Do Celebrity Politics and Celebrity Politicians Matter - Essay Example

Do Celebrity Politics and Celebrity Politicians Matter? The article, Do Celebrity Politics and Celebrity Politicians Matter?, is authored by John Street and set within the dynamics of politics. The continued participation of celebrity personalities in politics has exacerbated in the recent past. This trend has captured the attention of John Street and other active players in political matters. John Street looks into the extent celebrities play an active role in politics today. The key aspects considered in the article include political communication, policy making, and research into celebrity-driven politics. Trends in celebrity politics and politicians are also highlighted relative to the differing perspectives of political scientists. The celebrity picture is essentially rooted in popular culture. Politics, on the other hand, seek to create a positive public picture that attracts the attention of the target group. The link between celebrity and politics is based on the relative benefits that are likely to be reaped from either of them. This follows the notion that celebrities and politicians can hardly work together for the purpose of realizing adverse effects on either of the parties involved. John Street considers both sides of the story, highlighting the interests, benefits, concerns, and implications underlying celebrity politics and celebrity politicians. The process and result of celebrity-driven politics has been used in the article to pinpoint the point at which celebrity politics matter. To John Street, this is a critical issue that calls for empirical back up. Inconclusive researches cannot address the underlying concerns adequately, thus the need to evaluate and assess the critical point at which politics connect, interact, and relate with celebrityhood. The article exhibits diversity in dealing with the matter at hand. Numerous works done by other professionals in the political context have been used to reinforce John Street’s arguments. Approaches to the public notion are diverse and dynamic. For this reason, John Street relies on differentiated accounts to present his topic and his personal stand on the matters therein. It is important to note that expert opinions and perspectives differ as far as politics and politicians in the celebrity context are concerned. John Street acknowledges that celebrity politics cannot be unanimously defined. This is because the variables and factors involved are many in number, and they are viewed differently by different people. John Street reduces the many categories of celebrity politics into two, namely: “traditional politician who emerges from a background in show business or who uses the techniques of popular culture to seek (and acquire) elected office and the celebrity who seeks to influence the exercise of political power by way of their fame and status” (Street, 2012, 347). In so doing, the understanding of celebrity politics is enhanced. Street considers the many factors that characterize celebrity and politics, and then offers his readers an easier way to evaluate the celebrity-driven political process. The simplification of the text is suitable for reader diversity. Street’s approach to the topic is simple, but still presents the criticality of the matter at hand. In contrast, Marsh and his colleagues complicate the matter even further. According to Marsh and others (2010, 327), “celebrity advocate, celebrity activist/endorser, celebrity politician, politician celebrity, and politician who uses others’ celebrity” are the key categories that constitute celebrity politics. The intensity of this argument requires professional interpretation as opposed to the applicability of the readers’ understanding. The use of celebrity personalities as examples reinforces the points being made in the article. President Obama, Bono, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bob Geldof, and Ronald Reagan are some of the people mentioned in the article with reference to celebrity politics. The use of these personalities pinpoints to the relative effects that politics and politicians realize from celebrities. Their use in the article is strategic, relative to making the reader understand the point being made. Street is quick to present his side of the story whenever he considers the point of view of another person. This further breaks author monotony to encompass diverse arguments and counterarguments to the story. Insights into Street’s view and perspective of celebrity politics and celebrity politicians are rooted in New Labour, theorisation of celebrity politics, and research into celebrity politics implications (Street, 2012, 347). Looking into these aspects works to the best interest of undertaking a critical review of the topic. Most importantly, the move to consider research work in the field of celebrity politics validates Street’s pursuit. This is a stronghold in the part of presenting his claims and arguments about the topic. The ultimate objective of publicizing politics is to reach out to the public and subsequently influence people to favour one group as opposed to another. The use of celebrityhood in political activities is a strategic approach that seems to capture a significant portion of the public population. The idea of celebrityhood in politics is to enhance communication. In this respect, celebrity politics encompass coming up with collaborative efforts that foster communication between politicians and the public. Personally, the extent to which this strategy works is subject to myriad number of questions. This is because the audience must be well understood before a communication strategy is executed. In the celebrity context, audience uniformity is assumed, thus the execution of a uniform strategy whose outcome is relatively uncertain. As a result, public attention is not fully realized through the celebrity pursuit. Individual differences have to be factored in when evaluating means to employ celebrity-driven politics. Policy making is another critical aspect of politics. Bono, Geldof, and Blair are some of the people mentioned in the policy making factor relative to celebrity politics and celebrity politicians (Street, 2012, 350). The policy making process encompasses many and differentiated activities, all of which attract the interest and attention of different lobby groups. In the light of the mentioned individuals, celebrity influence may be seen in policy formulation and implementation. Notably, total lack of that influence is also possible to observe. Street expresses a very strong point relative to celebrity influence on policy making. He eliminates author bias by evaluating the two sides of the matter. Essentially, celebrity power do not necessary have to influence political power. This aspect is actually seen in Street’s article. It is important to differentiate public pressure from celebrity pressure. Anthony Seldon (2007, 370) notes, “Live8 is one of those rare occasions in world history where collective public pressure moved politicians”. The statement above implies that public pressure do not necessary encompass celebrity influence. However, the possibility of celebrity influence playing an active role in mobilizing public pressure cannot be overlooked. In other words, there are two sides to this story. Notably, these two sides exhibits individual freedom from celebrity influence as far as politics and politicians are concerned. This presents another commendable aspect in relation to John Street’s topic. The celebrity politics debate is diverse and dynamic. It encompasses many and differentiated variables and factors that make it hard to account for every underlying issue or concern. The three approaches employed by Street with regard to celebrity politics are satisfactory relative to the ground covered in the topic. The approaches include New Labour, theorisation of celebrity politics, and research into celebrity politics implications (Street, 2012, 347). Although Street expressively and informatively puts his point across, his focus on what other people are saying about the topic makes his text seem predominated by other scholars. The evidence used, however, fits the ground he stands for. Whether or not celebrity politics and politicians matter depends on the concerns addressed when evaluating the topic. The New Labour factor presented in the article shows that the outcome of celebrity politics is hard to define. On the other hand, celebrity politics theorisation is influenced by the variables each theory has to account for (Davis, 2010, 94). Finally, empirical approaches to celebrity politics are limited in scope and inconclusive. Essentially, John Street leaves the matter open to more critique and subjection to empirical studies. The issues, concerns, and impacts of celebrity politics and politicians raised by John Street are informative. This is a topic that the public pays little or no attention to. Equipping readers with vast knowledge about the topic is a commendable move. Moreover, the use of prominent personalities as examples enables the reader to connect the text with the real world scenario. Suggesting comparative studies and audience/citizen reception in celebrity politics research will undoubtedly intensify scholarly works and further diversity the focus of such research beyond U.S and UK. In conclusion, the dynamics of celebrity politics seem to take different perspectives. Scholars, researchers, and political scientists differ on the course being taken by players in this field. Amid their differences, these people come to a consensus that celebrity politics has its successes and failures. Celebrity is a crucial force that influences the public in one way or another, with or without politics. Embedding celebrityhood in politics matters relative to its impacts on public communication and policy making processes. This matter still awaits research conclusiveness. Reference List Davis, A. (2010). Political Communication and Social Theory, London: Routledge. Marsh, D., et al. (2010) ‘Celebrity politics: The politics of late modernity?’, Political Studies Review, 8:3, 322–340. Seldon, A. (2007). Blair Unbound, London: Simon & Schuster. Street, J. (2012). Do Celebrity Politics and Celebrity Politicians Matter? The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 14(3), 346–356. Read More