POL214Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Pragmatism, Visible Minority, Premiership Of Stephen Harper
Document Summary
Almost all of the daily efforts of parties and politicians are ultimately geared toward maximizing their support in the next electoral contest. The election campaign constitutes the arena in which political parties, the mass media, public opinion polls, and political participation all come together to play their most extensive and interconnected role. At the national level, political parties begin thinking about the next election almost as soon as the last one is over. Election strategy involves deciding which groups within the electorate are to be targeted. In each election, political parties produce a document called a platform or a manifesto that features prominently the list of policies, promises, and priorities that they intend to implement if elected. The leader"s tour consists of each party leader crisscrossing the country many times over the campaign period. All this effort is expended not only to attract attention in the areas visited but also to generate national media coverage.
