Table of Contents
Preface xi
1 Introduction 2
A Framework for Understanding Campaigns and Elections 6
Evaluating Campaigns and Elections 13
Conclusion 16
2 The American Electoral Process 18
Who Can Run 21
When Elections Are Held 25
Where to Run 27
Who Can Vote 41
Who Wins 46
Conclusion 49
3 The Transformation of American Campaigns 52
The First Campaign Era: Pre-Democratic Campaigns, 1788-1824 55
The Second Campaign Era: Mass Mobilization Campaigns, 1828-92 58
The Third Campaign Era: Progressive Era Campaigns, 1896-1948 65
The Fourth Campaign Era: Candidate Campaigns, 1952-? 69
What about Today? 74
Conclusion 82
4 Financing Campaigns 84
Rules for Donors 89
Rules for Spenders 99
Campaign Finance Rules and Political Strategy 106
The Debate over Campaign Finance Reform 113
Conclusion 122
5 Modern Campaign Strategies 124
How Are Campaign Strategies Constructed? 126
Strategic Campaign Decisions 135
Organizing for Strategic Success 148
Who Are Campaign Strategists? 152
Conclusion 156
6 Political Parties 158
What Are Political Parties? 160
Why Do We Have Parties? 162
The Democratic and Republican Parties 164
What about Third Parties? 168
What Roles Do Parties Play in Campaigns? 169
How Rules and Reality Constrain Parties 175
Are Political Parties in Decline? 177
Party Evolution and Polarization 179
Evaluating Political Parties 182
Conclusion 183
7 Interest Groups 186
Types of Interest Groups 188
Why Does the United States Have So Many Interest Groups? 191
How Are Interest Groups Involved in Campaigns? 194
Rules, Reality, and Interest Group Strategies 201
Interest Group Campaign Influence 202
Evaluating Interest Groups 207
Conclusion 209
8 Media 212
Who Are the News Media? 216
Government's Limited Oversight of the News Media 221
The Business of News and the Norm of Objectivity 223
What Gets Covered, and How? 228
How Do Candidates and the News Media Interact? 235
The Effects of Media Coverage on Citizens 239
Evaluating the News Media's Role in Campaigns 244
Conclusion 246
9 Presidential Campaigns 248
Goals of Presidential Campaigns 251
Winning the Nomination 252
The National Conventions 259
The General Election 263
Conclusion 282
10 Congressional Campaigns 286
Rules, Reality, and Who Runs for Congress 289
Campaign Organization and Funding 291
The Nomination Process 295
The General Election 298
The Incumbency Advantage 303
The Declining Competitiveness of Congressional Elections 307
Conclusion 310
11 State and Local Campaigns 312
Rules and Reality in Local Elections 317
Rules and Reality in State Elections 321
Campaign Strategies Big and Small 327
The Push toward Professionalization 331
Activists in State and Local Campaigns 336
The Paradox of State and Local Elections 338
Conclusion 340
12 Voter Participation 342
What Is Electoral Participation? 344
Trends in Participation in the United States 346
Comparing Participation in the United States and Other Countries 349
Why Do People Participate in Campaigns and Elections? 351
Group Differences in Electoral Participation 368
Are Voters Representative of Nonvoters? 374
Conclusion 377
13 Voter Choice 380
What Influences Vote Choice 383
When Campaigns Matter 397
How Campaigns Matter 402
Conclusion 408
14 Democracy in Action or a Broken System? 412
Campaigns and Democratic Values 414
The Reality of Political Campaigns 420
Reforming Campaigns 428
Conclusion 437
Glossary G-1
Credits C-1
Index I-1
