America's Choice 2000: Entering A New Millenium

by Crotty,William

• ISBN13: 9780813367989
• ISBN10: 0813367980
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-04-23
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

America's Choice 2000attempts to make sense of the longest running, most fiercely contested and, ultimately, closest race in the history of presidential elections. What had been an earnest if predictable general election campaign morphed into a post-election day series of controversies that tested the nation's electoral processes, its courts, and its democratic culture. Eventually, of course, a winner was declared and the nation went about its business, however not before fundamental questions were raised as to the nature of the vote and voter intent and both the standards and processes used to decide elections. These issues will be with us for years to come. By any standard, it was a historic election whose full consequences are yet to be appreciated.America's Choice 2000carefully sifts through the competing claims and strategies, reviews what occurred and offers some assessments as to the quality of the campaign, the nature of the final decision and the meaning this has to the nation. Crotty includes chapters devoted to the Courts' unprecedented role in Election 2000, an examination of the public opinion during the key events of the general campaign, as well as a chapter detailing the results of key state and local elections as well as the congressional races.

Author Biography

William Crotty, a senior scholar and holder of the Tip O'Neill Chair in Public Life at Northeastern University is the author of The Democrats Must Lead (Westview, 1992). He is founder and director of the O'Neill Center for the Study of Democracy, which has focused on comparative democracy.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
The Election of 2000: Close, Chaotic, and Unforgettable	1	(35)
William Crotty
Elections by Judicial Fiat: The Courts Decide	36	(43)
William Crotty
Political Participation in American Elections: Who Decides What?	79	(16)
M. Margaret Conway
The Presidential Primaries: Triumph of the Frontrunners	95	(20)
William Crotty
The Curious and Close Presidential Campaign of 2000	115	(23)
James E. Campbell
The Congressional Races: Continuing Battleground for the Parties	138	(25)
John S. Jackson, III
The State and Local Elections: Politics Beyond the Beltway	163	(17)
Malcolm E. Jewell
The Election in Perspective: Two Nations, Four Parties	180	(27)
John Kenneth White
Biographical Sketches of Contributors	207	(2)
Index	209