Jeffrey C. Alexander,The performance of politics: Obama's victory and the democratic struggle for power,reviewed by Mark D. Brewer

In The Performance of Politics Jeffrey Alexander offers a theoretical understanding of US presidential elections (and, by extension, all elections that take place in a representative democracy) that is quite different from those one generally encounters when engaging the academic literature and the work of the professional punditry in this area. Demographics, issues and resources matter little if at all for Alexander.

In his account, presidential election campaigns are instances of political theatre where a candidate's performance matters above all else. More specifically, presidential candidates are forced to compete for the votes of their fellow citizens in the ‘civil sphere’ of American society, a public space that is at least somewhat separate, insulated and autonomous from the more narrow semi-public and private realms of American society. During their performances, the candidates struggle to create images of themselves as heroic figures and of their opponents as somewhat less than that and to trigger and shape emotions within the electorate that will work to their benefit and their opponents' detriment. The best performance – marked by the candidate who is better able to convince voters that she or he is truly a heroic figure, to define oneself as ‘pure’ while at the same time painting one's opponent as ‘polluted’, and overcome the myriad divisions within American society and present oneself as a legitimate representative for the nation as a whole – carries the day and determines the outcome of the election. As Alexander states on page 166:

Candidates win power by connecting and fusing with a citizen audience that is not narrow but broad. To fuse they must become powerful collective representations who sculpt an image and control it in what citizens believe to be an authentic and civil way.

Alexander presents his theory and partially tests it out in the context of the 2008 presidential election campaign in the United States. Barack Obama and John McCain are the central figures in this analysis, but Hillary Clinton and especially Sarah Palin are also given a good deal of attention. In Part I of the book (chapters 1–3), Alexander lays out his overarching perspective of election campaigns as performances in the civil sphere and makes his case as to why the usual suspects of demographics, issues and money and other campaign resources matter much less than is typically claimed. Part II (chapters 4–6) presents multiple examples of candidates in the 2008 campaign attempting to define and control their images and those of their opponents, and also of the candidates attempting to tap into and activate the emotional responses that Alexander argues are so central to voters' behaviour. Finally, in part III of the book (chapters 7–9, epilogue), Alexander tests his theory in the context of three specific developments and events that occurred during the campaign: the McCain campaign's attempt to portray Obama as nothing more than a ‘celebrity’, the selection of Palin as McCain's running mate and the onset of the financial crisis in September 2008. This is perhaps where the book is at its best. Alexander nicely conveys the uncertainty and fluidity of a presidential contest, and does an excellent job explaining how campaigns must inevitably evolve considerably over a remarkably short period of time.

The Performance of Politics is an interesting read, although my sense is that many academics who work in this area (myself included) will find it at least somewhat lacking. This is perhaps due in part to the fact that Alexander does not firmly ground his work in the relevant existing political science and sociology literature. My guess is that this is done intentionally. Alexander's view is that most scholars and analysts of presidential elections focus too much on concerns that are of secondary importance at best – demographics of the electorate, issues and campaign fundraising – and not enough on those that really matter – candidates' public performances, image creation and control and manipulation of emotions.

The reality is that both sets of concerns matter a great deal, and also that they are intimately – and likely inseverably – connected. Of course, elections are political theatre where the candidates perform for voters and attempt to create certain images and rouse certain emotions. But demographic characteristics, issues and campaign money and other resources provide the parameters within which such performances take place and also the tools and props the performers utilize. In one final matter, readers are advised to read the ‘Note on Concept and Method’ before delving into the text itself.