A Functional Analysis of Political Television Advertisements examines theory and research on election advertisements. William Benoit employs the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse to understand the nature or content of television spots in election campaigns. Beginning with a look at American presidential spots from 1952-2012, Benoit investigates the three functions-acclaims, attacks, and defenses-and the topics of policy and character for these groups of political commercials. The following chapters are devoted to reporting similar data on presidential primary advertisements, presidential third party spots, other theories including Issue Ownership Theory and Functional Federalism Theory, as well as nonpresidential and non-U.S. election advertising. Benoit considers the data, discusses the development of political advertising over time, and finally, presents areas for further research. This book is a uniquely comprehensive examination of the value and use of television spots in political election rhetoric.

This timely Research Handbook offers a systematic and comprehensive examination of the election laws of democratic nations. Through a study of a range of different regimes of election law, it illuminates the disparate choices that societies have made concerning the benefits they wish their democratic institutions to provide, the means by which such benefits are to be delivered, and the underlying values, commitments, and conceptions of democratic self-rule that inform these choices. Comparative Election Law features a wide scope of coverage, from distribution of the franchise, to candidate qualifications, to campaign speech and finance, to election administration, and more. Contributions from a range of expert scholars in the field are brought together to tackle difficult problems surrounding the definition of the democratic demos, as well as to lay bare important disjunctions between democratic ideals and feasible democratic regimes in practice. Furthermore, a comparative approach is also taken to examine democratic regimes at a theoretical as well as a descriptive level. Featuring key research in a vitally important area, this Research Handbook will be crucial reading for academics and students in a range of fields including comparative law, legal theory, political science, political theory and democracy. It will also be useful to politicians and government officials engaged in election regulation, due to its excellent perspective on the range of regulatory options and how to evaluate them.

Women are significantly underrepresented in politics in the Pacific Islands, given that only one in twenty Pacific parliamentarians are female, compared to one in five globally. A common, but controversial, method of increasing the number of women in politics is the use of gender quotas, or measures designed to ensure a minimum level of women's representation. In those cases where quotas have been effective, they have managed to change the face of power in previously male-dominated political spheres. How do political actors in the Pacific islands region make sense of the success (or failure) of parliamentary gender quota campaigns? To answer the question, Kerryn Baker explores the workings of four campaigns in the region. In Samoa, the campaign culminated in a "safety net" quota to guarantee a minimum level of representation, set at five female members of Parliament. In Papua New Guinea, between 2007 and 2012 there were successive campaigns for nominated and reserved seats in parliament, without success, although the constitution was amended in 2011 to allow for the possibility of reserved seats for women. In post-conflict Bougainville, women campaigned for reserved seats during the constitution-making process and eventually won three reserved seats in the House of Representatives, as well as one reserved ministerial position. Finally, in the French Pacific territories of New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna, Baker finds that there were campaigns both for and against the implementation of the so-called "parity laws." Baker argues that the meanings of success in quota campaigns, and related notions of gender and representation, are interpreted by actors through drawing on different traditions, and renegotiating and redefining them according to their goals, pressures, and dilemmas. Broadening the definition of success thus is a key to an understanding of realities of quota campaigns. Pacific Women in Politics is a pathbreaking work that offers an original contribution to gender relations within the Pacific and to contemporary Pacific politics.

Fox hunting with Godfrey Bloom; lunching on expenses with Janice Atkinson;talking 'shock and awful' campaign tactics with Douglas Carswell - nothingis off the table when you're on the trail of UKlP's People's Army.Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 meets Louis Theroux, FollowingFarage recounts one hack's journey as he follows, drinks with, laughs atand even occasionally defends the phenomenon that is the United Kingdomlndependence Party as it prepares to march upon Westminster.With exclusive interviews and unfettered access to all the disgracedgenerals, trusty foot soldiers, deserters and dissenters who make up itsranks, Bennett delivers the inside scoop on what makes the People's Armytick - all the while making the transition from elbowed-out hanger-on tothe journalist Farage calls for an honest, post-election run-down of events.From the initial skirmishes and battle plans (the successful and thescuppered) to the explosive events of the battle for No. 10 itself -and the all-out civil war that broke out in its aftermath - FollowingFarage leaves no stone unturned, avenue untrod or pint undrunkin its quest for the truth about Britain's newest and mostcontroversial political force.

This is the go-to guide for confused South Africans and all those seeking an informed, balanced and up-to-date analysis of South African politics and society in the Ramaphosa era.

