The pursuit of political power is strategic as never before. Ministers, MPs, and candidates parrot the same catchphrases. The public service has become politicized. And decision making is increasingly centralized in the Prime Minister’s Office. What is happening to our democracy? In this persuasive book, Alex argues that political parties and government are beholden to the same marketing principles used by the world’s largest corporations. Called branding, the strategy demands repetition of spoken, written, and visual messages, predetermined by the leader’s inner circle. Marland warns that public sector branding is an unstoppable force that will persist no matter who is in power. It also creates serious problems for parliamentary democracy that must be confronted. This book will fascinate anyone who is interested in how Ottawa works and where Canadian politics is headed.

Alex Marland (Political Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland) was a public servant in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador from 2003 to 2006. He coedited First Among Unequals: The Premier, Politics, and Policy in Newfoundland and Labrador and coauthored the textbook Inside Canadian Politics. His book Brand Command: Canadian Politics and Democracy in the Age of Message Control won the Donner Prize for best public policy book by a Canadian and the Atlantic Book Award for scholarly writing.

Alex Marland's profile page

• Winner, The Donner Prize
• Winner, Book Award for Scholarly Writing, Atlantic Book Awards

Much of Marland’s book is focused on how the former Conservative government brought branding and message control to federal politics — and it’s the most complete, revelatory insight to date … Marland flatly warns that branding erodes parliamentary democracy and the book contains a number of suggested ways to keep branding power in check. It doesn’t work well when people are “off message.” Healthy democracy, on the other hand, requires an element of dissent and disagreement. The same is true of the media, which can often be seen by brand-fixated governments as just another arm of the marketing machine.

The Toronto Star

Alex Marland has written a tour de force on message control in government and party communications … Beyond this worthy contribution to his field of study, Marland also manages to interweave a synthesis of theoretical perspectives while offering his own original insights into modern government communications and political marketing. In all likelihood, Brand Command will become a standard reference work for those who study this increasingly important aspect of politics and public policy.

Journal of Newfoundland and Labrador Studies

"Marland’s excellent account pulls back the curtain and reveals minute behind the scenes details of how the government practiced strategic communication, something that is seldom possible to document so thoroughly. His analysis of specific branding efforts will be useful to academics studying the field. But it is also highly recommended for practitioners, both on the political side and within the public service, who want to understand how a particular government handled communications, the path that future governments are likely to take in a similar way to solve similar challenges, and the pressures that this puts on the relationship between the political government and the permanent government."

International Journal of Public Administration

Practically every paragraph [of Brand Command] is jam-packed with provocative instances and insightful opinions. Any person who aspires to political participation, or simply to an intelligent grasp of the nuances of modem politics, must read this book.

Newfoundland Quarterly

The pursuit of political power is more strategic than ever and political parties and governments are using the same brand control as the world’s largest corporations, which does not bode well for democracy, argues Alex Marland in his thought-provoking new book … Mr. Marland, one of the country’s leading experts on marketing and politics … substantially investigates the branding strategy in government and politics today and looks at how it will create serious problems for parliamentary democracy.

The Hill Times

Marland’s excellent account pulls back the curtain and reveals minute behind the scenes details of how the government practiced strategic communication, something that is seldom possible to document so thoroughly. His analysis of specific branding efforts will be useful to academics studying the field.

International Journal of Public Administration

This book represents another major contribution to the study of Canadian political communications and marketing by Alex Marland.

Journal of Canadian Studies

Alex Marland’s Brand Command provides us with insightful and profound lessons about how government works behind the scenes. Marland collected and analyzed a wealth of fascinating primary government data to write the book, and as a result, it demonstrates how tightly government can manage its communications, raises questions about how effective centralized systems are, and requires us all to reflect on how (or even if) we can judge whether the practice of political management is acceptable or not for democracy.

The International Journal of Press/Politics