The ground upon which campaigns and elections are contested has been shifting rapidly in the last decade. Radical and ongoing changes to the way elections are administered and campaigns are financed; new approaches to polling, campaign management and advertising, and voter mobilization; and recent developments in the organization of political parties and interest groups, the operation of the media, and the behavior of voters require close examination. New Directions in Campaigns and Elections guides students through the tangle of recent developments in real-world politics drawing on the insights of innovative scholarship on these topics.
More than any other aspects of American politics, campaigns and elections have been affected—in many cases transformed—by new communication technologies, a recurring theme throughout the volume. This tightly organized collection of original contributions raises important normative questions, grounds students’ thinking in cutting edge empirical research, and balances applied politics with scholarly insights. Like other volumes in the New Directions in American Politics series, the focused exploration of the latest developments across a comprehensive range of topics makes this an ideal companion for students eager to understand the rapidly changing political environment of the U.S. electoral process.
1. Election Administration: Setting the Rules of the Game Thad Hall and M. Kathleen Moore 2. Campaign Finance: Adapting to a Changing Regulatory Environment David B. Magleby 3. Polling: Innovations in Survey Research Brian F. Schaffner 4. Campaign Management and Organization: The Use and Impact of Information and Communication Technology Stephen K. Medvic 5. Campaign Advertising: Reassessing the Impact of Campaign Ads on Political Behavior Bryce Corrigan and Ted Brader 6. Voter Mobilization: The Scientific Investigation of Getting the Electorate to the Polls Robert A. Jackson 7. Political Parties: The Tensions Between Unified Party Images and Localism Jeffrey M. Stonecash 8. Interest Groups: Back to Basic Questions Clyde Wilcox 9. Media: The Complex Interplay of Old and New Forms Diana Owen 10. Voting Behavior: Traditional Paradigms and Contemporary Challenges Andrew Dowdle, Pearl K. Ford, and Todd G. Shields 11. Congressional Elections: Why Some Incumbent Candidates Lose Jamie L. Carson and Carrie P. Eaves 12. Presidential Elections: Campaigning within a Segmented Electorate Scott D. McClurg and Philip Habel 13. State and Local Elections: The Unique Character of Sub-National Contests Timothy B. Krebs and Jonathan Winburn 14. Election Reform: What is Expected, and What Results? Todd Donovan and Shaun Bowler
Biography
Stephen K. Medvic is associate professor of government at Franklin and Marshall College. He is the author of Political Consultants in the U.S. Congressional Elections and the textbook Campaigns and Elections: Players and Processes, as well as co-editor of Shades of Gray: Perspectives on Campaign Ethics.
"The breadth and uniformly high quality of the original contributions to this collection is impressive. The chapters are timely and well grounded in the literature while remaining highly accessible and interesting. Every student of American elections and campaigns will find plenty to think about in Medvic’s New Directions in Campaigns and Elections."
—James E. Campbell, University of Buffalo, SUNY"Medvic has assembled an impressive collection of chapters in New Directions in Campaigns and Elections. The chapters, authored by established scholars, cover a broad range of topics, ranging from new media and voter mobilization to campaign finance and state politics. Most important, the authors provide their perspectives on the study of campaign and elections, in terms of future research questions, opportunities, and directions. Medvic’s up-to-date text is essential for courses on presidential elections, congressional elections, campaigns and voting behavior, and public opinion."
—Terri L. Towner, Oakland University"The strength of New Directions in Campaigns and Elections is both the breadth of topics covered and the top-notch scholars that write the chapters. This edited volume is rich with details about the most current issues facing campaigns and the relevant aspects of our 21st century election process. By covering the numerous facets of campaigns and elections, Medvic and his colleagues ground the reader in both the critical theory and empirical knowledge necessary to make sense of such complex phenomena."
—Mark Stephan, Washington State University Vancouver
