Is a Political Campaign a Project?

Is a Political Campaign a Project?

I say, a resounding “YES” to the question “Is a political campaign a project?”. Why? Well, a political campaign has a distinctive beginning and end, and in between there is a lot of planning, a great deal of execution, and a great deal of monitoring and controlling. And of course there is a closing – usually with lots of lessons learned. Let us look a bit at these elements and explore if a political campaign is a project.

Project Management Processes in Political Campaigns

We live in an increasingly projectized world, and projects abound all around us. Let’s take a look at how the Project Management Process Groups as per the PMBOK map to a political campaign.

1.Initiating - How many times have you heard candidates say that they are considering running for a particular position? This is part of the initiating process. This involves assessing chances of success, introspection regarding desire to do the campaign and to occupy the office, as well as, effects on personal life and career. Financial and organizational assets are also a major factor in the initiation process for a political campaign.

2.Planning – Once it has been decided to undertake a political campaign, there is a great deal of true project planning. If you use professional project management terminology, a work breakdown schedule is clearly plays a part in managing a political campaign, as there are many tasks to be coordinated. There is a great deal of planning related to where to spend money, where to travel, what to say, and a myriad of other things, to achieve the goal of winning the campaign.

3.Execution – Putting the plan into action is a key to a political campaign. Having the feet on the ground (volunteers and paid), in action, handing out leaflets, putting out posters, organizing others, making phone calls, setting up ads, setting up engagements – all of these are part of the project execution process for a political campaign.

4.Monitoring and Controlling – Just a cursory look at what happens in national campaigns in the United States reveals that the process of monitoring and controlling is not only of critical importance, but has gotten much more sophisticated. One example is the visual graphing of audience reaction - on a word-by-word basis - to what candidates say. Here the candidates get favorable, unfavorable, or in between ratings from listeners on virtually every word or phrase they utter! Campaign rhetoric strategy and approaches is changing constantly to try to adapt to political opinion and developments on the campaign trail.

5.Closing - The ultimate objective of the campaign is to win the election. Win or loose, the campaign will actually end at the conclusion of the election. Eventually, the campaign organization will need to be dissolved and the project will be “in the books”.

Absolutely, Political Campaigns are Projects!

Yes, simply thinking about a political campaign in terms of the PMBOK Project Management Processes makes it clearer than I ever thought before that a political campaign indeed is a project. In fact, I think it is a quintessential project and one that most of us experience simply by living on a day-to-day basis. Indeed, it is plausible to consider that a political campaign is even a series of projects, but that can be a subject for exploration at another time.