A Citizens Guide to U.S. Elections fills an important gap in electoral studies. It manages to be part users guide and part call to action, while at the same time maintaining objective and scholarly standards. Each chapter discusses perceived problems, evaluates existing evidence, and offers suggestions for concerned citizens. This book is perfect for the undergraduate classroom, community groups, or the general public. Bottom line: if you need a good grounding in the problems and potential of the U.S. electoral system, this is the book for you. I cant wait to use it in my classroom!
Thomas M. Holbrook,University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Jam-packed with crucial information about contemporary politics and elections, this terrific primer should be required reading for serious students and citizens who want to understand the electoral process and back up their opinions with facts.
Charlie Cook,Cook Political Report and National Journal
This is not just a guide, but a perceptive, accessible synthesis of politics and political science. It explores the pressures, patterns and motivations that drive our electoral outcomesand can change them. Its enlightening, a great read for political junkies, and a good one for any citizen who cares about democracy and each individuals capacity and responsibility to make a difference.
Robert M. Shrum,University of Southern California; Senior Advisor, Gore 2000 and Kerry 2004
A Citizens Guide to U.S. Elections offers a broad and engaging overview of elections in the U.S. The brief text provides students with a basic overview of electoral politics, situating the discussion in light of important scholarship by political scientists. It also challenges students to engage in a broader discussion about how citizens might engage to improve elections if they are dissatisfied with the current state of democracy in the U.S. A valuable contribution at a time of high levels of cynicism and negativity in politics!
Jan Leighley,American University
A CITIZENS GUIDE TO U.S. ELECTIONS
Political observers routinely lament that American democracy is broken, and many of them blame electoral malfunction. But is the system really broken? Panagopoulos and Weinschenk make the case that citizens are empowered to fix whats wrong with electoral politics and renew democracy in America, all within the institutional setup and framework of the existing system. Put simply, much of what is broken can be fixed if people stop throwing up their arms and start rolling up their sleeves to do the hard work of building our democracy. This book provides an overview of the basic features that characterize contemporary elections in the United States and includes discussions about voter participation and decision-making patterns, money in elections, and the role of parties and the media in presidential, congressional, and state and local races. It also outlines some of the most important trends and challenges in the current system. As a call to action, each chapter features potential solutions to the challenges that currently exist in U.S. elections.
Costas Panagopoulos is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Electoral Politics and Democracy and the graduate program in Elections and Campaign Management at Fordham University.
Aaron C. Weinschenk is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where he teaches classes on American government and politics, Congress, public policy, urban politics, and statistics.
CITIZEN GUIDES TO POLITICS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Morgan Marietta and Bert Rockman, Series Editors
Each book in this series is framed around a significant but not well-understood subject that is integral to citizensboth students and the general publicfull understanding of politics and participation in public affairs. In accessible language, these titles provide readers with the tools for understanding the root issues in political life. Individual volumes are brief and engaging, written in short, readable chapters without extensive citations or footnoting. Together they are part of an essential library to equip us all for fuller engagement with the issues of our times.
Titles in the series:
A CITIZENS GUIDE TO AMERICAN IDEOLOGY
Conservatism and Liberalism in Contemporary Politics
Morgan Marietta
A CITIZENS GUIDE TO THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SUPREME COURT
Constitutional Conflict in American Politics
Morgan Marietta
A CITIZENS GUIDE TO AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
Tragic Choices and the Limits of Rationality
David Patrick Houghton
A CITIZENS GUIDE TO FEDERAL DEFICITS AND DEBT
The Politics of Taxing, Spending and Borrowing
William E. Hudson
A CITIZENS GUIDE TO TERRORISM AND COUNTERTERRORISM
Christopher C. Harmon
A CITIZENS GUIDE TO PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS
The Competition for Leadership
Wayne P. Steger
A CITIZENS GUIDE TO U.S. ELECTIONS
Empowering Democracy in America
Costas Panagopoulos and Aaron C. Weinschenk
First published 2016
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2016 Taylor & Francis
The right of Costas Panagopoulos and Aaron C. Weinschenk to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Panagopoulos, Costas. & Weinschenk, Aaron C.
A citizens guide to U.S. elections: empowering democracy in America / by Costas Panagopoulos and Aaron C. Weinschenk.
pages cm. (Citizen guides to politics and public affairs)
Includes index.
1. ElectionsUnited States. 2. VotingUnited States. 3. DemocracyUnited States. 4. Political campaignsUnited States. 5. United StatesPolitics and government.
JK1976.P32 2016
324.973dc23 2015036584
ISBN: 978-1-138-85878-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-85879-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-71771-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro
by codeMantra
CONTENTS
Many of the common complaints about American elections have the same root: a deficit of citizen engagement in our democracy. This singular observation frames the lucid description and clear diagnosis of our electoral process offered in A Citizens Guide to U.S. Elections. Is our electoral system broken beyond repair, or is the pessimism born of this argument one of the sources of the trouble? In addition to explaining the several facets of our complex system of electionsincluding the roles of money, interest groups, parties, and the mediathe volume examines what has gone wrong and why. Perhaps as important as those observations is an assessment of how the problems can be addressed
