6th Edition
Campaigns and Elections American Style The Changing Landscape of Political Campaigns
With new and revised chapters throughout, the sixth edition of Campaigns and Elections American Style allows academics and campaign professionals the chance to explain how the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 general election, and 2022 midterm election upended the campaign process and changed the landscape of political campaigns forever. Offering a unique and careful mix of Democrat and Republican, academic and practitioner, and male and female campaign perspectives, this volume scrutinizes national and local-level campaigns. Students, citizens, candidates, and campaign managers learn not only how to win elections but also why it is imperative to do so in a safe and ethical way. Perfect for a variety of courses in American government, this book is especially valuable to schools of campaign management and campaign professionals working at every level from the local to the global.
Highlights of the Sixth Edition
- Covers the 2020 and 2022 elections with an eye to 2024.
- Examines changes to the campaign process as a result of COVID-19 and puts them in context with campaign traditions over time.
- Includes a new organization that moves campaign finance up front to emphasize the centrality of fundraising to successful campaigns.
- Offers more data to inform campaign planning and management, especially related to key topics such as the change in news media coverage, the growth and use of social media, the use of "big data" in campaigns, and changes in field and voting rules and policies.
About the Contributors
An Introduction to Campaigns and Elections, American Style
David A. Dulio, Candice J. Nelson, and James A. Thurber
PART I Campaign Rules and Actors
1 U.S. Democracy Survives a Challenge
Chris Sautter
2 Redistricting and Reapportionment in U.S. Elections
Stephen K. Medvic
3 Outside Money and Inside Policy: Campaign Finance in Federal Election
R. Sam Garrett
4 The Role of Political Parties
David A. Dulio and John S. Klemanski
PART II Campaign Context
5 Campaign Management: The Key Elements of a Campaign
Anne Caprara
6 The Uses and Challenges of Survey Research in Election Campaigns
Glen Bolger
7 Primaries: The Key to Understanding Party Factions in American Politics
Elaine C. Kamarck
PART III The Dynamics of the Campaign
8 Microtargeting and Big Data
Tom Bonier
9 Paid Media
Terrance Green
10 How Digital Changed the Political Landscape
Scott Goodstein
11 The Changing Dynamics of Campaign Media: Earned and Owned
Ron Elving
12 Field Organizing in Political Campaigns
Alicia Kolar Prevost
Conclusion
Candice J. Nelson, James A. Thurber and David A. Dulio,
Index
Biography
Candice J. Nelson is Professor of Government, and Academic Director of the Campaign Management Institute at American University.
James A. Thurber is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Government, and Founder and former Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University.
David A. Dulio is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Oakland University.
Praise for Campaigns and Elections American Style
By combining insights from academic research on campaigns with first-hand experiences of campaign practitioners, Campaigns and Elections American Style provides a comprehensive and enlightening account of contemporary political campaigns at every level.
Rachel Bitecofer, Christopher Newport University
Nelson and Thurber have assembled an excellent team of authors to help us understand prior elections and also train our sights on future elections. A distinct element of the book is the cutting-edge, insightful chapters by those actually doing the work of running campaigns, while being grounded in expert academic work. Together, they provide strong coverage of phenomena old and new to place campaigns in the broader context of American government: the use of big data, social media, and substantial unpaid-for traditional media; campaign finance, major donors, Super PACs, and 501(c) organizations; and polling, campaign management, the ground game, parties, and redistricting.
David Magleby, Brigham Young University
Thurber and Nelson’s text is an important resource that brings together perspectives of both academics and experienced campaign professionals to make the case "that campaigns matter." While these insights consider the influence of recent changes in digital technology, data, and social media in an increasingly polarized society, they also connect their analysis of key variables – the political context, voters, messaging, and money -- to the fundamentals of successful political campaigns.
Amy E. Jasperson, Rhodes College