When Nelson Mandela emerged from decades in jail to preach reconciliation, South Africans appeared to many as a people reborn as the Rainbow Nation. Yet, a quarter of a century later, the country sank into bitter recriminations and rampant corruption under Jacob Zuma. Why did this happen, and how was hope betrayed? President Cyril Ramaphosa, hoping to heal these wounds, was re-elected in May 2019 with the ANC hoping to claw back support lost to the opposition in the Zuma era. This book analyses this election, shedding light on voters’ choices.

With chapters on all the major issues at stake – from education to land redistribution – Understanding South Africa offers insights into Africa’s largest and most diversified economy, closely tied to its neighbours’ fortunes.

In January 2009, Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States. In the weeks and months following the election, as in those that preceded it, countless social observers from across the ideological spectrum commented upon the cultural, social and political significance of "the Obama phenomenon." In "At this Defining Moment," Enid Logan provides a nuanced analysis framed by innovative theoretical insights to explore how Barack Obama's presidential candidacy both reflected and shaped the dynamics of race in the contemporary United States. Using the 2008 election as a case study of U.S. race relations, and based on a wealth of empirical data that includes an analysis of over 1,500 newspaper articles, blog postings, and other forms of public speech collected over a 3 year period, Logan claims that while race played a central role in the 2008 election, it was in several respects different from the past. Logan ultimately concludes that while the selection of an individual African American man as president does not mean that racism is dead in the contemporary United States, we must also think creatively and expansively about what the election does mean for the nation and for the evolving contours of race in the 21st century.

Journalist and "Salon" writer Rebecca Traister investigates the 2008 presidential election and its impact on American politics, women and cultural feminism. Examining the role of women in the campaign, from Clinton and Palin to Tina Fey and young voters, Traister confronts the tough questions of what it means to be a woman in today's America.
The 2008 campaign for the presidency reopened some of the most fraught American conversations--about gender, race and generational difference, about sexism on the left and feminism on the right--difficult discussions that had been left unfinished but that are crucial to further perfecting our union. Though the election didn't give us our first woman president or vice president, the exhilarating campaign was nonetheless transformative for American women and for the nation. In "Big Girls Don't Cry," her electrifying, incisive and highly entertaining first book, Traister tells a terrific story and makes sense of a moment in American history that changed the country's narrative in ways that no one anticipated.
Throughout the book, Traister weaves in her own experience as a thirtysomething feminist sorting through all the events and media coverage--vacillating between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and questioning her own view of feminism, the women's movement, race and the different generational perspectives of women working toward political parity. Electrifying, incisive and highly entertaining, "Big Girls Don't Cry "offers an enduring portrait of dramatic cultural and political shifts brought about by this most historic of American contests.

For a whole generation of Malaysians, no proper closure to the traumas of the racial riots of May 13, 1969 has been possible. But then came March 8, 2008 The surprising results of the General Election on that special day have started eclipsing the fears linked for so long to that spectral night forty years ago. All the three researchers from ISEAS who each authored separate chapters for this book were in different parts of Malaysia monitoring its 12th General Election during the thirteen days of campaigning. Their analyses provide new insights into the phenomenon that Malaysians now simply refer to as "March 8." Ooi Kee Beng scrutinizes in detail the electoral campaign in the state of Penang, Johan Saravanamuttu studies the case of Kelantan state and the elections in general, while Lee Hock Guan examines changes in the voting pattern in the Klang Valley.

