Challengers, Competition, and Reelection


Book Description

Why do US Senators have a harder time winning re-election than members of the House of Representatives? This text argues that Senate challengers are more likely to be experienced politicians who wage intense, costly media campaigns than are those who take on House incumbents.




Accountability in State Legislatures


Book Description

"State legislatures hold tremendous authority over key facets of our lives, in domains ranging from healthcare to education to election administration. And in an era of polarization and frequent policy gridlock at the national level, their significance has only increased. Political scientist Steven Rogers asks what voters know about state legislators, whether they have a meaningful opportunity to register their preferences in state legislative elections, and if there is evidence of accountability for performance in the outcomes of those elections. Drawing on broad-ranging evidence and creative research strategies, Rogers shows that, most often, state legislatures can produce policies contrary to citizens' priorities with little fear of being held accountable at the ballot box. Assembling an encyclopedic range of data on candidacy and retirements, lawmaker issue stances, news coverage, general elections, primaries, electoral competition, legislator effectiveness, state economic performance, public opinion, voter knowledge, and election outcomes, this book foregrounds a major issue: Voters do not know enough about their state representatives. They are often not presented with alternatives in elections where incumbents routinely run unopposed, and outcomes normally fail to correlate with indicators of legislative performance, either for individual lawmakers or in the aggregate performance of state government"--




Congressional Primaries and the Politics of Representation


Book Description

Congressional Primaries and the Politics of Representation explores the ways in which congressional primary elections appear to be changing in the face of electoral and congressional politics. The prominent contributors examine how primary elections influence the types of candidates who run, the support they receive, the positions they take, the resources they spend, the media coverage they receive, and the type of party nominees that prevail. All of these factors have significant implications for congressional general elections, the political parties, interest groups, and the day-to-day representation of constituents by congressional incumbents.




Congressional Challengers


Book Description

In this book, Costas Panagopoulos examines patterns of candidate emergence in congressional elections over the past five decades—specifically, the quality of challengers who seek to unseat U.S. House incumbents, as measured by prior political experience. Panagopoulos demonstrates that fewer and fewer experienced challengers have tossed their hats into the ring since the early 1970s. Inexperienced candidates often face electoral challenges that are difficult to overcome. Looking at factors including campaign spending, district-level partisan composition, and institutional reforms such as term limits, Panagopoulos evaluates explanations and consequences for these developments over time. He points to important implications for the study of congressional elections and democracy in the United States, including reforms in recruitment and candidate selection strategies to heighten electoral competition and ultimately, to enhance democratic representation in Congress. For students and scholars of the U.S. Congress and elections, this book addresses public concern about representation as well.




The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform


Book Description

At first glance, campaign finance reform looks like a good idea. McCain-Feingold, for instance, regulates campaigns by prohibiting national political parties from accepting soft money contributions from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy individuals. But are such measures, or any of the numerous and similarly restrictive proposals that have circulated through Washington in recent years, really good for our democracy? John Samples says no, and here he takes a penetrating look into the premises and consequences of the long crusade against big money in politics. How many Americans, he asks, know that there is little to no evidence that campaign contributions really influence members of Congress? Or that so-called negative political advertising actually improves the democratic process by increasing voter turnout and knowledge? Or that limits on campaign contributions make it harder to run for office, thereby protecting incumbent representatives from losing their seats of power? Posing tough questions such as these, Samples uncovers numerous fallacies beneath proposals for campaign finance reform. He argues that our most common concerns about money in politics are misplaced because the ideals implicit in our notion of corruption are incoherent or indefensible. The chance to regulate money in politics allows representatives to serve their own interests at a cost to their constituents. And, ironically, this long crusade against the corruption caused by campaign contributions allows public officials to reduce their vulnerability by suppressing electoral competition. Defying long-held ssumptions and conventional political wisdom, The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform is a provocative and decidedly nonpartisan work that will be essential for anyone concerned about the future of American government.




The Politics Industry


Book Description

Leading political innovation activist Katherine Gehl and world-renowned business strategist Michael Porter bring fresh perspective, deep scholarship, and a real and actionable solution, Final Five Voting, to the grand challenge of our broken political and democratic system. Final Five Voting has already been adopted in Alaska and is being advanced in states across the country. The truth is, the American political system is working exactly how it is designed to work, and it isn't designed or optimized today to work for us—for ordinary citizens. Most people believe that our political system is a public institution with high-minded principles and impartial rules derived from the Constitution. In reality, it has become a private industry dominated by a textbook duopoly—the Democrats and the Republicans—and plagued and perverted by unhealthy competition between the players. Tragically, it has therefore become incapable of delivering solutions to America's key economic and social challenges. In fact, there's virtually no connection between our political leaders solving problems and getting reelected. In The Politics Industry, business leader and path-breaking political innovator Katherine Gehl and world-renowned business strategist Michael Porter take a radical new approach. They ingeniously apply the tools of business analysis—and Porter's distinctive Five Forces framework—to show how the political system functions just as every other competitive industry does, and how the duopoly has led to the devastating outcomes we see today. Using this competition lens, Gehl and Porter identify the most powerful lever for change—a strategy comprised of a clear set of choices in two key areas: how our elections work and how we make our laws. Their bracing assessment and practical recommendations cut through the endless debate about various proposed fixes, such as term limits and campaign finance reform. The result: true political innovation. The Politics Industry is an original and completely nonpartisan guide that will open your eyes to the true dynamics and profound challenges of the American political system and provide real solutions for reshaping the system for the benefit of all. THE INSTITUTE FOR POLITICAL INNOVATION The authors will donate all royalties from the sale of this book to the Institute for Political Innovation.




The Politics of Congressional Elections


Book Description

Jacobson and Carson provide students with a comprehensive introduction to congressional elections and the electoral process. The tenth edition offers an engaging examination of congressional candidates, campaigns, and elections by incorporating coverage of the most recent elections and the changing roles of voters, incumbents, challengers, and campaign contributions. It examines the first two years of the Trump presidency and its impact on the 2018 midterms with respect to the large number of female candidates running for office and the enormous amounts of money spent by challengers. This edition also highlights the referendum narrative underlying the election in response to behavior and events in the Trump administration. By pairing historical data analysis and original research with fundamental concepts of representation and responsibility, The Politics of Congressional Elections presents students with the tools to evaluate representative government, as well as their own role in the electoral process.




Analyzing American Democracy


Book Description

Providing the tools for critical thinking, the fifth edition of Analyzing American Democracy: Politics and Political Science relies on statistical analysis, constitutional scholarship, and theoretical foundations to introduce the structure, process, and outcomes of the U.S. political system. Interpretation and implications of the 2022 mid-term elections and full results of the 2020 census are included, as are discussions of:: the January 6th commission, major developments in the Supreme Court, the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and other key political events that shape domestic, foreign, judicial, and economic policies. For introductory courses in American government, this text covers theory and methods as well. New to the Fifth Edition • New and updated statistical data reflecting the 2020 census and the 2022 midterm elections, and discussions of the implications of the data and the results. • Offers a retrospective analysis of the entire Trump presidency and the first years of the Biden presidency. • Examines contemporary questions of social justice and anticipates upcoming challenges to voting rights, affirmative action policies, health care and reproductive rights, and protections for ethnic minorities and the LGBT community. • Previews the policy implications of an increasingly partisan Supreme Court, recaps the controversial recent decisions on health care, abortion, and environmental policy, and covers the historic confirmation of new justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson.




Getting Primaried


Book Description

The recent rise of “primarying” corresponds to the rise of national fundraising bases and new types of partisan organizations supporting candidates around the country




The Challenge of Democracy


Book Description