Presidential Elections: Strategies and Structures of American Politics

by Nelson W. Polsby, Aaron Wildavsky, Steven E. Schier, David A. Hopkins

Overview

Polsby and Wildavsky’s classic text, now updated by Stephen Schier and David Hopkins, argues that the institutional rules of the presidential nomination and election processes, in combination with the behavior of the mass electorate, structure the strategic choices faced by politicians in powerful and foreseeable ways. We can make sense of the decisions made by different political actors—incumbents, challengers, Democrats, Republicans, consultants, party officials, activists, delegates, journalists, and voters—by understanding the ways in which their world is organized by incentives, regulations, events, resources, customs, and opportunities. Thoroughly revised and updated, this Sixteenth Edition provides everything students need to know about presidential elections going into the 2024 cycle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538183724
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	07/18/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Steven E. Schier is Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Carleton College. He is the author or editor of 23 books including The Trump Effect: Disruption and Its Consequences in US Politics and Government and Polarized: The Rise of Ideology in American Politics, both with R&L.
David A. Hopkins is associate professor of political science at Boston College. He is the author of Red Fighting Blue: How Geography and Electoral Rules Polarize American Politics (Cambridge University Press), and Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats (Oxford University Press). His political analysis has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Vox, and he is a contributing columnist at Bloomberg Opinion.

Nelson W. Polsby was Heller Professor of Political Science and past Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught American politics for forty years.

Aaron Wildavsky was Class of 1940 Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and founding dean of Berkeley's Graduate (now Goldman) School of Public Policy.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes
Preface
PART I. THE STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT
1. VOTERS
Why People Don’t Vote
Why People Do Vote: A Theory of Social Connectedness
Party Identification as Social Identity
Parties as Aggregates of Loyal Voters
Ideologies, Issues, and National Conditions in the Minds of Voters
Changes in Party Identification: Social Habit versus Contemporary Evaluation
A Central Strategic Problem: The Attentiveness of Voters

2. GROUPS
The Presidential Vote as an Aggregation of Interest Groups
Variations among Interest Groups
“Special” Interests, Campaign Spending, and Public Interest Groups
Political Parties as Organizations
Third Parties

3. RULES AND RESOURCES
Rules: The Electoral College
Thinking About Resources
Resources: Money
Resources: Control over Information
Incumbency as a Resource: The Presidency
Incumbency as a Liability: The Vice Presidency
The Balance of Resources

PART II. SEQUENCES
4. THE NOMINATION PROCESS
Before the Voting Begins: The “Invisible Primary”
The Early States
What Do These Historical Vignettes Teach?
Super Tuesday and Later Primaries
State and Territorial Caucuses
Delegate Allocation
Superdelegates
An Ever-Changing Nomination Process
The National Party Conventions
The Convention as Advertising
The Vice Presidential Nominee
The Future of National Conventions

5. THE CAMPAIGN
The Well-Traveled Candidates
Persuading Voters
Winning the Media Game
Campaign Professionals
Televised Debates
Getting Out the Vote
Campaign Blunders
Forecasting the Outcome
Counting the Vote

PART III. ISSUES
6. APPRAISALS
Reform upon Reform
The Political Theory of Policy Government
Reform by Means of Participatory Democracy
Some Specific Reforms
Party Platforms and Party Differences

7. AMERICAN PARTIES AND DEMOCRACY
Elections and Public Policy
Parties of Advocacy versus Parties of Intermediation

APPENDIXES
A. Vote by Groups in Presidential Elections, 1984–2020
B. Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections, by Population Characteristics, 1984–2020
C. Selections from the Democratic and Republican Party Platforms, 2020

Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

<:st>New edition of the standard work first published in 1964. Cited in Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Presidential Elections: Strategies and Structures of American Politics is the gold standard for textbooks on U.S. presidential elections. The volume thoroughly covers critical pieces of the puzzle of presidential elections including money, different campaign actors, and rules. In addition, it delves into equally important topics that often receive less attention such as the strategic factors in campaigns that can mean winning or losing for a candidate. The up-to-date nature of the volume is also outstanding in covering new trends in topics like media and information flow as well as the changing nature of presidential primaries. In short, this book is a must for those looking for a complete understanding of presidential elections in the U.S..

David Dulio

This book is in its 16th edition for a reason. No book on presidential elections is better. The scholarly coverage is logically developed, complete, and joyfully readable. Everything students need to know about presidential elections is clearly presented with skillful use of informative figures, tables, and charts. I have used this classic textbook for decades. I will continue to use it because my students love this book.

Kenneth F. Warren

Presidential Elections remains the classic text on the structure, history, and process of presidential campaign politics. It is unsurpassed in its coverage of the breadth of influences on elections and their roles in electoral history. This provides an excellent foundation for a better informed and more sophisticated perspective on our current electoral politics–particularly important in these hyper-polarized times.

James E. Campbell

Since it first published in 1964, Presidential Elections has been an instant classic. Schier and Hopkins continue the tradition by offering a 360-degree view of the changing American elections landscape.

Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier