Campaigning in America: A History of Election Practices

by Robert J. Dinkin

Overview

Since the middle of the eighteenth century, elections for public office in the United States have generated significant popular interest. Many accounts from that time to the present have documented the widespread participation and enthusiasm generated by the quest for voter approval. But until now, no one has attempted a comprehensive, comparative history of American electioneering. Historian Robert J. Dinkin does just this in a pathbreaking study that shows how campaigning evolved from the simple forms of earlier days to the complex, expensive races of the present day.

Dinkin discusses the changing nature of vote-getting techniques during the past 250 years. He covers state and local elections as well as national campaigns and the different practices common to each type of election. He demonstrates how a changing social structure influenced American politics, and, as a result, changed elections, candidates, and campaign techniques. Among the influences Dinkin considers are increased competition, the role of political factions and parties, the use of souvenir paraphernalia, and the impact of technology and the media. As the first book of its kind, this new work will be welcomed by scholars and students of American history and politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313261671
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/30/1989
Series:	Contributions in American History , #13
Pages:	243
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.62(d)
Lexile:	1420L (what's this?)

About the Author

ROBERT J. DINKIN is Professor of History at California State University, Fresno. He is the author of two previous books on American voting: Voting in Provincial America and Voting in Revolutionary America (Greenwood Press, 1977, 1982).

Table of Contents

Preface
The Colonial and Revolutionary Periods, 1607-1789
The Early National Period, 1790-1820
The Jacksonian Period, 1824-1852
The Golden Age of Parties, 1854-1888
The Merchandised Style of Campaigning, 1892-1920
The Merchandised Style—Continued, 1920-1948
The Mass Media Age, 1952-1988
Bibliographical Essay
Index

Editorial Reviews

Dinkins (history, California State Univ., Fresno) says this book is intended, not as a study in party organization, but of the content of campaign messages and their intended targets, from America's colonial period to the present day. Those who decried the 1988 Presidential election's emotion-laden appeals for voter support, for example, will learn here that even George Washington wasn't above such tactics: During his run for Virginia legislature, he bought ``beverages'' for voters. Dinkin's early chapters are strong on these colonial campaigns and examine the role of the press in some detail, while later chapters, on the modern era, give a more generalized coverage. This is a useful addition to history collections, but a more detailed analysis of the role of the media would have to be sought elsewhere. See Montague Kern's 30-Second Politics: Political Advertising in the 1980s , reviewed in this issue, below-- Ed. -- Frank Kessler, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Joseph

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