Campaigns and Elections American Style

With new and revised chapters throughout, the sixth edition of Campaigns and Elections American Style allows academics and campaign professionals the chance to explain how the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 general election, and 2022 midterm election upended the campaign process and changed the landscape of political campaigns forever. Offering a unique and careful mix of Democrat and Republican, academic and practitioner, and male and female campaign perspectives, this volume scrutinizes national and local-level campaigns. Students, citizens, candidates, and campaign managers learn not only how to win elections but also why it is imperative to do so in a safe and ethical way. Perfect for a variety of courses in American government, this book is especially valuable to schools of campaign management and campaign professionals working at every level from the local to the global.

Highlights of the Sixth Edition

• Covers the 2020 and 2022 elections with an eye to 2024.
• Examines changes to the campaign process as a result of COVID-19 and puts them in context with campaign traditions over time.
• Includes a new organization that moves campaign finance up front to emphasize the centrality of fundraising to successful campaigns.
• Offers more data to inform campaign planning and management, especially related to key topics such as the change in news media coverage, the growth and use of social media, the use of "big data" in campaigns, and changes in field and voting rules and policies.

Candice J. Nelson is Professor of Government, and Academic Director of the Campaign Management Institute at American University.

James A. Thurber is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Government, and Founder and former Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University.

David A. Dulio is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Oakland University.