The democratic struggle for power: the 2008 Presidential campaign in the USA

This essay makes both empirical and theoretical claims. Empirically, it develops one of the first sociological approaches to the recently completed 2008 Presidential campaign in the USA. Theoretically, it offers a cultural‐sociological challenge to the kinds of instrumentalist, materialist, and institutionalist approaches that have been central to power studies. In democratic societies, the struggle for ultimate power is a symbolic conflict. The goal is to become a certain kind of collective representation, one that embodies the ideals of the civil sphere. The struggle to represent the civil sphere is performative, of sculpting an image and projecting it to fragmented audiences. Such efforts to fuse actor and audience are mediated by relatively independent interpretive processes, launched not only by political and social antagonists but by the very mass media upon which the successful projection of messages depend. For this reason, successful struggles for civil power are highly contingent. One must not only become a hero but a hero inside of civil society, working the binaries that confer and undermine legitimacy, but one must also work the boundaries, framing the relations that connect the civil sphere with such noncivil spheres as economy, race, gender, and religion, boundaries that are fluid and subject to construction. Keywords: powerperformanceculturecivil sphereObama Notes 1. For background, see Alexander (Citation2006a). In Alexander (Citation2009), I bring this perspective to bear in contemporary issues in political sociology and to recent theories of power. 2. Haugaard (Citation1998, pp. 167–168, original italics) has also connected performativity to power: 'Structural constraint works on the level of infelicity. When an actor intends to reproduce structures or meaning but other actors treat the intended meaning as infelicitous, there is a failure in structural reproduction … If others are willing to grant the same meaning to an act of commanding as is intended by the speaker, then … the command is reproduced. If, on the other hand, the act of commanding meets a response of infelicity then it is not a command … Except for direct coercion, it is always the attitude of the second actor B who determines the success of an exercise of power … The person extending power is always potentially open to infelicitious reactions which represent the structural limits of their power. On the other hand, by performing well or gaining trust, it is possible to redefine a position and, in so doing, create new power resources.' 3. Kovaleski, S., 2008. Obama's organizing years, guiding others and finding himself. The New York Times, 7 July, p. A1. 4. Nagourney, A. and Lebiovich, M., 2008. Clinton ends campaign with clear call to elect Obama. The New York Times, 8 June, p. A1. 5. Stelter, B. and Rutenberg, J., 2008. Obama's speech is a TV hit, with reviewers and commentators alike. The New York Times, 29 August, p. A14. 6. Powell, M., 2008. Barack Obama: calm in the swirl of history. The New York Times, 4 June, p. A1. 7. Broder, J.M., 2008. Obama, adopting economic theme, criticizes McCain. The New York Times, 10 June. 8. Quoted in William Kristol, 'A campaign we can believe in?' The New York Times, Section A, Op‐Ed page. 9. Kristol, A campaign we can …. 10. Harwood, J., 2008. The caucus – democratic primary fight is like no other, ever. The New York Times, 2 June, Section A. 11. Kovaleski, 2008. Obama's organizing years …. 12. Ibid. 13. Rutenberg, J. and Zeleny, J., 2008. Obama's campaign tightens control of image and access. The New York Times, 19 June, p. A1. 14. Ibid. 15. Broder, 2008. Obama, adopting economic theme. 16. Rutenberg, J., 2008. Friendly campaigning, only not so much. The New York Times, 12 July, Section A. 17. These insights are developed by Yale sociology graduate student Inge Schmidt in her PhD dissertation. 18. Luo, M. and Zeleny, J., 2008. Obama, in shift, says he'll reject public financing. The New York Times, 20 June, Section A. 19. Rutenberg, 'Friendly campaigning, only not so much'. 20. Powell, M. 2008. Obama, awaiting a new title, carefully hones his partisan image. The New York Times, 3 June, A18. 21. Powell, M., 2008. For Obama, a pragmatist's shift toward the center. The New York Times, 27 June. 22. Harwood, J., 2008. Flip flops are looking like a hot summer trend. The New York Times, 23 June, Section A. 23. Powell, M. and Zeleny, J., 2008. Obama fuels pullout debate with remarks. The New York Times, 4 July. 24. Healy, P., 2008. Target: Barack Obama. Strategy: what day is it? The New York Times, 4 July. 25. Rutenberg and Zeleny, 'Obama Campaign keeps Close Watch on his Image.' The New York Times, 19 June, p. A1.