7/26/2016 1:07 PM
DRAFT
“American Presidential Campaigns”
UPADM-GP.220
NYU Wagner School course for Undergraduates, Fall 2012
Maxine Isaacs
MI24@NYU.EDU
Thursdays, 11 am-1 pm
7 East 12th Street, Room 129
Office Hours: Wednesdays 2-4, Room 3045 Wagner
Through your own experience, reading, historical perspective, analysis and discussion with
experts, you will attempt to focus on essential questions concerning the health of the US political
system, particularly means by which presidential candidates are selected and elected. You also will
attempt to draw lessons from the 1960 through the 2012 campaigns and elections in an effort to
understand the current political condition of our country and the path on which we are headed
toward the election this fall.
You will study the changes and the constancies in American presidential campaigns and
elections since 1960. You will come to better understand public opinion polls and the nature and
structure of American public opinion. You will examine ways in which American news media transmit
information about presidential campaigns and elections, issues, and candidates. You will learn about
the impact of news upon political behavior and what people do with the information they receive
through the news media. In an effort better to understand the relationship (or disconnect) between
theory and practice in this field, you will meet practitioners – people who are involved with
presidential politics on a daily basis. By the end of the term, you will be able to make sound,
informed and reliable judgments about the health of the American presidential selection system.
And, I promise you, you will never look at conventional wisdom in the same way again.
There have been fourteen presidential elections between 1960 and 2012. You will be
assigned an election between 1960 and 2012, and you will be responsible for every aspect of your
election. Depending on the number of students enrolled in the class, you will be divided into teams –
with one student responsible for the Republicans in your year, one student responsible for the
Democrats, and possibly one student responsible for Third Party candidates in the years in which
they played a significant role. You will read books, contemporaneous accounts, which capture
“your” election. For example, at least one of the students responsible for 1960 will read Theodore
White’s great classic, The Making of the President 1960 and at least one of the students responsible
for 2008 may read Game Change or some other contemporary account. Additionally, for each of the
subject areas that we will cover – for example, campaign financing, public opinion, the Electoral
College, presidential debates, press coverage – you will be expected to be able to describe, if called
upon, what happened in “your” election year. You must come to class prepared to participate fully
and to speak from your knowledge rather than from notes.
Finally, I will help you to understand the difficult, complex, dynamic relationship among
presidential politics, the press, the news, and American public opinion. You will apply this knowledge
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to both “your” election and to your prognosis concerning the health of the US presidential
campaigns and election system.
There will be 14 meetings of this class. On October 11th and November 15th you will submit a
two-page (approximately 500 words) paper. At our final meeting, on December 13th, you will be
given one-half hour to respond in class to a question I will pose at the beginning of class. Your final
grade will be determined as follows: Class participation in in-class discussions, in which you will
contribute knowledge about what happened in your election year for the area under discussion, will
count for 50% of your grade. The two two-page papers each will count for 20% of your final grade.
And the final in-class one-question written exam will count for 10%
In class, I strongly prefer that you take notes in the old-fashioned pencil-and-paper way. If
you must use a laptop to take notes, you must have my approval in advance. What happens in class
is essentially copyrighted, so if you intend to write or blog about what happens in class, you must
have my permission as well as that of your classmates to do so – and you should be prepared to tell
us in advance that that is your desire. Finally, you may not write about the in-class comments of any
our guests without their prior permission. I have some DVDs that I will make available to you, which I
expect you to arrange to see as a group or individually on your own time. You will be expected to
come to every class and to be prepared. Attendance is required. If you must miss a class, you must
obtain my authorization in advance.
MATERIALS
You will purchase one book for this course, The Road to the White House 2012 (9th edition) by
Stephen J. Wayne, which should be available at the bookstore (I understand an electronic version is
available). Other than that, your reading will consist of the books for each campaign, which should
be available from the library, and excerpts from selected works, which you will receive as a hyperlink
or, occasionally, possibly in photocopied form.
TENTATIVE CALENDAR (subject to change)
Thurs., Sept. 6, 2012
Introduction and Electoral College
In this first meeting, we will get acquainted; you will select or be assigned the election year
for which you will be responsible; we will discuss my goals and objectives for the semester, as well as
yours; and I will present an overview of the modern elections preceding this 2012 campaign and an
“Electoral College Slideshow.”
REQUIRED READING: Wayne, pp. 3-6, 16-22
Tables on 81, 86, 316-319
Rossiter, ed., pp. 379-83 (Federalist 68)
OPTIONAL (RECOMMENDED): Fiorina, pp. xii, 1-32
Thurs., Sept. 13
Money, Money, Money – and Rules
Today, veteran Democratic campaign mastermind Michael Berman, the person who knows
more about campaign financing, rules and organization than anyone I know, will come to our class to
discuss with you the way in which modern campaigns are financed, what is different about
contemporary campaigns, what the rules are, and how they impact this year’s campaigns.
