Wayne Stephen J. - The Election of the Century: the 2000 Election and What It Tells Us about American Politics in the New Millennium

THE ELECTION OF THE CENTURY

THE ELECTION OF THE CENTURY

and what it tells us about the future of American politics

Stephen J. Wayne and Clyde Wilcox Editors

First published 2002 by M.E. Sharpe

Published 2015 by Routledge

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The election of the century and what it tells us about the future of American politics / edited by Stephen J. Wayne and Clyde Wilcox.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-7656-0742-5 (alk. paper) ISBN 0-7656-0743-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. PresidentsUnited StatesElection2000. 2. United States. CongressElections, 2000. 3. United StatesPolitics and government2001 I. Wayne, Stephen J. II. Wilcox, Clyde, 1953

ISBN 13: 9780765607430 (pbk)

ISBN 13: 9780765607423 (hbk)

Table of Contents

Stephen J. Wayne and Clyde Wilcox

Anne Marie Cammisa

Andrew Bennett and Troy White

Jeremy D. Mayer

Melissa Levitt and Katherine C. Naff

Molly W Andolina

Clyde Wilcox

Stephen J. Wayne

Michael A. Bailey and Keiko Ono

G. Patrick Lynch and Hayden Milberg

Sue Thomas, Courtenay Daum, and Beth Stark

Margaret Tseng

Jeffrey A. Wertkin

Lynn C. Ross

Stephen J. Wayne and Clyde Wilcox

Stephen J. Wayne and Clyde Wilcox

In a government of, by, and for the people, popular sentiment, electoral choice, and public policy are extricably linked to one another. Campaigns and elections provide this linkage. They provide information that helps the electorate evaluate candidates and make voting decisions. These decisions, in turn, help determine the personnel and shape the policy agenda of the new administration. They also provide the foundation that enables elected officials to build a governing coalition and gain support for the public policy decisions they make.

Although the electorate-government-public policy linkages are ongoing, the political environment is constantly changing. Policy decisions and their impact are one source of these changes. External events and the reaction to these events by the government and governed also affect the environment in which subsequent elections occur and policy decisions are made and justified. In short, political climate cannot help but affect porous electoral and governing processes in a democracy such as the United States.

Although the campaign-governing cycle is continuous, there are moments when it is possible to take a snapshot of them. The election provides one such moment. At this brief point in time, the views and judgments of the electorate can be assessed within the context of the campaign that precedes the election and the policy and personnel consequences that follow from it.

This book provides such a snapshot. Its objective is to examine the American polity at its first point of decision in the twenty-first century. What does the 2000 election tell us about the composition, disposition, and aspirations of the American people, about their perceptions and evaluations? What does it reveal about the attitudes, beliefs, and opinions of the electorate, their level of political knowledge and understanding, their activity or apathy? And on the basis of this information, what can we say about the vitality of the American polity, the representative character of the government, and the operation of a political system that purports to be democratic?

Campaigns and elections matter. They generate interest; they encourage group activity, funneling that activity into a decision-making, public arena. They connect positions and promises to candidates and their parties, thereby providing an issue debate that often results in a governing agenda. They jog memories of past actions, thereby enhancing the accountability of those in government. They emphasize personal qualities. By exaggerating the candidates strengths and weaknesses, they bring these personal attributes and potential liabilities into sharper focus. The media and candidates also bring out the policy inconsistencies and contradictions of those running for office, thereby influencing the judgment people make when voting.

Whereas campaigns provide a forum for debate, elections provide the mechanism for choice. Not only are officials selected, but the campaign has a lot to do with their selection of staff, both those they will bring to help them in government and those they may nominate for political and judicial positions. Elections can provide direction for the new government, political support for that government, and, in general, legitimacy for its decisions and actions. In short, despite the blurring of campaigning and governing, of voting and polling, and of promising and performing, campaigns and elections do matter. They affect who governs, what policies those in government pursue, and when, and whether there is sufficient support within the institutions of government to convert these proposals into public policy and among the populous to obey them as the law of the land.

As the United States moved into the twenty-first century, its public mood was ebullient; optimism abounded. Public satisfaction with the economic condition of the country was at an all-time high. Three out of four Americans believed that their country was headed in the right direction. Most saw the nations economic condition as good or excellent. Additionally, they saw their own personal finances improved over the last four to eight years.

No single issue was cited as of pressing concern by more than a small percentage of the people. Only when asked about the moral climate did a majority say that the countrys condition had deteriorated. Other social

Public perceptions coincided with economic data. High growth rates, low unemployment, a bullish stock market, expanding exports, and low inflation all reflected the prosperity that the nation was enjoying as the 2000 election cycle got under way. Historically, these data, along with the popularity of the president, have been used to predict election outcomes at the presidential level.