Congressional Elections

by Herrnson, Paul S.

• ISBN13: 9780872899650
• ISBN10: 0872899659
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-12-13
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

Arguing that successful candidates run two campaigns-one for votes, the other for resources, Herrnson uses campaign finance data, original survey research, and hundreds of interviews to look at how this dual strategy affects the electoral system. New coverage includes: cases studies from the 2010 elections; the impact of the Tea Party on fundraising and election outcomes; the effect of the Citizens United and other recent cases on corporate, trade association, and labor union spending; untangling the web of PACs, Super PACs, 527s, and 501(C)s and their fundraising and spending advantages; the pervasive use of social media and Internet campaigns to raise money, communicate with voters, and recruit volunteers.

Author Biography

Paul S. Herrnson is Director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship, Professor in the Department of Government and Politics, and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at the University of Maryland. His research and teaching interests include political parties and elections, money and politics, and voting technology and ballot design. He has published numerous articles and books, including Voting Technology. The Not-So-Simple Act of Costing a Ballot and The Financiers of Congressional Elections. Dr. Herrnson has served as President of the Southern Political Science Association and as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow. He has advised the U.S. Congress, the Maryland General Assembly, and the Federal Election Commission, as well as numerous government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, on matters pertaining to campaign finance, political parties, and election reform.

Table of Contents

Tables and Figures	p. x
Preface	p. xiv
Introduction	p. 1
The Strategic Context	p. 7
The Candidate-Centered Campaign	p. 7
The Institutional Framework	p. 9
Political Culture	p. 19
Campaign Technology	p. 22
The Political Setting	p. 24
Recent Congressional Elections	p. 29
Summary	p. 38
Candidates and Nominations	p. 40
Strategic Ambition	p. 41
Passing the Primary Test	p. 54
Nominations, Elections, and Representation	p. 61
The Senate	p. 71
Summary	p. 74
The Anatomy of a Campaign	p. 75
Campaign Organizations	p. 76
Campaign Budgets	p. 87
Senate Campaigns	p. 89
Summary	p. 90
The Parties Campaign	p. 91
National Agenda Setting	p. 92
The National, Congressional, and Senatorial Campaign Committees	p. 96
Strategy, Decision Making, and Targeting	p. 101
Campaign Contributions and Coordinated Expenditures	p. 105
Campaign Services	p. 111
Outside Campaigns	p. 121
The Impact of Party Campaigning	p. 129
Summary	p. 135
The Interests Campaign	p. 136
Organizing for Electoral Influence	p. 137
Strategy, Decision Making, and Targeting	p. 151
PAC Contributions	p. 158
Campaign Services	p. 161
Outside Campaigns	p. 164
The Impact of Interest Group Activity	p. 169
Summary	p. 172
The Campaign for Resources	p. 174
Inequalities in Resources	p. 175
House Incumbents	p. 177
House Challengers	p. 188
Candidates for House Open-Seats	p. 194
Senate Campaigns	p. 199
Summary	p. 202
Campaign Strategy	p. 203
Voting Behavior	p. 203
Voters and Campaign Strategy	p. 208
Gauging Public Opinion	p. 210
Voter Targeting	p. 213
The Message	p. 216
Summary	p. 226
Campaign Communications	p. 228
Television Advertising	p. 229
Radio Advertising	p. 233
Newspaper Advertising	p. 234
Direct Mail and Newsletters	p. 235
Telephone Calls	p. 236
The Internet and Social Media	p. 237
Free Media	p. 239
Field Work	p. 244
The Importance of Different Communications Techniques	p. 245
Outside Campaigns	p. 247
Summary	p. 247
Candidates, Campaigns, and Electoral Success	p. 249
House Incumbent Campaigns	p. 250
House Challenger Campaigns	p. 257
House Open-Seat Campaigns	p. 263
Senate Campaigns	p. 267
Claiming Credit and Placing Blame	p. 270
Summary	p. 276
Elections and Governance	p. 277
The Permanent Campaign	p. 277
A Decentralized Congress	p. 280
Political Parties as Centralizing Agents	p. 285
Responsiveness, Responsibility, and Public Policy	p. 287
Summary	p. 293
Campaign Reform	p. 294
The Case for Reform	p. 294
Obstacles to Reform	p. 297
The Evolving State of Campaign Finance	p. 302
Some Ideas for Reform	p. 306
Summary	p. 313
Notes	p. 315
Index	p. 343
Notes Name Index	p. 358
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.