Celebrity Influence in Politics: Using Fame to Impact Society - Essay Sample

Introduction

Celebrity is sometimes an integral component in politics where a prominent person takes advantage of their fame to influence others on political matters and its ideology. Some political influencers are in place because of how well they used their "celebrityhood." Some other celebrities use popularity to represent the greater group. Celebrity and politics is an exciting topic because only a few people use it to influence a greater population (Johnston & Goodman, 2015). Additionally, there are underlying matters of interest that lead the celebrity of an individual to successful politics. My common understanding is that celebrities are not populists. Additionally, they are successful and non-politicians, as well. For politicians, most of them are disliked and associated with being unsuccessful. It is interesting how some of the celebrities head into politics, where there is no much success in life. For instance, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was a former Mr. Universe, runs for a seat as a governor of California in 2003.

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Celebrities are today a mainstay in various elections. They are now promoting democracy, advocating for their political parties of interest, and some are running for elections (Johnston & Goodman, 2015). Since most of them are grounded on social media, the platform is being used exhaustively to mobilize voters and followers of various political parties. As a result, some have gained interest, and others even served in the parliament. Additionally, there is more interest in celebrity politics by multiple political parties globally (Partzsch, 2015). Celebrities are perceived by politicians as being influential megastars. For that reason, they are assets to campaigns and political agenda. It is through such channels that they become drawn into politics even further and find themselves participating fully and phasing off their celebrity.

Presently, there is an intersection of politics and Hollywood. This is becoming even more serious and elevates various policy debates and draws even a greater public into political matters. Besides Hollywood actors, other celebrities comprising professional athletes, actresses, musicians, and video personalities are being drawn more into politics. They are prominently advanced fast into political issues for their power and capability to shed light on various matters and also persuade the public easily. Additionally, celebrities have well established public forums through which other individuals can speak on talk shows and events (Partzsch, 2015). With that, they can receive feedback and then go ahead to participate in political matters. Many political influencers do not have any wide-reaching forums and media. However, for celebrities, it is made easier for them to exert an influence on politics. Many of them prefer being drawn from the media that is intimate and focused on the public's side. Through such media like television and twitter, celebrities can reach a greater audience while influencing their followers' understanding of publicly overarching issues.

The links between celebrity and politics have had a great influence on the public. To the general audience, celebrities are taking advantage of their activism on the international stage. Even so, most of the involved stars are self-selected and pursue to impact policy and shape the public agenda on various matters (David & Atun, 2015). Therefore, stars are playing a growing role as an emergency strategy for advocating for politics. Celebrity advocacy is now revolutionizing the political sector as the public sphere is advanced than time in the past. Previously, the few celebrities had no capacity to start and maintain para-social relationships. The modern generation is that which relies on young citizens who are, in turn, interested in the media and politics combined. Therefore, having a relationship between celebrity and politics is of importance to almost any nation.

The interconnection between celebrity and politics has also created some form of identification where various individuals get connected with celebrities. With such a mutual relationship, trust is built between the public and the personality, letting them trust the behaviors being advocated (Ribke, 2015). Some other followers tend to develop similar beliefs and attitudes. Presently, celebrities who are running for political seats are making their followers believe in the convictions, values, and behaviors portrayed by the celebrity endorser. Therefore, the concept of identification is essential in the persuasion process in politics. The ability of celebrities who are involved in politics to identify with their followers let them influence their behaviors and lead them towards their interested parties.

I have seen various celebrities rise themselves in politics. Most of these include reality television stars and musicians. Even though some campaign for their political parties of interest, some others campaign against them. For instance, Oprah Winfrey endorsed Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008. This proves some influence of celebrity in politics. Additionally, Donald Trump was a renowned businessperson and television personality. Media such as fox news featured him to discuss politics and other overarching matters. Later, he campaigned and won the 2016 United States presidential election. Additionally, Selena Gomez once wrote regarding immigration in the US. In her text, she addressed various challenges associated with immigration to the US. She continued to advocate against it as it was exceedingly a political issue. There are even more examples over the world, and more are yet to come considering that this generation is stuck at social media where celebrities are influencing them.

References

David, C. C., & Atun, J. M. L. (2015). Celebrity Politics: Correlates of Voting for Celebrities in Philippine Presidential Elections. Social Science Diliman, 11(2).

Johnston, J., & Goodman, M. K. (2015). Spectacular foodscapes: Food celebrities and the politics of lifestyle mediation in an age of inequality. Food, culture & society, 18(2), 205-222.

Partzsch, L. (2015). The power of celebrities in global politics. Celebrity Studies, 6(2), 178-191.

Ribke, N. (2015). Entertainment politics: Brazilian celebrities' transition to politics, recent history and main patterns. Media, Culture & Society, 37(1), 35-49.