Description
Book SynopsisLooks at how campaigns actually work, from the framing of issues to media coverage to voters' decisions. Examining contested US Senate races between 1988 and 1992, this work challenges the common wisdom that campaigns are a noisy, symbolic aspect of electoral politics, in which the outcomes are determined mainly by presidential popularity.
Trade Review"A welcome addition to a short list of books probing the dynamics of congressional elections."--Choice "The richness of the study's findings combined with its rigor of research design and analysis makes it of equal interest to students of voting behavior and elections and students of Congress. The book is clearly written and the results of statistical analysis are presented in an accessible fashion. It is a major contribution."--Barbara Sinclair, Political Science Quarterly
Table of ContentsList of Figures ix List of Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING AND MEASURING CAMPAIGNS 1 One The Nature of Political Campaigns 3 Two Measuring the Content and Consequences of Political Campaigns 30 PART TWO: THE CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES OF CANDIDATES 41 Three In Order to Win: An Examination of Campaign Strategies 43 Four Attack Politics: Understanding the Determinants of Negative Campaigning 74 PART THREE: THE NEWS MEDIA'S COVERAGE OF CAMPAIGNS 99 Five Deciding What Is News: The Media's Coverage of Senate Campaigns 101 Six The Struggle for Control over the News Media's Agenda: How Candidates Influence the Content and Tone of News Coverage 133 PART FOUR: CITIZENS' REACTIONS TO CAMPAIGNS 161 Seven The Dynamics of Competition: The Impact of the Candidates and the News Media 163 Eight Citizens' Knowledge about U.S. Senate Campaigns 174 Nine How Voters Make Decisions in U.S. Senate Campaigns 206 PART FIVE: CONCLUSIONS 233 Ten Conclusions and Implications 235 Appendixes 245 A. Interview Schedule for Successful Incumbents 247 B. Political Advertising Code Sheet 251 C. Sample of Newspapers 255 D. Newspaper Content Analysis Code Sheet 257 References 263 Index 275
