The Electoral Challenge: Theory Meets Practice - Softcover

Stephen Craig

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933116617 ISBN 13: 9781933116617

Publisher: CQ Press,U.S., 2006

Synopsis

If most elections are decided by forces beyond anyone s immediate control--whether it s national economic conditions or voters longstanding partisan attachments--do campaigns really matter? Scholars and political consultants will give you different answers. While scholars insist that consultants operate by the seat of their pants, promoting the latest folk wisdom about which strategies and tactics work, not knowing one way or the other until it s too late, consultants claim that the academics tell us what they already know, or if not, their studies are simply wrong. So, who is right? Stephen Craig takes up the challenge and brings together the voices and ideas of both groups in this engaging and innovative volume. He aims to determine what we know and do not know--based on empirical, rather than anecdotal, evidence--about the factors that determine election outcomes. While the backdrop is academic, the focus is practical: why do some candidates win and others lose on election day? Each chapter contains an essay from a top scholar in the field, followed in most cases by a response from the political consultants so students actually interact with this discourse. By including the views and experiences of both groups, the result is a dialogue from very different, yet complementary perspectives, on how campaigns matter.

About this title

About the Author:

Stephen C. Craig is professor of political science at the University of Florida, as well as director of the university's graduate program in Political Campaigning. He is author of The Malevolent Leaders: Popular Discontent in America (1993); editor of Broken Contract? Changing Relationships between Americans and Their Government (1996); co-editor of After the Boom: The Politics of Generation X (1997), Ambivalence and the Structure of Political Opinion (2005), Ambivalence, Politics, and Public Policy (2005); and has published numerous book chapters and articles in professional journals, including American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Political Behavior, and Political Psychology. His current research deals with attitude measurement, campaign effects, and other aspects of contemporary public opinion and political behavior in the United States. Craig has worked extensively with both academic and political surveys and continues to conduct polling and focus-group research for clients in Florida and elsewhere.

Synopsis:

Talks about the effect of campaigns on election results.

About this edition

• Publisher: CQ Press,U.S.
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1933116617
• ISBN 13: 9781933116617
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 238
• Editor: Stephen Craig