The Rise of Candidate-centered Politics

The Rise of Candidate-centered Politics PDF Author: Martin P. Wattenberg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Every presidential election since 1964 has been won by the candidate backed by the most united party; yet as party unity has become more important to voting decisions, it has also become increasingly difficult to achieve. In his latest book, Martin Wattenberg offers an in-depth interpretation of the presidential elections of the 1980s, illuminating current theories of political behavior and how they operate in today's candidate-centered politics. Wattenberg investigates the impact that political parties' declining relevance has had on presidential politics. As the parties' ability to polarize opinion weakened and voters were set politically adrift, the candidates themselves had to fill the power vacuum. Interestingly, as the candidates have become more prominent, their popularity has spiraled downward. Wattenberg's national survey data debunks the notion of Reagan as the "teflon president;' demonstrating that many negative judgments stuck to Reagan's public image throughout the 1980s, particularly the criticisms of his conservative policies. The author's intricate analysis shows that many people were torn between candidates whose policies they preferred and those who they thought would produce the best results, and these contradictory attitudes were primarily resolved in favor of Reagan and Bush. This book is not only the successor volume to the author's widely used book on American parties, it is also a controversial and thought-provoking commentary on American parties, politics, and representative government.

The Rise of Candidate-centered Politics

The Rise of Candidate-centered Politics PDF Author: Martin P. Wattenberg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Every presidential election since 1964 has been won by the candidate backed by the most united party; yet as party unity has become more important to voting decisions, it has also become increasingly difficult to achieve. In his latest book, Martin Wattenberg offers an in-depth interpretation of the presidential elections of the 1980s, illuminating current theories of political behavior and how they operate in today's candidate-centered politics. Wattenberg investigates the impact that political parties' declining relevance has had on presidential politics. As the parties' ability to polarize opinion weakened and voters were set politically adrift, the candidates themselves had to fill the power vacuum. Interestingly, as the candidates have become more prominent, their popularity has spiraled downward. Wattenberg's national survey data debunks the notion of Reagan as the "teflon president;' demonstrating that many negative judgments stuck to Reagan's public image throughout the 1980s, particularly the criticisms of his conservative policies. The author's intricate analysis shows that many people were torn between candidates whose policies they preferred and those who they thought would produce the best results, and these contradictory attitudes were primarily resolved in favor of Reagan and Bush. This book is not only the successor volume to the author's widely used book on American parties, it is also a controversial and thought-provoking commentary on American parties, politics, and representative government.

Choosing Character

Choosing Character PDF Author: Frederick M. Buck
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Campaign debates
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description


The Triumph of Campaign-Centered Politics

The Triumph of Campaign-Centered Politics PDF Author: David Menefee-Libey
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
The Triumph of Campaign-Centered Politics highlights the electoral dimensions of representative democracy - representation, deliberation, and choice - and it illuminates the challenges Americans face in developing new political paradigms."--BOOK JACKET.

Guide to U.S. Political Parties

Guide to U.S. Political Parties PDF Author: Marjorie R. Hershey
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1483346455
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 457

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Book Description
This one-volume reference presents the major conceptual approaches to the study of U.S. political parties and the national party system, describing the organization and behavior of U.S. political parties in thematic, narrative chapters that help undergraduate students better understand party origins, historical development, and current operations. Further, it provides researchers with in-depth analysis of important subtopics and connections to other aspects of politics. Key Features: Thematic, narrative chapters, organized into six major parts, provide the context, as well as in-depth analysis of the unique system of party politics in the United States. Top analysts of party politics provide insightful chapters that explore how and why the U.S. parties have changed over time, including major organizational transformations by the parties, behavioral changes among candidates and party activists, and attitudinal changes among their partisans in the electorate. The authors discuss the way the traditional concept of formal party organizations gave way over time to a candidate-centered model, fueled in part by changes in campaign finance, the rise of new communication technologies, and fragmentation of the electorate. This book is an ideal reference for students and researchers who want to develop a deeper understanding of the current challenges faced by citizens of republican government in the United States.

The Rise of Candidate-centered Politics

The Rise of Candidate-centered Politics PDF Author: Martin P. Wattenberg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Get Book Here

Book Description
Every presidential election since 1964 has been won by the candidate backed by the most united party; yet as party unity has become more important to voting decisions, it has also become increasingly difficult to achieve. In his latest book, Martin Wattenberg offers an in-depth interpretation of the presidential elections of the 1980s, illuminating current theories of political behavior and how they operate in today's candidate-centered politics. Wattenberg investigates the impact that political parties' declining relevance has had on presidential politics. As the parties' ability to polarize opinion weakened and voters were set politically adrift, the candidates themselves had to fill the power vacuum. Interestingly, as the candidates have become more prominent, their popularity has spiraled downward. Wattenberg's national survey data debunks the notion of Reagan as the "teflon president;' demonstrating that many negative judgments stuck to Reagan's public image throughout the 1980s, particularly the criticisms of his conservative policies. The author's intricate analysis shows that many people were torn between candidates whose policies they preferred and those who they thought would produce the best results, and these contradictory attitudes were primarily resolved in favor of Reagan and Bush. This book is not only the successor volume to the author's widely used book on American parties, it is also a controversial and thought-provoking commentary on American parties, politics, and representative government.

