ABSTRACT
Introduction
The article aims to investigate the convergencies and divergencies between politicians and media consultants who worked for the PT (Workers’ Party) campaign in the 2012 elections. Our main hipothesis is: Notwithstanding the increasing professionalism of electoral campaigns and the refined expertise of communication professionals, the divergences between political consultants and politicians show the subordination of the first ones, since politicians maintain the role of stablishing campaign guidelines.
Methods
Our methodology comprehends literature review and semi-structured interviews with four of the most important agents involved in the campaign for Fortaleza’s City Mayor. The interviews were structured in order to cover the following issues: 1) the professionalization of political campaigns; 2) the candidate’s image-building; 3) the participation of the former Brazilian president Lula in the local campaign; and 4) the image of the Workers’ Party in the 2012 elections.
Results
We concluded that there in the election analyzed there was a partial convergence of ideas between the politicians and media consultants regarding the campaign strategies. The political context and the professional trajectory of the communication consultants interviewed have straight influence in the elaboration of the strategies adopted over the campaign.
Discussion
Moreover, the article contributes to the literature once in Brazil it is rare to find works which focus on understanding the campaign’s “backstage”, highlighting the internal conflicts between the political and communication core of the campaign. In addition, the methodological debate about the use of interviews as a more appropriate technique for obtaining information points to the need to improve the use of qualitative methods in Political Science.
KEYWORDS:
political communication; electoral advertising; political consultants; professionalization of politics; qualitative research