From Spin to Political PR – A Career Analysis of the Spin Doctors of ’Borgen’ from 2000 to 2017

Abstract to Panel 6: Inside/outside political elites and their political consequences The internationally acclaimed television drama ‘Borgen’ popularized Danish politics and political spin to great effect. In this study we focus on the real spin doctors of Borgen, formally called special advisors. The special advisors are unelected officials increasingly entering political elite circles, exerting substantial influence on the formulation of both political messages and policies under the conditions of mediatized politics and the emergence of what has been called a political communication elite (Pfetsch, 2014). In Denmark, the job position as special advisor first appears around the year 2000, indicating an increased professionalization and mediatization of politics (Knudsen, 2016). At first spin doctors were brought in to help Danish ministers deal with the news media, but since the mid-2000s they have also become closer involved with policy development. In this sense, the special advisors can today be seen as important members of the wider group of so-called policy professionals working in political PR, think tanks and interest organizations (Blach-Ørsten et al., 2017). The paper presents the results of a study mapping the career paths and educational background of all special advisors from 2000 to 2017 (n= 140). Importantly, the compiled data covers the entire career path from graduation to taking up the position of special advisor and after leaving Borgen. We are thus able to study career paths crossing over to government from journalism, political parties, private and public PR and back again – in several cases passing the revolving door more than once. Moreover, we find that the special advisors came from journalism in the beginning of the period under study, but over time journalism loses its hold on the position. We also find that regardless of background most special advisors move on to work in private political PR after leaving Borgen. Overall, the results show that special advisors are not using the position of special advisor as a stepping stone to a permanent position in government, but rather as part of a flexible career path predominantly taking place as a policy professional outside government.