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Understanding the history of American political campaigns

The political campaigns in the United States of America have been characterized by changes from the time the country gained independence to the present. Most of the changes and revolutions in the campaigns are oriented to the nature of the population of the United States, in that there are many races living in the same country. Some of the times in the history, the campaigns were characterized with racism, with some states passing rules that did not allow the African-Americans to vote. This essay aims at looking at the four campaign eras in America and how they affected the present.

The period of1788 to 1824 is an era that was referred the pre-democratic campaigns, and it was the first campaign era. This is a political period that was characterized by a few campaigns. It lacked seriousness in campaigning, and it did not also have competitions. The reason is that, assumptions were made that, Washington would automatically become president. Some other portion of the population thought that the vice president would succeed as president. In addition, the Electoral College who were mandated with choosing the president was not elected by the citizens but by the representatives. This era inspired the present in that, the candidates did not participate in the campaigns; the people saw the need for the vying candidates to express themselves in the campaigns.

The second campaign era, which was 1828 to 1892, was characterized by several changes. This is the time when the Electoral College was to be selected through a popular vote by the citizens from the states. Because of this, the candidates became more active in campaigns. Corruption started to characterize the political system because of promises of rewarding the political sycophants. The period was also characterized by revolution of the media to a more relevant media. The political parties became more powerful, and candidates could focus son their party membership rather than their qualifications. It influenced the present in that; people saw the sense of candidates being involved in campaigns to air their manifesto, and also the importance of the free media in airing campaigns.

The third political campaign era (1896-1948) was characterized by more activity in campaigns in the campaigns. It led to the establishment of the civil service in the year 1972, which ended the practice of rewarding party loyalists. Secrecy in voting was enhanced through the introduction of the Australian ballot. Party candidates could now be elected in the states rather than being selected by the parties. The influence of this era to the present is that people were empowered more into determining their leaders.

The fourth campaign era started at around 1952. Fundraisings were introduced in campaigns. Personality rather than party affiliations affected the elections to a great deal. Primary elections were given more importance and taken more seriously. Power balancing between the republicans and the democrats is the most significant change in the fourth era. At the present, dial groups and focus groups have been involved to investigate on the need in the ground before going to the people to campaign. Demographic growth in America is increasing at a very high rate. Minority groups are influencing elections and campaigns to a great deal. The present has witnessed an African American becoming the president of the USA. Ideological polarization has also been witnessed in most parts of the republic. The gap between the democratic sympathizers, and the republicans, has narrowed.

In conclusion, the American political campaigns have undergone radical changes since the 1800s. These changes have led to empowering the citizens of the USA. The present state of campaigns has developed courtesy of the changes that were embraced during the former campaign eras.