The Winning Message: Candidate Behavior, Campaign Discourse, and Democracy (Communication, Society and Politics) - Softcover

Simon, Adam F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521001919 ISBN 13: 9780521001915

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2002

Synopsis

This study breaks new ground in investigating candidate behavior in American electoral campaigns. It centers on a question of equal importance to citizens and scholars: how can we produce better political campaigns? First, Simon develops the idea of dialogue as a standard for evaluating political campaigns. Second, he reveals that candidates' self-interest in winning leads to avoiding dialogue or substantive campaign discourse. Third, the text demonstrates the beneficial effects produced by the little dialogue that actually occurs and finally, pinpoints the forces responsible for these rare occurrences.

About this title

About the Author

Adam F. Simon is assistant professor of political science, University of Washington. He received his Political Science Ph.D. in 1997 from University of California, Los Angeles. He was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow. His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review and the Journal of Communication, as well as other scholarly journals.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Observers of American elections regularly bemoan the lack of substance in contemporary political campaigns. However, while the need for substance has been clearly articulated, the remedy is not so apparent. Meanwhile, a sea change in the conduct of American politics continues to increase the public's dependence on campaigns for political information. The traditional competition between parties has evolved into a clash of candidates. This clash increasingly occurs over the airwaves and through other means of direct contact, largely at the expense of previous mechanisms that mediated contact between politicians and the public. For voters, the campaign is the proximate source of information about the candidates and the most immediate influence on their decision. For candidates, the campaign offers the best opportunity to hear the public's voice, to clarify long-term goals, and to establish immediate political priorities. Thus, the lack of substance alarms citizens and scholars alike and underscores the importance of an investigation of the dynamics supporting substantive campaigns. In what follows, I attempt to expose the roots of this problem and then to isolate the factors that either elevate or debase campaign discourse.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521001919
• ISBN 13: 9780521001915
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 198