Direct democracy has become an increasingly common feature of European politics with important implications for policy making in the European Union. The no-votes in referendums in France and the Netherlands put an end to the Constitutional Treaty, and the Irish electorate has caused another political crisis in Europe by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty. Europe in Question explains how voters decide in referendums on European integration. It presents a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding voting behavior in referendums and a thorough comparative analysis of EU referendums from 1972 to 2008. To examine why people vote the way they do, the role of political elites and the impact of the campaign dynamics, this books relies on a variety of sources including survey data, content analysis of media coverage, experimental studies, and elite interviews. The book illustrates the importance of campaign dynamics and elite endorsements in shaping public opinion, electoral mobilization and vote choices. Referendums are often criticized for presenting citizens with choices that are too complex and thereby generating outcomes that have little or no connection with the ballot proposal. Importantly this book shows that voters are smarter than they are often given credit for. They may not be fully informed about European politics, but they do consider the issues at stake before they go to the ballot box and they make use of the information provided by parties and the campaign environment. Direct democracy may not always produce the outcomes that are desired by politicians. But voters are far more competent than commonly perceived.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton managed to win the Democratic nomination despite losing young voters to Bernie Sanders by a margin of 73 to 26 percent. The fact that senior citizens were four times more likely to vote in the primaries than young people enabled her to survive her lack of youth appeal. But in the general election, Clinton's problems with young people turned into her Achilles heel. Young people failed to come out to vote as much as she needed, or to support her in sufficient numbers when they did vote. What will happen in 2020, another history-making election? Already in late 2019, journalists were referring to the generation gap as "the most important divide among Democratic voters." Is Voting for Young People? explores the reasons why young people are less likely to follow politics and vote in the United States (as well as in many other established democracies), no matter who the candidates are, or what the issues may be. This brief, accessible, and provocative book suggests ways of changing that. New to the Fifth Edition For the first time since its original 2006 publication, the entire text has been updated with the most recent available data and analysis. A new chapter has been added-Young People and Politics in the Trump Era. New chapter-opening vignettes illustrate one of the key points in each chapter.

Este libro est contextualizado en un referente hist rico que analiza a trav?'s de datos, fechas y sucesos, el desarrollo del r gimen presidencial mexicano. As mismo, enuncia conceptos fundamentales de la pol tica actual, del comportamiento de los actores y de los partidos pol ticos que interact an en el contexto nacional. Adem s, refiere la percepci n e inter?'s que desde el escenario internacional han vertido diversos personajes sobre el pr ximo proceso sucesorio en nuestro pa s. Tambi n aborda lo trascendental del marketing pol tico para la elecci n del 1 de Julio; qu papel jugar n en las campa as el internet y la din mica de las redes sociales, donde hoy en d a j venes entre 18 y 25 a os de edad podr an constituirse como un detonante y definir los resultados de la jornada electoral en la renovaci n de 2,102 cargos de elecci n popular. Considerando que en M xico la red de internet cuenta con 36 millones de usuarios, de los cuales aproximadamente 10 millones son j venes, todos los partidos pol ticos en contienda deber n prestar atenci n prioritaria a este segmento poblacional, que sin lugar a dudas jugar un rol fundamental en el resultado de la elecci n presidencial. 78.7 millones de ciudadanos que est n inscritos en la lista nominal, podr n votar en esta elecci n. El reto para los equipos de campa a de todos los candidatos radica en dise ar estrategias id neas para despertar el inter?'s de los electores y de los posibles votantes que representan un importante n mero de ciudadanos indecisos. Por lo anterior, los institutos de representaci n pol tica nacional, no deben soslayar el fen meno del abstencionismo y analizar acuciosamente las condiciones sociodemogr ficas, hist ricas y estructurales que siempre han afectado los niveles de participaci n electoral. Adem?'s de proponer las nominaciones m?'s rentables y que presenten estas una buena imagen ante la opini n p blica. El acontecer pol tico actual, sin lugar a dudas ha motivado que haya una gran demanda y exigir ciudadano para que los pol ticos deban profesionalizarse con el fin de ganarse el respecto de la sociedad mexicana y la pol tica sea un verdadero instrumento de cambio democr tico que genere certidumbre en acciones de gobierno. Estimado lector (a), el libro que tienes en tus manos con toda seguridad ser un til instrumento que facilitar la toma de decisiones para emitir un voto razonado, anal tico y responsable en estas elecciones del 2012.

"Robert Alexander convincingly argues that presidential electors--long considered by many as inconsequential, if not benign--are a serious danger to the health of our representative democracy. In one of the first systematic studies of its kind, Alexander presents a theory of elector behavior that explains why electors will continue to plague the system unless we institute reform. This book is indispensable for a deeper understanding of the presidential electoral process." - Gary E. Bugh, Texas A&M University "Presidential Electors and the Electoral College is an eye opener. Robert Alexander's exhaustive research has revealed some surprising results about the arcane and, as some maintain, undemocratic Electoral College. The fact that many electors are lobbied to change their votes after the presidential election should serve as a warning that the Electoral College is a disaster waiting to happen--again." - Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount University "Robert Alexander's Presidential Electors and the Electoral College is a valuable and much-needed examination of a long-neglected constitutional challenge. His analytical research is a serious contribution to our understanding of the Electoral College and its problems." - Thomas Cronin, Colorado College "Dr. Alexander has brought this very important history to life in a way that can help all of us look more carefully into the future. With lots of current public debate about the future of the Electoral College, this book provides a comprehensive and much-needed examination of one of the challenges that we have faced since the founding of our nation." - Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State

