A book by Michael D. Cohen, Ph.D. about how campaigns are organized, the state-of-the-art tools of the trade, and how some of the most interesting people in politics got their big breaks. Published by Rowman & Littlefield.
Second edition in early 2025 with a new chapter on artificial intelligence.
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Mark Salter
Senior Adviser, McCain for president, and Best-Selling Author
Michael Cohen has written a perceptive, lucid and entertaining account of how political campaigns actually operate, and gives the reader a much more realistic framework for viewing contemporary politics than can be gained from most academic analyses or the conventional wisdom narratives many in the media rely on. Most usefully, he provides an insightful examination of the modern transition from persuasion to turnout strategies in political campaigns, and its impact on the health of our Republic.
Celinda Lake
President, Lake Research Partners and Pollster for Joe Biden for President
Modern Political Campaigns is a contribution to helping people who are interested in politics and campaigns to understand how it really works. Michael Cohen’s book goes beyond the academic literature, laying out in great detail how modern technology helps us better understand, reach, and motivate voters as well as live up to our heightened responsibilities and ideals.
Tony Fabrizio
Partner, Fabrizio Lee and Pollster for Donald J. Trump for President
For anyone who wants to gain an understanding of how technology has revolutionized modern politics and political campaigns, Michael Cohen’s book is a must read.
Dora Kingsley Vertenten, Ph.D.
Professor, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and faculty coordinator, master in public administration online
Reading Michael Cohen’s survey of political campaign techniques and talents is like stepping into a field of dreams for anyone seeking to determine if their future lies in politics, political science, public affairs and administration. Fo anyone interested in learning how public policy gets made, this is the textbook that has been missing from our curriculum.
Students, teachers, activists, and leaders alike will appreciate that the digital landscape and advanced technology applications highlighted in Cohen’s political narrative are the same that drive today’s important social justice and sustainability movements. Reading this work will help so many to have a greater impact for good.
Ron Faucheux, Ph.D.
author and Political Analyst, Former publisher of Campaigns & Elections Magazine and member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Modern Political Campaigns combines academic and practical perspectives to explain how modern campaigns use professionalism and technology. This volume looks at campaign planning and management, media, fundraising, research and polling, It also examines why many of today’s campaigns prioritize turnout over persuasion and what that means for future elections and democracy.
Tevi Troy, Ph.D.
senior fellow, bipartisan policy center, presidential historian, and former White House aide
Michael Cohen has written a fascinating, readable, humorous and helpful look at the key aspects of modern political campaigns. As both a practitioner and a theoretician, Cohen knows campaigns cold. After reading his book, you will as well.
Amy Meli
Vice President, Grassroots consulting, Aristotle
People looking for a soup-to-nuts guide to running campaigns need look no further. Michael Cohen provides the perfect blend of theoretical knowledge and on-the-ground expertise to guide anyone looking to enter the world of political campaign management.
Lisa Spies
President, The LS Group
Most books about money in politics take a cynical view that is wrong and makes the system worse. Michael Cohen’s refreshingly candid Modern Political Campaigns shows the practical side of political fundraising. He demonstrates that it is good business and good politics for fundraisers to retain their ethics while working to provide campaigns the resources they need to compete and win.
Bruce Mehlman
Founder, Mehlman Castagnetti
Rosen & Thomas
Michael Cohen has written a book that is rare in politics. It is both practical and aspirational, concluding that technology innovations are both the cause of division and our potential salvation. It's a must-read for all political professionals who work to elect candidates and help them move the nation forward once in office.
Zac Moffatt
CEO, Targeted Victory
The Obama campaign opting out of public funding in 2008 supercharged the professionalization of politics through the democratization of participation and activation. The combination of more resources and the inability of the traditional gatekeepers to stay current with the world around them, has fundamentally changed how campaigns are waged and won, and a new generation of decision makers has emerged. Dr. Michael Cohen has managed to capture just how much professionalism, technology, and speed have revolutionized elections and the potential implications going forward.
Jeff Berkowitz
Founder & CEO, Delve DC
Dr. Cohen has long brought his enthusiasm and sharp insight of political campaigns into board rooms and classrooms alike. This book is a valuable compendium of the wisdom he has garnered both as a practitioner and from the forward looking leaders he regularly engages to advance the field.
Rory McShane
Principal, McShane, LLC
For anyone who is looking to work in political campaigns or understand how it really works, Modern Political Campaigns by Michael Cohen is the book to read right now.
Steve Malter, Ph.D.
Senior Associate Dean of Experiential Learning & Strategic Programs and senior lecturer in management, Washington University in St. Louis
In Modern Political Campaigns, Michael Cohen combines his wealth of experience as both an academic and practitioner to the evolution and future of campaigns. His insights and examples provide aspiring professionals with a comprehensive understand of how campaigning has evolved and the future of campaigns. I have witnessed his ability to do this as a guest lectures in several of my courses over the years examining the intersection of entrepreneurship and politics.
Jesse Thomas
CEO & Founder, JESS3
Mike is a "Mad Political Scientist" and his book perfectly captures the never-ending campaign in this digital era.
Richard L. Anderson
Chairman, Republican Party of Virginia
As a member of the Virginia state legislature for the better part of a decade, I know first-hand that Modern Political Campaigns is the missing manual for candidates, consultants, and activists for all races at all levels — the go-to handbook for those of us who work in state and local government.
