Campaigns & Elections : Contemporary Case Studies

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.

Michael A. Bailey is an assistant professor of government at Georgetown University. His articles on congressional politics have appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, World Politics and elsewhere. His research and teaching interests include elections, representation, Congress, interest groups, methodology, and Japanese politics.

Paul S. Herrnson is director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship and professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. He is the author of Congressional Elections: Campaigning at Home and in Washington, 4th ed. (2004) and Party Campaigning in the 1980s (1988) and coauthor of The Financiers of Congressional Elections (2003). He is coeditor of several volumes, including War Stories from Capitol Hill (2003), Responsible Partisanship? The Evolution of American Political Parties Since 1950 (2003), Multiparty Politics in America, 2nd ed. (2002), and Playing Hardball: Campaigning for the U.S. Congress (2000). He has served as an American Political Science Association congressional fellow and has received several teaching awards, including an Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Maryland.

Ronald A. Faucheux is editor in chief of Campaigns & Elections magazine and Campaign Insider, a weekly newsletter. He produces The Political Oddsmaker, an elections handicapping service, and teaches at the Graduate School of Political Management, George Washington University, and American University. His unique background also includes experiences as a Louisiana state legislator and political media consultant; he has conducted major research studies, written numerous articles, and served as a media commentator and research source for electronic and print news organizations worldwide.

Clyde Wilcox is a professor of government at Georgetown University. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including Serious Money: Fundraising and Contributing in Presidential Nomination Campaigns (1995), Onward Christian Soldiers: The Christian Right in American Politics (1996), and Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New Face of Electioneering (1999). His edited books include Women in Elected Office: Past, Present, and Future (1998), The Politics of Gay Rights (2000), and Understanding Public Opinion, 2nd ed. (2002).