Presidential elections : strategies and structures of American politics / Nelson W. Polsby, Aaron Wildavsky, Steven E. Schier, and David A. Hopkins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Polsby, Nelson W., author.

Wildavsky, Aaron B., author.

Schier, Steven E., author.

Hopkins, David A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Presidents--United States--Election.

Presidents.

United States.

Presidents--Election.

Physical Description:

xiv, 320 pages ; 26 cm

Edition:

Fourteenth edition.

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2016]

Summary:

Brimming with data and examples from the 2008 and 2012 elections, and laced with previews of 2016, the fourteenth edition of this popular text offers a complete overview of the presidential election process from the earliest straw polls and fundraisers to final voter turnout and exit interviews. The comprehensive coverage includes campaign strategy, the sequence of electoral events, and the issues, all from the perspective of the various actors in the election process: voters, interest groups, political parties, the media, and the candidates themselves. Revised to give students the most up-to-date understanding of the electoral process, the fourteenth edition of Presidential Elections, provides complete coverage of the 2012, election and presidential selection process changes for 2016; offers a greater focus on twenty-first-scentury elections and increasing party polarization; explains the new 2016 campaign finance rules and their implications; explores the increasing demographic diversity of the presidential electorate and its possible 2016 impacts; includes insight on the evolution and impact of new "microtargeting" campaign technologies; and presents a revised and updated analysis of possible reforms of the presidential election process. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I The Strategic Environment 1

1 Voters 3

Why People Don't Vote 3

Why People Do Vote: A Theory of Social Connectedness 8

Party Identification as Social Identity 10

Parties as Aggregates of Loyal Voters 11

Ideologies, Candidates, and Issues in the Minds of Voters 15

Changes in Party Identification: Social Habit versus Contemporary Evaluation 19

A Central Strategic Problem: The Attentiveness of Voters 22

2 Groups 25

The Presidential Vote as an Aggregation of Interest Groups 25

Variations among Interest Groups 31

"Special" Interests, Campaign Spending, and Public Interest Groups 36

Political Parties as Organizations 41

Third Parties 46

3 Rules and Resources 49

Rules: The Electoral College 49

Thinking about Resources 50

Resources: Money 50

The Beverly Hills Primary 51

Campaign Finance in Presidential Primaries 55

Raising and Spending Money in the General Election 57

Does Money Buy Elections? 58

Campaign Finance Reform 64

Resources: Control over Information 66

Newspapers 68

Television 72

The Internet and Other New Media 76

Incumbency as a Resource: The Presidency 79

Incumbency as a Liability: The Vice Presidency 81

The Balance of Resources 84

Part II Sequences 85

4 The Nomination Process 87

Before the Primaries 89

Iowa and New Hampshire: First in the Nation 94

1972 94

1976 95

1984 96

1992 96

2004 97

2008 98

2012 100

What Do These Historical Vignettes Teach? 101

State Primaries 102

State Caucuses 114

Superdelegates 116

The National Party Conventions 118

Party Delegates at the Conventions 119

The Convention as Advertising 122

The Vice Presidential Nominee 126

The Future of National Conventions 131

5 The Campaign 135

The Well-Traveled Candidates 136

Persuading Voters 140

Economic Issues 141

Foreign Issues 143

Social Issues 145

Presentation of Self 146

Negative Campaigning 150

Getting Good Press 153

Campaign Professionals 156

Policy Advisers 160

Polling 163

Focus Groups 168

Television Advertising 170

New Media 173

Televised Debates 174

Getting Out the Vote 180

Campaign Blunders 182

Forecasting the Outcome 188

Counting the Vote 194

Part III Issues 199

6 Appraisals 201

Reform upon Reform 201

The Political Theory of Policy Government 203

Reform by Means of Participatory Democracy 209

Some Specific Reforms 213

The Nomination Process 213

The Decline of the National Convention 216

The Electoral College 219

Party Platforms and Party Differences 226

7 American Parties and Democracy 229

Elections and Public Policy 230

Parties of Advocacy versus Parties of Intermediation 235.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781442253650

1442253657

9781442253674

1442253673

OCLC:

910826881