Understanding the money, rules, and organization of presidential campaigns is essential.
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REQUIRED READING:
Wayne, Chapter 2
Thurs., Sept. 20-27 (two weeks)
Primaries, Caucuses and Rules, VP Selection, Convention
In this week’s class and next week’s we will examine the process by which the two major
parties choose their presidential nominees, the selection of a running-mate, and the conventions. On
Sept. 20th, come to class prepared to discuss the primaries and caucuses in “your” year; on Sept. 27th
come in prepared to discuss the VP Selection process and the conventions in your year.
REQUIRED READING:
Thurs., Oct. 4
Wayne, pp. 117-20, 122-27, 174-195, 196-99, Table p. 10
The Nature and Structure of American Political Opinion
We will turn today to understanding some important theory concerning the nature and structure
of American public opinion, and how people make their decisions about whether to participate and
for whom to vote. You will learn to distinguish between individual and elite opinion, how to
interpret publicly-available poll data, and mistakes elites commonly make in interpreting public
opinion. Although this materials is pretty dense, you will find it enormously helpful to your
understanding of the way in which political leaders’ communication is understood and is influential
(or not) upon the American voting public.
REQUIRED READING:
Page & Shapiro, pp. 1-36
Surowiecki, pp. xi-xxi
Kull & Ramsay (in Nacos), pp. 104-08
Thurs., Oct. 11
Political Communication: How People Learn about the Campaign and what
they do with Information
In an effort to broaden and deepen your understanding of the political behavior of the
American voter, today we turn to political communication – how people learn, through the news
media, advertising, and the internet about presidential campaigns. We will study some of the
prevailing theories about the way information is transmitted in a democratic society and what
people do with the information they receive.
Required reading:
Just, pp. 3-17
Graber, 1-10
Popkin, pp. 1-21
NOTE: First of two two-page (approx. 500 words) papers is due today. This will be a memo to Mitt
Romney or Barack Obama from one of the candidates in your election year on the subject of one
lesson from your campaign year that this year’s candidates 1) clearly learned and effectively
applied, 2) didn’t appear to have learned at all but should have learned, or 3) seem to have
deliberately (and wisely) disregarded.
Thurs., Oct. 18
Political Communication 2.0
Today I hope to have as a guest in class an expert on political communication in the 2012
presidential campaign, particularly the use of social media, Facebook, Twitter etc. This guest will
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familiarize us with what Romney and Obama are doing to reach voters using the newest means of
communication. The challenge for you will be to bring to class your knowledge of how your
candidates in your elections attempted to do the same things with the communications tools
available to them at the time.
REQUIRED READING:
Thurs., Oct. 25
TBD
How the American Public views Presidential Campaigns & Elections
Today Peter Hart, the Founder of Hart Research and the NBC/Wall St. Journal poll,
recognized as the most important poll of Americans’ views about politics. will join us to discuss the
2012 electorate – what’s important to them, what’s on their minds, and what they’re likely to do in
the election.
REQUIRED READING:
Thurs., Nov. 1st
Wayne, pp. 73-90, 93-99, 142-44, 292-308
The Art and the Practice of Modern Political Communication
Today we will be joined by Nicco Mele, an expert in the integration of modern internet and
social media communications with politics, will give us a sense of how today’s campaigns identify,
motivate and turn out voters. The challenge for you will be to tell us how your candidates in your
elections attempted to do the very same thing, using the technology available to them at the time.
REQUIRED READING:
Thurs., Nov. 8th
Wayne, pp.144-46, 230-40, 269-80
Diamond & Bates, 350-67
Post-Election Analysis and Discussion
We will be joined today by veteran Boston Globe political reporter and columnist, Tom
Oliphant, and seasoned political observer, Robert Shrum, to review what happened on Tuesday and
to discuss the role of the press in the campaign and in the election’s outcome.
REQUIRED READING:
Thurs., Nov. 15
Wayne, pp. 261-68
More about the Press and their Role in the 2012 Campaign and Election
Today, we will continue the discussion, begun last week, about the role of the press in this
year’s campaign and election. We will be joined by a journalist who has covered politics and can help
lead our discussion about what is entailed in covering modern presidential campaigns, whether
journalists are able to play a useful role in helping voters understand the candidates and their choice,
and how they view the modern political scene.
NOTE: Your second two page (approximately 500 words) paper is due today. Your assignment
today is to answer this question: If the candidates in your election year had known what we know
today, had known how modern history would enfold, what would they have done differently?
NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO CLASS ON THANKSGIVING DAY, THURSDAY, NOV. 22ND.
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Thurs., Nov. 29th
Presidential Debates
Presidential debates have become increasingly important to individual voters’ decisionmaking about the presidential candidates. Today Janet Brown, President of the Commission on
Presidential Debates will come to class to lead a discussion on this year’s debates, the history of
presidential debates and the future of presidential debates.
