s who transformed political campaigns into a highly profitable business. Today, consultants command a hefty fee from politicians as they turn campaign cash from special interest groups and wealthy donors into the advertisements, polls, and direct mail solicitations
characteristic of modern campaigns. The implications of this system on the state of American democracy are significant: a professional political class stands between the voters and those who claim to represent them. Building a Business of Politics is both a definitive account of the consulting
profession and a powerful reinterpretation of how political professionals reshaped American democracy in the modern era.


Author: Adam Sheingate
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 01/04/2016
Pages: 296
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780190217198

Review Citation(s):
Choice 07/01/2016

About the Author

Adam Sheingate is a professor and chair of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of The Rise of the Agricultural Welfare State.

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