Campaigns and Elections: Contemporary Case Studies

Book Overview

This unique reader examines a broad sample of campaigns and gives students a real flavor of campaign politics by including some of the most interesting, colorful, and surprising races. Combining on-the-ground accounts with links to scholarship, the nineteen case studies drawn from Campaigns and Elections magazine take students behind the scenes to unveil the strategies, techniques, and personalities that drive contemporary campaigns. National, state, and local races receive attention, as do state and local referenda. In their introduction, the editors--a distinguished group of scholars and experts on campaign management--provide helpful background information about the cases. They look at the major influences on and general trends in contemporary electoral politics, including issues, parties, campaign finance, incumbency, and initiative voting. Understanding these factors will help students recognize how each case fits into a broader whole even as that case reflects a uniqueness that makes political campaigns so fascinating. The cases are illustrated with photos, clips from print and television campaign ads, excerpts from campaign literature, and various tables and scoreboards with polling and election return data.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1568024959
• ISBN13: 9781568024950
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: CQ Press
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Analysis

This is a great collection of case studies about some of the best (and worst) recent campaigns. It is best suited for political professionals who can glean valuable knowledge from interviews of staff, consultants and candidates themselves. This is not a "how to" for the novice. Of particular interest to me was seeing just how different some consultants from the "other" party think and operate. From this standpoint this book certainly does help one "know thine enemy". The analysis is first rate, professional, not partisan. Additionally it is free from the bland generalizations and mindless axioms that one sees in many other books about politics and campaigns.

Fascinating campaign case studies

It's very hard to find good, practical case studies of political campaigns written by people who know what they're doing. This book is superb, and an excellent source for people who want to find out the inside story of how candidates win tough elections.