Examining Democratic and Republican National Committee Party Branding Activity, 1953–2012

Abstract

Recent scholarship on the role of national party organizations in American politics—specifically, the Democratic and Republican National Committees—has argued that political science research has thus far undervalued the importance of these organizations. These studies have noted the importance that party leaders—including presidents, Congressional leaders, and governors—place on the national committees’ role in shaping a party brand. Notably, these studies are all qualitative historical accounts—perhaps because finding consistent quantitative data from within the DNC and RNC across time is complicated due to limitations in access to archival resources across both parties and time. I present a new quantitative data set measuring DNC and RNC activity on the basis of an external source: New York Times coverage of national committee activity in the period 1953–2012. I use this data to test the claim that, while “party branding” is a core national committee goal, the DNC and RNC do not consistently engage in it. I find that monthly New York Times references of party branding operations decline for parties that hold the White House. Meanwhile, coverage of other service operations does not decline, suggesting committees step back their branding role when their party has control of the executive branch of the federal government.

Mask-Wearing as a Partisan Issue: Social Identity and Communication of Party Norms on Social Media Among Political Elites

“…For MoC, political parties represent group identity and are a reminder of group goals against a common rival (Raymond & Overby, 2016;Russell, 2012). Parties can take different forms, but national party organizations-such as the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC)-embody group identities, as they provide continuity and stability for the group members (Heersink, 2021;Herrnson, 2009). Party leaders and elite members pay considerable attention to their party organizations as a brand that represents their interests.…”

“…Party leaders and elite members pay considerable attention to their party organizations as a brand that represents their interests. Moreover, they engage in various activities that publicize the party's policy positions through social media, campaign ads, and press releases (Heersink, 2021).…”

Driving political issues with political brand storytelling on social media: an online brand persona perspective

“…Branding political parties offers several advantages. For example, branding can drive a political party's strategy (Kornberger, 2010); offer an opportunity to set the party apart from its opposition (Pich & Newman, 2020); build bridges from the past to the future (Campbell & Lee, 2016); can be seen as an opportunity to educate and inform the political consumer about political issues and party policies (Heersink, 2021). Therefore, Lees-Marshment's argument (2014) that the political consumer must be seen as a voter who has new information expectations of political brands and thus requires a more personalised kind of political activity is adopted.…”