Description
Book SynopsisThe Performance of Politics develops a new way of looking at democratic struggles for big time power by explaining and analysing the 2008 Presidential campaign in the United States.
Trade ReviewIn an extraordinary analysis of real breadth and depth, Jeffrey Alexander challenges us to re-think Barack Obama's election as president. Political observers have focused too much on the plain demographic facts of 2008, and too little about how and why those facts came to be. Reflect on the performance that takes place on a grand stage, Alexander advises, and we'll see the big picture. * Larry J. Sabato, author of The Year of Obama, and Director, Center for Politics, University of Virginia *
Table of ContentsPreface ; Prologue ; Power, Performance and Representation ; Chapter 1 Civil Sphere and Public Drama ; Chapter 2 Becoming a Collective Representation ; Chapter 3 Spirit of the Ground Game ; Heroes, Binaries and Boundaries ; Chapter 4 Imagining Heroes ; Chapter 5 Working the Binaries ; Chapter 6 Walking the Boundaries ; Victory and Defeat ; Chapter 7 Celebrity Metaphor ; Chapter 8 Palin Effect ; Chapter 9 Financial Crisis ; Epilogue ; Note on Concept and Method ; Appendix ; Endnotes ; Index
