In Praise of Packaging?

Abstract

With each passing election, increased attention is paid to the “packaging” of politics—the use of advertising, media consultants, and “spin doctors” to sell parties and politicians. The general assumption is that such packaging diminishes the quality of modern democracy by promoting style over content. This article challenges that widely held view, arguing that we need to understand the pressures that lead to packaging and recognize the benefits that it can bring. The question of whether political packaging is in fact harmful rests upon an appreciation of the quality of the packaging, not the fact of it, and this acknowledges that politics is inevitably a part of popular culture. Ultimately, an understanding of political communication is predicated on an understanding of popular forms of communication generally.