Where Have All the Voters Gone?

Where Have All the Voters Gone? PDF Author: Martin P. Wattenberg
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674009387
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
As the confusion over the ballots in Florida recently demonstrated, American elections are complex and anything but user-friendly. This has led to a decline in voter turnout. In this text Wattenberg confronts the question of what low participation rates means for democracy.

Diverging Parties

Diverging Parties PDF Author: Jeffrey M. Stonecash
Publisher: Westview Press
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Stonecash (political science, Syracuse U.), Brewer (government, Colby College), and Mariani (PhD candidate, Syracuse U.) argue that polarization between the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. Congress has significantly increased over recent decades and seek to explain why. They contend that long-term secular realignment and social change has resulted in a situation where the diversity within the electoral base of the two parties has decreased while the differences between the bases have grown. After presenting the explanatory framework for their analysis, they review the realignment changes of the parties before the 1970s. The heart of the work focuses on the enfranchisement of the black population since the 1970s, the rise of inequality, and the increase in the Hispanic population, identifying these factors as the drivers of party realignment in the past few decades. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Why Parties?

Why Parties? PDF Author: John H. Aldrich
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226012751
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
Since its first appearance fifteen years ago, Why Parties? has become essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the nature of American political parties. In the interim, the party system has undergone some radical changes. In this landmark book, now rewritten for the new millennium, John H. Aldrich goes beyond the clamor of arguments over whether American political parties are in resurgence or decline and undertakes a wholesale reexamination of the foundations of the American party system. Surveying critical episodes in the development of American political parties—from their formation in the 1790s to the Civil War—Aldrich shows how they serve to combat three fundamental problems of democracy: how to regulate the number of people seeking public office, how to mobilize voters, and how to achieve and maintain the majorities needed to accomplish goals once in office. Aldrich brings this innovative account up to the present by looking at the profound changes in the character of political parties since World War II, especially in light of ongoing contemporary transformations, including the rise of the Republican Party in the South, and what those changes accomplish, such as the Obama Health Care plan. Finally, Why Parties? A Second Look offers a fuller consideration of party systems in general, especially the two-party system in the United States, and explains why this system is necessary for effective democracy.

The Decline of American Political Parties, 1952-1996

The Decline of American Political Parties, 1952-1996 PDF Author: Martin P. Wattenberg
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674044968
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The major theme of Chapter 12, new to this edition, is the missed opportunities for the parties in the 1996 elections. The year started with a highly visible confrontation over the budget that could have revitalized the party coalitions if the issues had been carried over to the election. However, the candidate-centered campaign of 1996 ultimately did little to resolve these issues or to reinvigorate partisanship in the electorate. In spite of the opportunities for getting new voters to the polls created by the Motor Voter Act, voter turnout in 1996 was the lowest since 1924. Turning out the vote is one of the most crucial functions of political parties, and their inability to mobalize more than half of the eligible electorate strongly indicates their future decline in importance to voters. Until citizens support the parties more by showing up to cast votes for their candidates, the decline of American political parties must be considered to be an ongoing phenomenon. --From the preface

Why Americans Split Their Tickets

Why Americans Split Their Tickets PDF Author: Barry C. Burden
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472112864
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Why do some voters split their ballots, selecting a Republican for one office and a Democrat for another? Why do voters often choose one party to control the White House while the other controls the Congress? Barry Burden and David Kimball address these fundamental puzzles of American elections by explaining the causes of divided government and debunking the myth that voters prefer the division of power over one-party control. Why Americans Split Their Tickets links recent declines in ticket-splitting to sharpening policy differences between parties and demonstrates why candidates' ideological positions still matter in American elections. "Burden and Kimball have given us the most careful and thorough analysis of split-ticket voting yet. It won't settle all of the arguments about the origins of ticket splitting and divided government, but these arguments will now be much better informed. Why Americans Split Their Tickets is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the major trends in U.S. electoral politics of the past several decades." -Gary Jacobson, University of California, San Diego "When voters split their tickets or produce divided government, it is common to attribute the outcome as a strategic verdict or a demand for partisan balance. Burden and Kimball strongly challenge such claims. With a thorough and deft use of statistics, they portray ticket-splitting as a by-product of the separate circumstances that drive the outcomes of the different electoral contests. This will be the book to be reckoned with on the matter of ticket splitting." -Robert Erikson, Columbia University "[Burden and Kimball] offset the expansive statistical analysis by delving into the historical circumstances and results of recent campaigns and elections. ... [They] make a scholarly and informative contribution to the understanding of the voting habits of the American electorate-and the resulting composition of American government." -Shant Mesrobian, NationalJournal.com