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dc.contributor.authorLow, Mark
dc.date.accessioned2018-04-24T11:55:44Z
dc.date.available2018-04-24T11:55:44Z
dc.date.issued2014-04-02
dc.identifier.citationThe Renewal of the Local Conservative Party Campaign Capability: An Organizational Insight into Central Co-ordination 2014, 24 (4):414 Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties
dc.identifier.issn1745-7289
dc.identifier.issn1745-7297
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/17457289.2014.888433
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2436/621260
dc.description.abstractThe importance of local campaigning for general election success is widely accepted. By focusing on the British Conservative Party, this article offers qualitative support through a research design in which interviews were conducted with local activists in four target constituencies and with regional officials; as a result, some understanding of the long campaign was also obtained. Embracing the contemporary view that campaigning effectiveness is a function of the party centre's ability to direct local parties, this study provides an organizational insight into how the centre was able to enhance its control, but also discusses the implications of this for local activists and for the local party organizational structure. The findings reveal that activist de-politicization and de-skilling, and a more formal and dismissive approach to party management, have undermined the local effort with the result that the party's local campaigning effort remains organizationally sub-optimal. The engagement of outside expertise and supporter networks has also changed the nature of the local party, so that it is moving towards a network of local political capabilities.
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherTaylor & Francis
dc.relation.urlhttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17457289.2014.888433
dc.subjectConservative Party
dc.subjectlocal campaign co-ordination
dc.subjectparty organisation
dc.subjectactivists
dc.titleThe Renewal of the Local Conservative Party Campaign Capability: An Organizational Insight into Central Co-ordination
dc.typeJournal article
dc.identifier.journalJournal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties
html.description.abstractThe importance of local campaigning for general election success is widely accepted. By focusing on the British Conservative Party, this article offers qualitative support through a research design in which interviews were conducted with local activists in four target constituencies and with regional officials; as a result, some understanding of the long campaign was also obtained. Embracing the contemporary view that campaigning effectiveness is a function of the party centre's ability to direct local parties, this study provides an organizational insight into how the centre was able to enhance its control, but also discusses the implications of this for local activists and for the local party organizational structure. The findings reveal that activist de-politicization and de-skilling, and a more formal and dismissive approach to party management, have undermined the local effort with the result that the party's local campaigning effort remains organizationally sub-optimal. The engagement of outside expertise and supporter networks has also changed the nature of the local party, so that it is moving towards a network of local political capabilities.


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