Political marketing models: the curious incident of the dog that doesn't bark

Contemporary politics has become dominated by the use of marketing strategies, techniques and principles. An academic literature has emerged in response to these empirical trends. Much of this literature is grounded in management marketing theory, and the contention of this article is that while this may provide a useful heuristic device, the models of political behaviour they propose are seriously flawed by their assumptions of a passive or neutral role for the media. The intention here is, first, to restore agency to the media. This is achieved by highlighting their influence in shaping the political message, rather than simply disseminating it as implied by the management marketing models. Second, we draw attention to some of the key democratic implications of applying marketing to the practice of politics and highlight the potential role of the media as agents providing a corrective function to the democratic deficits we identify.