In Part I of this analysis, we looked at how the political context that led to the selection of the cue “Make America Great Again” was formed. In addition, we have presented the reasons for the current gap between traditional political parties and citizens.
In this second part of our analysis we will look at how effective the marketing strategies of political parties are. We will also look at the collateral damage caused by the implementation of these strategies and how they injure liberal democracy.
by Thanos S. Chonthrogiannis-https://www.liberalglobe.com
The effectiveness of the Marketing of political parties in the societies of the liberal world
The marketing of political parties and, first and foremost, maximizing as much as possible the size of the specific electoral ‘percentage-mass’ of citizens, then implements its strategies to win the votes of these citizens.
The cornerstone of this strategy to win these votes by political parties is to create the right impressions in the eyes of this electoral “percentage-mass” of citizens.
The larger the electoral “percentage” of citizens that is annexed and manipulated by the impressions created by the marketing of political parties, the greater the likelihood that the electoral “mass” of citizens will judge the outcome of elections for or against one political party.
The resulting impressions that will win the votes of the specific citizens take part,
1. In the design and presentation of the programs of political parties where everything is done with the terms and the applicable principles of marketing.
2. In any interviews that political leaders tend to give to all kinds of media but also to their speeches to specific audiences.
3. Any public interventions by political leaders on current affairs which are not usually made on the merits of the issues.
4. And of course, where there is a dialogue between political or candidate political opponents respectively.
The principles of “Rhetoric” (Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.) and the “The Art of Always being Right” (Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788-1860 A.D.) can only be applied by politicians on any differences in the programs of the political parties they represent and in combination with the irony of their political opponent-interlocutor and always in high tones are the main “weapons-tools” that politicians use today to create impressions in this electoral “mass-percentage” of citizens who the marketing of political parties classify them as citizens-consumers without a crisis who adopt-accept uncritically what they are offered as long as it impresses them.
The aim of the political people is to gain the impressions of this electoral ‘mass-percentage’ of citizens who will judge the outcome of elections.
The “collateral” losses in the Liberal Societies from the marketing of political parties and the «injured» Liberal Democracy
The collateral losses caused by the implementation of these marketing strategies in the political sphere of liberal societies were and are:
1. A total aversion to politics by a large proportion of citizens, since in the societies living and continuing to live these citizens always find a way out of their everyday problems and resolve their anxieties about their future through their well-paid jobs.
The magnitude of abstinence in elections shows and the scale of citizens’ aversion to politics in one country, particularly the magnitude of abstinence among younger generations of citizens.
2. The political parties gradually and steadily began to attract populist and ambitious adventurers to their ranks who understood that politics is like a place that serves man-centric expediency and for them it was a stepping stone to achieving their excessive ambitions.
While ignoring all these citizens-politicians that politics is working properly when it serves needs for coexistence and common goals. Politics is the art of implementing reforms where necessary to correct the current social model with a view to achieving the goal of social well-being.
At the same time, attracting all kinds of financiers to political parties, whether they were obvious financiers or not, try the resilience of the citizens and intensified in societies the questioning of the intentions of both political parties of executive power and of media.
Whether they are genuinely interested in the problems of the citizens or to serve in the best possible way other types of interests.
3. The political parties in the liberal world and having been “trained” excellently in this game of creating impressions have ceased to deal with the problems of everyday life and any anxieties of their citizens for the future respectively.
The only thing that interested the political parties was to present flawless images for their candidates, and then they did everything to keep these flawless images in order not to fall the government that “relied”.
The effect of marketing on politics is so strong where there were cases where the political leader was judged not based on his administrative capacities and his contribution to society, but if he had, for example, an out married affair that spoiled his flawless image.
In other cases, another political leader has a flawless image-based on the marketing of political parties-but to be completely useless in his duties and let his country’s society and economy be destroyed by staying in executive power. The evaluation criteria have changed drastically.
4. The “refinement” of political parties on the exercise of marketing and the impressions made to the electoral “mass” of the citizens who were interested, as well as the achievement of the goal of winning the elections necessarily led to “smooth” to the point of disappearance of any differences between their political programs, leaving only the scope of the management of the economy as their only distinct difference.
Currently, a political party is characterized, for example, socialist with whether it will increase governmental budget deficits or taxation in the economy to implement social policy, while another party is characterized as a conservative by reducing taxes on the economy and governmental budget deficits equally.
On the other hand, if someone asks Democratic and Republican officials how the Republicans differ from the Democrats, you will most likely receive a response that Republicans prefer low taxes and limiting budget deficits, while the Democrats prefer increased taxation and social policy.
Over the last few years, many have been blaming the wrong way that the Democrats are socialists as in Europe because they want to implement policies such as Obamacare-similar to the public health system that several countries have in Europe. Of course, all this is wrong, and they are made to distract the voters.
The Democrats derive their name and beliefs that they represent from the Greek classical tradition and the Republic of ancient Athens, where in the top of its glory was the first city in history that its citizens knew and experienced the meaning of individual freedom and isonomy (equality of law for all kinds of people).
While the Republicans derive their name and beliefs respectively from ancient Rome and the Res publica that by its laws constituted the foundation of the freedom of its democracy.
So, currently, everything revolves around the management of the economy and the managerial capacities of politicians. Is the economy everything? Most certainly, the economy is among the most important factors in the functioning of society. But it is the economists who manage the money and the economy.
The tasks of politicians are to create the framework-political program with aim the society to create money and wealth to the people. Because the proper exercise of the art of politics creates wealth in society and then through the applicable policies diffuses this created wealth in all social classes in order to achieve the goal of the overall social prosperity.
These politicians-persons who correctly apply the art of politics are usually those who have a vision for society and give solutions to the problems of their fellow citizens.
To have a vision of society, you must also know the problems and anxieties of citizens so that as politicians they can then create their vision-political agenda that will persuade society to follow it.
In the current era that a large majority of citizens are abstaining or are turning away from politics, it shows that these pre-election programs presented by the political parties are not convincing. More will be mentioned when we refer to the way the politics are being regenerated.
Unfortunately, the political parties in their excessive attempt to win the elections are unaware that the worst that can happen in the political arena is the “disappearance” of any differences that the political party programs have between them, because in then the citizens begin to believe, and always in the long term, that all political parties of governmental power in their policies are the same and simply change their political faces and managerial skills.
This is an extremely dangerous belief that can prevail in a society. Because in this case a large proportion of citizens are tired and frustrated by the existing political figures and parties respectively and are entering the process of seeking solutions to their problems in other political areas that perhaps in the past not look at them as political solutions.
In this case, sooner or later the “carpet”, on the part of the frustrated citizens, is stretched to seek solutions to their problems in other political areas, which political spaces can offer-they suggest “easy” and pleasing to the ears of citizens solutions to their problems.
Since this set of frustrated citizen voters appears in times of economic recession or financial crises where poverty and unemployment are prevalent in a significant proportion of society, it is very easy to be disappointed and to moved politically to find the coveted solutions to the problems of everyday life and their anxieties for the future.
In the next part of our analysis, Part III, we will present the strategic policies that will have to be implemented by the political world in order to bridge the gap between citizens and political parties, while regenerating the very concept and essence of politics in the societies of the liberal world.
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