Rewiring politics : presidential nominating conventions in the media age / edited by Costas Panagopoulos.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Panagopoulos, Costas.

ProQuest (Firm)

Series:

Media & public affairs

Media and public affairs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media--Political aspects--United States.

Mass media.

Mass media--Political aspects.

United States.

Nominations for office--United States.

Nominations for office.

Political conventions--United States.

Political conventions.

Presidents--United States--Election.

Presidents.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 212 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2007]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

A century ago, national political parties' nominating conventions for U.S. presidential candidates often resembled wide-open brawls, filled with front-stage conflicts and back-room deals. Today, leagues of advisors precisely plan and carefully script these events even though their outcomes are largely preordained. Rewiring Politics offers the first in-depth exploration of the profound changes in the nominating process to focus on the role of the media. Fourteen luminaries from the worlds of media and politics examine how the technology of "coverage" has transformed conventions over time. As the contributors demonstrate, the story of the evolution of the nominating process cannot be told without the concomitant story of the revolution in mass media. The impact of the media on political conventions has received surprisingly little scholarly attention. Yet few aspects of the American political process have faced such radical alterations in such a short period of time. From the first live television broadcast from a national convention on June 21, 1948, during the Republican convention in Philadelphia, through the advent of cable networks and the Internet, both the presentation and the content of the nominating process has been transformed. Today, because the party's nominee is selected before the event, candidates use their conventions-and convention coverage-as a form of advertising. They design mega-media events to electrify the party faithful and to woo undecided voters by dazzling them. Without a doubt, the contributors conclude, conventions still matter, though their role has changed over the past decades. Rewiring Politics helps readers assess the evolution of conventions in contemporary politics and addresses the implications of these changes on our parties, politics, and society.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction: Presidential Nominating Conventions in the Media Age / Costas Panagopoulos 1

Chapter 2 Follow the Bouncing Ball: Assessing Convention Bumps, 1964-2004 / Costas Panagopoulos 16

Chapter 3 Conventions and Campaign Dynamics / Michael G. Hagen, Richard Johnston 29

Chapter 4 Party Profiles: National Convention Delegates / John C. Green, John S. Jackson 53

Chapter 5 The Utility of Party Conventions in an Era of Low Visibility and Campaign Finance Reform / J. Mark Wrighton 76

Chapter 6 Nominating Conventions, Campaign Events, and Political Information / Costas Panagopoulos 92

Chapter 7 Conventions for the Unconventional: Minor Party Conventions, 1992-2004 / John C. Berg 98

Chapter 8 Lights, Camera, Chaos? The Evolution of Convention "Crises" / R. Sam Garrett 113

Chapter 9 Rewiring the Conventions (Again): The Internet and Innovation in Politics and Media / Michael Cornfield 133

Chapter 10 Losing Control? The Rise of Cable News and Its Effect on Party Convention Coverage / Jonathan S. Morris, Peter L. Francia 147

Chapter 11 Mass Media and the Democratization of Presidential Nominating Conventions / Terri Susan Fine 165

Chapter 12 The New Role of the Conventions as Political Rituals / Gerald M. Pomper 189.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.

OCLC:

781615081

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.