ABSTRACT
Over the past three decades, political consultants have proven themselves to be opportunistic and resourceful innovators responsible for introducing focus groups and “astroturf” campaigning into mainstream politics. During that time, the profession evolved from its basic origins with the Madison Avenue advertising executives who moonlighted as campaign operatives and the handful of academics determined to put their empirical knowledge to use into a specialized, professional workforce numbering in the tens of thousands. One of the reasons for the rapid growth of political consulting has been the willingness of practitioners to probe new territory and take advantage of political change.
