Research / Perspective
Fly-by-night campaigns.
Some campaigns appear suddenly, chase immediate gains and vanish just as quickly. They can shine for a season, but they can also leave lasting damage to the organisations behind them and to public trust in politics.
This Perspective describes a general pattern in how political organisations can be weakened. It does not describe or assess any particular party, campaign, leader or election.
How it unfolds
From sudden entry to lasting damage.
The pattern is easiest to see as a sequence. Not every campaign goes through every stage.
- 01
Sudden entry
A campaign appears quickly, often close to an election, with strong messaging and heavy publicity.
- 02
Simple promises
It offers easy answers to hard problems, with few detailed plans and no settled position on many issues.
- 03
Resources diverted
Money, people and attention are pulled away from long-term organisation-building.
- 04
Institutions eroded
Internal processes are bypassed, experienced workers are sidelined and ideas blur.
- 05
Short-term gains
It may win attention, seats or influence for a while, but often fails to deliver.
- 06
After it fades
The campaign ends, leaving the organisation weaker and voters more doubtful.
Why it happens
Why the quick option is tempting.
Elections reward what can be seen quickly, while the work that keeps an organisation strong, such as training workers, keeping members involved and developing ideas, is slow and mostly invisible. Under pressure, the quick option can look rational even when it is costly over time. The visibility arrives at once, while the costs come later and spread across the whole organisation. Try it in the graphic: compare the campaign with steady organising.
What it costs
The damage that remains.
These are general patterns, not findings about any particular party, campaign or election.
Trust
Promises that are not kept can make voters doubtful of the next ones, from anyone.
Workers
Committed workers who are sidelined or burnt out may not come back.
Ideas
Positions taken for short-term effect can blur what an organisation stands for.
Internal democracy
Processes that are bypassed once are easier to bypass again.
A steadier approach
Campaigns that add to the organisation.
None of this rules out energetic campaigning. The question is whether a campaign adds to the organisation or spends it.
- Invest between elections, not only before them.
- Tie campaigns to the organisation, so that the workers, members and knowledge they build stay behind.
- Promise what can be delivered, and explain how.
- Measure organisational health, not only visibility. See Goodhart's law.
- Keep members informed and involved, so that information flows from the ground to the top and back.
Origins and further reading
Further reading.
Research on party institutionalisation looks at how parties become lasting organisations with their own rules, roots and identity, and what weakens them.
- Panebianco, A. (1988). Political Parties: Organization and Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Randall, V. and Svåsand, L. (2002). Party institutionalization in new democracies. Party Politics, 8(1), 5–29.
About this Perspective
A pattern, not a verdict.
This Perspective describes a general pattern. It does not describe or assess any particular party, campaign, leader or election. Related: The Red Queen effect, When the ground stops reaching the top and Dominance can hide decline.