A political campaign is an organized effort to elect a candidate or pass a ballot initiative. Campaigns may be conducted at local, state or federal levels. They may last a few months or up to two years, depending on the type of campaign and the office being sought. Campaigns may be financed by individual donors or by political action committees. In democracies, elections are generally held every two years.
A campaign manager leads a team of staffers who work to organize, coordinate and carry out the day-to-day operations of a campaign. They will set goals, manage budgets and ensure that the campaign stays on track to meet its objectives. A campaign manager must be able to delegate responsibilities effectively, manage conflicts and resolve problems in a high-stress environment.
The media plays an important agenda-setting role during election campaigns, highlighting certain issues or events over others to shape public opinion. Misinformation is a significant problem, and research suggests that social media platforms have weak guardrails that make fact-checking and content moderation difficult to implement consistently.
While most campaigns are partisan, there are some independent or non-partisan ones. Partisan affiliation is very important in campaign work – it is common to move up to a winning campaign from a losing one, and you may incur career or reputation costs for switching parties (although these costs start off low early in your career). While the largely non-substantive nature of most campaign roles doesn’t prepare you well for more substantive policy positions, understanding the political process and developing general professional skills could still help you build a path to government or politics-adjacent positions.