Every four years, journalists propel a presidential campaign into the national consciousness. New candidates and issues become features of the political landscape while familiar rituals are reshaped by the unpredictability of personalities and events. Underlying this apparent process of change, however, is a recurrent cycle of political themes and social attitudes, a pulse of politics that locks the process of choosing a president into a predictable pattern. In this bold and brilliant examination of modern presidential politics, James David Barber reveals the dynamics of this cycle and shows how the pattern of drift and reaction may be broken in this most critical of political choices.
Barber probes beneath the surface of campaigns to detect a steady rhythm of major political motifs. The theory he advances in colorful narrative chapters is that three dominant themes-conflict, conscience, conciliation-recur in foreseeable twelve-year cycles. A combative campaign-Truman vs. Dewey in 1948-is followed four years later by a moral crusade-Eisenhower vs. Stevenson in 1952-which in turn is succeeded by a contest to unify the nation-the Eisenhower-Stevenson rematch in 1956. The pattern is then renewed: the fierce combat between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960 was followed in 1964 by the contest of principle between Johnson and Goldwater. In 1968 Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey by promising to bring the nation together.
Monitoring shifting national political moods is a new elite: the journalists. Barber makes the case that the party system, increasingly clumsy and inflexible, can no longer pick up the beat of politics. Instead it is through newspapers, magazines, and television that the main themes of a campaign are sounded, created, and destroyed. This new edition of The Pulse of Politics provides a timely guide to the themes of the 1992 presidential campaign and to future elections. It will be of special interest to political scientists, historians, media analysts, and journalists.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
James David Barber is James B. Duke Professor of Political Science at Duke University in North Carolina. His books include The Race for the Presidency, The Presidential Character, Citizen Politics, and Politics by Humans.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 5.59
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. . Seller Inventory # mon0000011627
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # I-9781560005896
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Mar2811580054587
Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. THIS BOOK IS PRINTED ON DEMAND. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # L0-9781560005896
Book Description Condition: New. PRINT ON DEMAND Book; New; Fast Shipping from the UK. No. book. Seller Inventory # ria9781560005896_lsuk
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 356. Seller Inventory # 2650543654
Book Description PF. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 6666-IUK-9781560005896
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. reprint edition. 354 pages. 9.25x6.25x1.00 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # x-1560005890
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 356 23:B&W 6 x 9 in or 229 x 152 mm Perfect Bound on White w/Gloss Lam. Seller Inventory # 57967609
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New Original US Edition. Customer service! Satisfaction Guaranteed. This item may ship from the US or our Overseas warehouse depending on your location and stock availability. We Ship to PO BOX Location also. Seller Inventory # ABRR-26051