Frank Terraferma
Director of House Campaigns, Republican Party of Florida
A fantastic read to understanding the intricacies of contemporary campaigns. Dr. Cohen's work leaves no stone unturned in tackling the subject with plenty of pragmatic examples, taking readers on a journey of exploration behind the curtain of 21st-century campaigns.
Aaron Evans
CEO, WRS
There is no better person to address technology and professionalism in campaigns than Michael Cohen. Michael provides great insight into modern campaigning and this book will quickly become a must read for political professionals and public policy students alike. It’s a fresh look at a timeless art — winning elections.
Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D.
Partner, Unfiltered Media and
Partner, Turner 4d
“More than just adding chapters for discussing data, digital, and social to the usual array of chapters on running a campaign, Modern Political Campaigns explores how new technologies change the way we conduct even the most traditional of campaign tactics—especially opinion research, earned media, paid media, and organizing. Literally every part of the modern political campaign leverages technology to do it better than it was done in the past. That is what makes this book an essential read.
Garrison Coward
Former Candidate for Virginia House of Representatives
This book is an incredible opportunity and must read for anyone who is interested in how to run a campaign in the 21st Century. Dr. Cohen is a master at intuitively explaining all facets of how to run a professional winning campaign.
Erik Milman
Millman Research and Consulting
I highly recommend that anybody with an interest in learning and understanding how to run Political Campaigns read Dr. Michael Cohen's book. As a seasoned political professional, he truly understands the nuts and bolts of running Modern Day Political Campaigns. His interviews with political professionals as well as his own insights will bring the running of modern-day campaigns to life for his readers. Political campaigns are what makes our Democracy work in this country.
Media
Voice of America
Campaign Fundraising
Dr. Cohen helps a worldwide audience understand how political campaigns are funded in the United States, and the unique rules around sharing those funds at the end of races. (Video)
Real Clear Politics
Book Review
"[Modern Political Campaigns is an] accessible-yet-enlightening book for aspiring political professionals, but also for any reader who wants to go deeper into the methods used by political experts." (Link)
SirusXM P.O.T.U.S.
The Trendline
Dr. Cohen joins fellow pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson in a wide-ranging discussion about how professionalism, technology, and speed have supercharged political campaigns. (Link)
Campaigns & Elections
Future of Political Fundraising
In an exclusive excerpt from the book, Dr. Cohen maps out how political fundraising is evolving and how that will change the future of modern political campaigns all over the world. (Link)
The Bulwark
Biden's Falling Approval Rating
Dr. Cohen puts Biden's recent political slide into historical perspective and looks at ways where he can recover some of his relatively high-flying honeymoon approval numbers. (Link)
The Hill
Virginia Governor's Race
Dr. Cohen outlines the how Glenn Youngkin's high-tech campaign for Governor of Virginia is outperforming political expectations, the polls, and former governor Terry McAuliffe. (Link)
Politics, Politics, Politics
Virginia Gubernatorial Election
Dr. Cohen live pods the 2021 Virginia election results with fellow political junkie Justin Robert Young and chat how it will impact strategy for the midterm election campaigns and 2024. (Link)
INSIDER
2024 GOP Presidential Power Rankings
Dr. Cohen helps readers understand the current muddled state of the GOP, the race for the 2024 nomination, and how the ties to former President Donald Trump might change. (Link)
Fox News
2024 Pre-Season Presidential Campaign
Dr. Cohen talks with Fox News Correspondent Mark Meredith about how pre-announcement events like the Faith and Freedom conference are important in framing the GOP primary contest. (Link)
Sinclair Broadcasting Group
AAPOR 2020 Polling Report
Dr. Cohen puts the errors in 2020 public election polling into perspective and outlines how the AAPOR report didn't talk with campaign professionals who got their election calls right. (Link)
EU Campaign Playbook
International Political Campaigns
Dr. Cohen joins the Clubhouse room to discuss the differences between U.S. and E.U. political campaigns and his new book, Modern Political Campaigns. Room opens July 7 at noon ET. (Link)
TechTarget Q&A
Election Data Revolutionizes Campaigns
In the book's launch-day interview with Eric Avidon, Dr. Cohen discusses the data revolution in politics and how it has helped campaigns integrate new sources with traditional polling. (Link)
Nexstar TV
Supreme Court Nixes CA Donor Disclosure
Dr. Cohen discusses the implications for future political campaigns in the wake of the July 2021 Supreme Court decision to overrule the State of California's charitable contribution disclosure laws. (Link)
Magħkom (Malta)
2020 Presidential Campaign
Dr. Cohen helps an international audience understand what happened in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and what it means how campaigns are conducted and the future of democracy. (Link)
Spotify Playlist
From Carter to Biden, 40+ Years of Presidential Candidate Walk-Up Songs and Modern Political Campaigns Author Podcast Interviews
Author
Michael D. Cohen, Ph.D.
Michael is CEO of Cohen Research Group a leading political, public affairs, and corporate research firm. He publishes the pioneering and award-winning Congress in Your Pocket suite of mobile apps and teaches graduate courses at Johns Hopkins University on communications writing, research methods, digital strategy, political campaigns, and public policy. He is the author of Modern Political Campaigns: How Professionalism, Technology, and Speed Have Revolutionized Elections, published in June 2021 by Rowman & Littlefield. He is a three-time graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned degrees in political science and mass communication and was inducted into its leadership Hall of Fame. Learn more about Dr. Cohen at http://michaelcohen.us.
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