Technology of political branding during the parliamentary election campaign 2019 in Ukraine: an analysis of successful cases

The article is devoted to the study of features and patterns of formation of party brands, analyzes colors, party symbols, key slogans of parliamentary parties in 2019. The essence of the concept of "political brand" and "party brand" is clarified, their characteristics and structure are defined. Article outlines the features of the processes of virtualization and mediatization of politics, pointing to the place of the political and party brand in these processes. The author outlines the features of political branding as a technology of political marketing, analyzes the technology of formation and promotion of political and party brand. Examining the practical experience of using political branding by modern Ukrainian political parties during the parliamentary election campaign in 2019, the author points to successful cases and explains their features. Installed. that the party brand is a virtual social phenomenon that creates in voter a sense of belonging to a particular community.It was found, that the common features of all party brands include: the presence of integral components of the party brand, the hypertrophied nature of the personal factor in the construction and promotion of political and party brand, the use of political advertising, co-branding and "star brand". Established, that the party brands of modern parliamentary parties of Ukraine can be identified as those that are recognizable by the majority of the population, have similar popularity at both local and national levels, have potential for long stay in the political space, are constantly mentioned in the media. It was revealed, that the distinctive features of party brands during the 2019 election campaign are various communication channels in which the brand is popularized, as well as the dominant technology of brand construction.

Party system erosion: Evidence from Peru

Weakly institutionalized party systems are a defining feature of third-wave democracies. Yet, in some countries like Peru, party weakness is not a static equilibrium but rather part of a dynamic process of “party system erosion” in which weak parties become weaker over time as independents come to dominate subnational posts. As I argue, party system erosion is driven by a particular configuration of institutional factors—weak party brands, ease of ballot access, and limited partisan control over resource distribution. These institutional features increase the likelihood that experienced candidates will run as independents. When these candidates are elected, they obtain more intergovernmental discretionary transfers, which are used to improve performance and maintain clientelistic networks. This resource advantage of independent officials further weakens party brands and reduces experienced candidates’ incentives to run with parties in future elections. I test this theory using a data set of 80,000 subnational officials and a regression discontinuity design.

Party Brands and the Democratic and Republican National Committees, 1952–1976

Political scientists have traditionally dismissed the Democratic and Republican National Committees as “service providers”—organizations that provide assistance to candidates in the form of campaign funding and expertise but otherwise lack political power. I argue this perspective has missed a crucial role national committees play in American politics, namely that national party organizations publicize their party's policy positions and, in doing so, attempt to create national party brands. These brands are important to party leaders—especially when the party is in the national minority—since they are fundamental to mobilizing voters in elections. In case studies covering the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) in the period 1952–1976, I show that minority party committees prioritize their branding role and invest considerably in their publicity divisions, inaugurate new publicity programs, and create new communication tools to reach out to voting groups. Additionally, I show that in cases where the party is out of the White House, the national committees have considerable leeway in deciding what party image to publicize. Rather than being mere powerless service providers, I show that party committees have played crucial roles in debates concerning questions of ideology and issue positioning in both parties.