REQUIRED READING :
Wayne, pp. 261-68
OPTIONAL:
Jamieson, pp. 3-16, 222-27
Thurs., Dec. 6th
Class discussion
Today in class we will reflect upon what you have learned by studying modern presidential
campaigns and elections in the midst of a campaign.
Thurs., Dec. 13th
Final In-Class Exam
Today in class you will answer one essay question on presidential campaigns and elections which
will attempt to explore what you have learned this fall.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
REQUIRED
Diamond, Edwin and Stephen Bates. The Spot: The Rise of Political Advertising on Television, 3rd
edition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1993. ISBN: 0262540657
Kull, Steven and Clay Ramsay. “Elite Misperceptions of US Public Opinion on Foreign Policy.” Pp.
104-08. In Decisionmaking in a Glass House: Mass Media, Public Opinion and American and
European Foreign Policy in the 21st Century. Brigitte L. Nacos et al, editors. New York:
Rowman and Littlefield, 2003. ISBN: 0742529193
Page, Benjamin I. and Robert Y. Shapiro. The Rational Public: Fifty Years of Trends in Americans’
Policy Preferences. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN: 0226644782
Rossiter, Clinton, ed. The Federalist Papers. Number 68. NY, NY: New American Library, 1999. Pp.
379-83. ISBN: 451628810
Surowiecki, James. The Wisdom of Crowds. New York: Doubleday, 2004. Pp. xi—xxi. ISBN:
0385503865
Wayne, Stephen J. The Road to the White House 2012 (9th edition). Boston: Thomson Wadsworth,
2011. ISBN: 13: 9781111341503
OPTIONAL
Fiorina, Morris P. et al. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. NY, NY: Pearson, Longman,
2005. Pp. xii, 1-32. ISBN: 0321317734
Graber, Doris A. Processing Politics: Learning from Television in an Internet Age. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 2002. Pp. 1-10. ISBN: 0226305765
Jacobson, Gary C. The Politics of Congressional Elections, 7th edition. New York: Pearson, Longman,
2008. Pp. 157-174. ISBN: 9780205577026
Jamieson, Kathleen Hall and David S. Birdsell. Presidential Debates: The Challenge of Creating an
Informed Electorate. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Pp. 3-16, 222-27. ISBN:
019506660X
Just, Marion R. et al. Crosstalk: Citizens, Candidates and the Media in a Presidential Campaign.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Pp. 3-17. ISBN: 022640213
Popkin, Samuel R. The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Pp. 1-21. ISBN: 0226675459
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RECOMMENDED CAMPAIGN BOOKS 1960-2004
(These are suggestions only; feel free to find your own source on your election.)
1960
White, Theodore H. The Making of the President 1960. New York: Pocket Books, 1962. Hollis No.
002851107
1964
White, Theodore H. The Making of the President 1964. New York: New American Library, 1966.
Hollis No. 001650262
1968
White, Theodore H. The Making of the President 1968. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1969. Hollis
No. 004921318
1972
Crouse, Timothy. The Boys on the Bus. New York: Ballantine Books, 1993 (20th printing). ISBN:
0345340159
Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. New York: Warner Books, 2006 (?).
Hollis No. 010152824
1976
Schram, Martin. Running for President, 1976: The Carter Campaign. New York: Stein & Day, 1977.
Hollis No. 000845664
1980
Drew, Elizabeth. Portrait of an Election: The 1980 Presidential Campaign. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1981. Hollis No. 000941976
1984
Germond, Jack W. and Jules Witcover. Wake Us When It’s Over: Presidential Politics of 1984. New
York: Macmillan, 1985. Hollis No. 00378695
1988
Cramer, Richard Ben. What It Takes: The Way to the White House. New York: Random House, 1992.
Hollis No. 002432236
1992
Goldman, Peter et al. Quest for the Presidency 1992. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University
Press, 1994. Hollis No. 004828214
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1996
Denton, Robert E Jr. The 1996 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Perspective. Westport, CT:
Praeger, 1998. Hollis No. 007774379
2000
New York Times correspondents. 36 Days: The Complete Chronicle of the 2000 Presidential Election
Crisis. New York: Times Books, 2001. Hollis No. 008610351
2004
Thomas, Evan et al. Election 2004: How Bush Won and What you can Expect in the Future. New
York: Public Affairs, 2004. ISBN: 1586482939
2008
Heileman, John and Mark Halperin. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and
the Race of the Lifetime. New York: Harper, 2010. ISBN: 0061733636
Johnson, Haynes and Dan Balz. The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election.
New York: Viking Adult, 2009. ISBN: 0670021113
Wolffe, Richard. Renegade: The Making of a President. New York: Crown, 2009. ISBN: 0307463125.
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