How to Overcome the Power of Incumbency in Election Campaigns

How can challenger candidates win elections against incumbents? The present book answers this question by comparing four successful challenger candidates with four unsuccessful ones. The analysis includes both a successful and an unsuccessful campaign each from the USA (Bill Clinton, John Kerry), Germany (Gerhard Schroder, Rudolf Scharping), Brazil (Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 2002 and 1998) and the Philippines (Joseph Estrada, Fernando Poe Jr.). Despite the fact that the candidates operate in different political systems, the successful ones do indeed share a number of strategies regarding the campaign message, positioning, timing, preparation and campaign management. The book is based on thorough literature research and in-depth interviews with key political consultants from the four studied countries.