This book explores women's campaign strategies when they ran for state and national office in California from their first opportunity after state suffrage in 1911 to the advent of modern feminism in 1970. Although only 18 won, nearly 500 women ran on the primary ballots, changing the political landscape for both men and women while struggling against a collective forgetfulness about their work. Mostly white and middle-class until the 1960s, the women discussed in this book are notable for their campaign innovations which became increasingly complex, even if not consciously connected to a usable past. They re-gendered politics as political "firsts," pursued high hopes for organizational support from their women's clubs, accommodated to opportunities created through incumbency and issue politics, and explored both separatist and integrationists politics with their parties. In bringing these campaigns to light, this study explores the history of California women legislators and the ways in which women on the ballots sought to transcend gendered barriers, supporting women's equality while also recognizing the political value of connections to men in power. Organized in a loose chronology with the state's governors, this study shows the persistent nature of women's candidacies despite a recurring historical amnesia that complicated their progress. Remembering this history deepens our understanding of women running for office today and solidifies their credibility in a long history of women politicians.

This book places the 2010 elections in Florida in historical context and offers insight into and an explanation for the substantial gains made by the Republicans that year. This book provides narratives of gubernatorial, U.S. Senatorial, congressional, and state legislative campaigns along with empirical data on voter registration, voter turnout, and the electoral behavior of groups in the Florida electorate. It also speaks to the importance of national forces on state level elections and the impact of external advocacy groups in such elections.

La lucha por el poder en Mexico, es encarnizada y suele estar sazonada con descalificaciones, vituperios, infundios, y calumnias de la mas variada especie. Las trampas de cualquier indole, se ponen en juego y son tantos los artilugios utilizados, que es muy dificil encontrar el hilo de la madeja a tiempo para detenerlos u obstaculizarlos con la ley en la mano. Cuando se logran detectar las violaciones a la ley, es muy tarde para intentar, siquiera, revertir un resultado electoral emanado de actos delictivos, pues el tiempo requerido para documentarlos y evaluarlos es exageradamente largo. Un individuo cualquiera, inmiscuido en un proceso electoral en Mexico, puede violar la reglamentacion electoral de todas las formas que su imaginacion le dicte, tomar posesion de su cargo y despues enfrentar las acusaciones que se le imputen, desde la seguridad del fuero constitucional, pero nunca estara en riesgo el puesto obtenido de manera ilegal. Los expertos en cuestiones politicas, solo pueden mesarse los cabellos en actitud de impotencia y verter sus opiniones y sus puntos de vista en escritos dirigidos, por lo comun, a un restringido nucleo de lectores, que casi siempre es el mismo, porque a la mayoria de la gente no le interesa mayormente lo que ocurra despues de unas elecciones, ya sean locales o federales. Es un circulo vicioso muy dificil de romper; pero los analistas politicos raras veces se han preocupado porque sus opiniones lleguen al grueso de la poblacion. No tienen tiempo y tampoco les interesa demasiado, aunque ellos digan lo contrario. Una caracteristica comun, en la mayoria de los trabajos ensayisticos, es la frialdad de sus textos, derivada, en gran medida, de la rigidez tecnica con la que son abordados los temas que intenta retratar. Esta frialdad, esta rigidez, los hace poco atractivos a los ojos del lector impaciente, o del lector que no busca tanto el dato tecnico, preciso, sino la simple informacion que pueda servirle de referencia para enriquecer su propio punto de vista. " Por que perdimos?" Intenta conjugar el dato duro y la calidez de un texto, escrito con la unica finalidad de hacernos pasar un momento agradable, mientras nos invita a reflexionar sobre asuntos que nos afectan directamente y de los cuales, tal vez por falta de tiempo, no hacemos mucho caso. El escritor mexicano, F. Rubi, avecindado en la ciudad de Manzanillo por mas de treinta anos, se ha preocupado desde sus inicios, por ofrecernos trabajos literarios que nos ayuden a comprender nuestro entorno, pero adornados con esa dificil mezcla de rigor y jocosidad que hacen de sus libros un divertimento. Ojala que esten de acuerdo con nosotros