The message matters : the economy and presidential campaigns / Lynn Vavreck.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vavreck, Lynn, 1968-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Presidents--United States--Election.

Presidents.

Political campaigns--United States.

Political campaigns.

Public opinion--United States.

Public opinion.

United States--Economic conditions--Public opinion.

United States.

United States--Politics and government.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (232 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The economy is so powerful in determining the results of U.S. presidential elections that political scientists can predict winners and losers with amazing accuracy long before the campaigns start. But if it is true that "it's the economy, Stupid," why do incumbents in good economies sometimes lose? The reason, Lynn Vavreck argues, is that what matters is not just the state of the economy but how candidates react to it. By demonstrating more precisely than ever before how candidates and their campaigns affect the economic vote, The Message Matters provides a powerful new way of understanding past elections--and predicting future ones. Vavreck examines the past sixty years of presidential elections and offers a new theory of campaigns that explains why electoral victory requires more than simply being the candidate favored by prevailing economic conditions. Using data from presidential elections since 1952, she reveals why, when, and how campaign messages make a difference--and when they can outweigh economic predictors of election outcomes. The Message Matters does more than show why candidates favored by the economy must build their campaigns around economic messages. Vavreck's theory also explains why candidates disadvantaged by the economy must try to focus their elections on noneconomic issues that meet exacting criteria--and why this is so hard to do.

Contents:

Presidential campaigns

How and why campaigns matter

Context matters : a campaign typology

The media disconnect : media and candidate messages

The message matters : candidate-level tests of the theory

The message matters : microlevel tests of the theory

Candidates creating context.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612820946

9781282820944

128282094X

9781400830480

1400830486

OCLC:

670429611