0
Your cart

Your cart is empty

Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > Democracy

Buy Now

The Performance of Politics - Obama's Victory and the Democratic Struggle for Power (Hardcover) Loot Price: R1,248
Discovery Miles 12 480
The Performance of Politics - Obama's Victory and the Democratic Struggle for Power (Hardcover): Jeffrey C Alexander

The Performance of Politics - Obama's Victory and the Democratic Struggle for Power (Hardcover)

Jeffrey C Alexander

 (sign in to rate)
Loot Price R1,248 Discovery Miles 12 480 | Repayment Terms: R117 pm x 12*

Bookmark and Share

Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days

Contemporary observers of politics in America often reduce democracy to demography. Whatever portion of the vote not explained by the class, gender, race, and religious differences of voters is attributed to the candidates' positions on the issues of the day. But are these the only--or even the main--factors that determine the vote?
The Performance of Politics develops a new way of looking at democratic struggles for power, explaining what happened, and why, during the 2008 presidential campaign in the United States. Drawing on vivid examples taken from a range of media coverage, participant observation at a Camp Obama, and interviews with leading political journalists, Jeffrey Alexander argues that images, emotion, and performance are the central features of the battle for power. While these features have been largely overlooked by pundits, they are, in fact, the primary foci of politicians and their staff. Obama and McCain painstakingly constructed heroic self-images for their campaigns and the successful projections of those images suffused not only each candidate's actual rallies, and not only their media messages, but also the ground game. Money and organization facilitate the ground game, but they do not determine it. Emotion, images, and performance do. Though an untested senator and the underdog in his own party, Obama succeeded in casting himself as the hero--and McCain the anti-hero--and the only candidate fit to lead in challenging times.
Illuminating the drama of Obama's celebrity, the effect of Sarah Palin on the race, and the impact of the emerging financial crisis, Alexander's engaging narrative marries the immediacy and excitement of the final months of this historic presidential campaign with a new understanding of how politics work.

General

Imprint: Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin: United States
Release date: 2011
First published: November 2010
Authors: Jeffrey C Alexander (Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology)
Dimensions: 241 x 163 x 31mm (L x W x T)
Format: Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages: 384
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-974446-6
Categories: Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Communication studies > Media studies
Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > Elections & referenda
Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > Political leaders & leadership
Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > Democracy
LSN: 0-19-974446-7
Barcode: 9780199744466

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!

You might also like..

Power In Action - Democracy, Citizenship…
Steven Friedman Paperback R350 R273 Discovery Miles 2 730
Democracy Works - Re-Wiring Politics To…
Greg Mills, Olusegun Obasanjo, … Paperback R320 R250 Discovery Miles 2 500
Race, Class And The Post-Apartheid…
John Reynolds, Ben Fine, … Paperback R290 R227 Discovery Miles 2 270
A Promised Land
Barack Obama Hardcover  (6)
R699 R546 Discovery Miles 5 460
This Will Not Pass - Trump, Biden, And…
Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns Hardcover R782 R667 Discovery Miles 6 670
Countdown 1960 - The Behind-The-Scenes…
Chris Wallace, Mitch Weiss Hardcover R887 R633 Discovery Miles 6 330
A Manifesto For Social Change - How To…
Moeletsi Mbeki, Nobantu Mbeki Paperback  (4)
R230 R180 Discovery Miles 1 800
Recovering Democracy In South Africa
Raymond Suttner Paperback R280 R219 Discovery Miles 2 190
What If There Were No Whites In South…
Ferial Haffajee Paperback  (11)
R310 R242 Discovery Miles 2 420
Writing The Decline - On The Struggle…
Richard Pithouse Paperback R280 R219 Discovery Miles 2 190
South Africa, Settler Colonialism And…
Thiven Reddy Paperback R330 R258 Discovery Miles 2 580
Landslide - The Final Days Of The Trump…
Michael Wolff Paperback R461 R379 Discovery Miles 3 790

See more

Partners