You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Democratic elections do not always deliver what majorities want. Many conclude from frustrated majorities a failure of democracy. This book argues the opposite may be true – that politicians who represent their constituents sometimes frustrate majorities. A theory of issue intensity explains how the intensity with which different voters care about political issues drives key features of elections, political participation, representation, and public policy. Because candidates for office are more certain of winning the votes of those who care intensely, they sometimes side with an intense minority over a less intense majority. Voters who care intensely communicate their intensity by taking political action: volunteering, contributing, and speaking out. From questions like whose voices should matter in a democracy to whose voices actually matter, this rigorous book blends ideas from democratic theory and formal political economy with new empirical evidence to tackle a topic of central importance to American politics.
"Covering the beginning of the television era to the present, 'Battleground' provides an unprecedented look at the Electoral College strategies used by US presidential campaigns from 1952 to 2020 and what difference they make on election day. Although US presidential campaigns are among the most closely followed events in the world, academic research tends to conclude that they are much less important for shaping election-day outcomes than broader economic conditions and more gradual socio-political trends. If so, then what campaigners do and say might be entertaining, but should rarely have a decisive influence on who wins the White House. Yet because academic studies typically treat presid...
An original defense of the unique value of voting in a democracy Voting is only one of the many ways that citizens can participate in public decision making, so why does it occupy such a central place in the democratic imagination? In Election Day, political theorist Emilee Booth Chapman provides an original answer to that question, showing precisely what is so special about how we vote in today’s democracies. By presenting a holistic account of popular voting practices and where they fit into complex democratic systems, she defends popular attitudes toward voting against radical critics and offers much-needed guidance for voting reform. Elections embody a distinctive constellation of demo...
The credibility revolution, with its emphasis on empirical methods for causal inference, has led to concerns among scholars that the canonical questions about politics and society are being neglected because they are no longer deemed answerable. 'Theory and Credibility' stakes out an opposing view - presenting a new vision of how, working together, the credibility revolution and formal theory can advance social scientific inquiry. This authoritative book covers the conceptual foundations and practicalities of both model building and research design, providing a new framework to link theory and empirics.
Daniel W. Drezner's The Ideas Industry looks at how we have moved from a world of public intellectuals to today's "thought leaders." Witty and sharply argued, it will reshape our understanding of contemporary intellectual life in America and the West.
Investigates how foreign actors influence citizens' trust in elections, and cases where outside intervention has enhanced or undermined election integrity.
This volume provides the first comprehensive empirical examination of the "politics of truth" -- its context, causes, and potential correctives. Combining insights from the fields of political science, political theory, communication, and psychology, the experts in this volume draw compelling -- if sometimes competing -- conclusions regarding this rising democratic threat.
Economic voting is common around the world, but in many developing countries economic performance is dependent on exogenous international factors.
Corruption has become a central issue in current policy debates. This Handbook provides state of the art research on this important topic. It demonstrates the disastrous effects of high levels of corruption for most areas of human well-being and presents research results about strategies that can get corruption under control.
Highlighting the power of campaign strategy, this study challenges the notion that economic performance necessarily drives electoral outcomes.