POLS 5435: Presidential Elections
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Fall 2015
Office Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Monday, Wednesday
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Friday
& by appointment
?
Jim King
327 A&S
766-6239
jking@uwyo.edu
This course explores one of the most significant events in American politics: the selection
of a new chief executive. Few events are more important, more complicated, and understood
less than presidential elections. Of general concern are the democratic requirements for
successful elections and how effectively our current elections meet those criteria. Specific topics
of concern are campaign finance; the roles of presidential primaries, caucuses, and conventions;
campaign techniques; media coverage of campaigns; citizen participation; the electoral college;
and proposed reforms of the presidential selection process.
Texts
The required text for the course is:
Stephen J. Wayne, Road to the White House, 2016. New York: Cengage Learning, 2016.
ISBN: 978-1-285-86525-6
Additional readings (indicated by  on the list of topics) are available on WyoCourses page for
the class. Students are also expected to follow developments in the current presidential contest
in the media. I recommend newspapers, which tend to offer greater breadth and depth in their
coverage of political affairs. The New York Times is available free Monday through Friday at
several campus locations. Other newspapers with substantial coverage of the presidential
election, such as The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, are available online.
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Grading
Grades will be based on two essay examinations and a set of short, out-of-class essays on various
aspects of presidential elections. These assignments will be weighted in computation of final
grades as follows:
Midterm exam (October 21)
25%
Final exam (December 16)
30%
Analytic essays (2 @ 10%)
20%
Research paper (December 2)
25%
Daily class attendance and participation will be taken into account for resolving borderline grade
cases.
The analytic essays are designed to have students consider a specific aspect of the
presidential selection process. Each comprises 10% of graduate students’ grades and involves
analyzing data/information from a given source or reacting to an assigned reading. Details of
each assignment will be distributed at least one week before the due date.
Graduate students are expected to submit a research paper on some aspect of presidential
elections. Each student should schedule a meeting early in the semester to discussed possible
topics. The paper should be 12-15 pages in length.
A “Guide to Writing” is available on the WyoCourses page for POLS 4435. Included are
various expectations concerning grammar, capitalization, word use, and sentence structure that
will be applied when grading essays. Ignore this information at your peril.
Attendance
There is no formal attendance policy in this course. All students are assumed capable of making
choices concerning what they want to learn in this course and their grades. As noted above,
daily class attendance and participation will be taken into account in resolving borderline grade
cases. The examinations will be structured to draw upon both reading assignments and in-class
activities. Students will be held responsible for all class material.
Disabilities
A student with a disability that requires special accommodation in class or for assignments,
exams or any other task should see me by the second week of class. You will need to register
with and provide documentation of your disability to University Disability Support Services
(UDSS) in SEO, room 330 Knight Hall, 766-6189, TTY: 766-3073. For information regarding
disabilities and accommodations that the University can make for you see
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UDSS/facultyandstaff/.
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Academic Dishonesty
Students are expected to be aware of and to abide by the university’s policy regarding academic
dishonesty as specified in UNIREG 802, Revision 2 (www.uwyo.edu/legal/Uniregs/ur802.htm),
which governs all class assignments and activities. My policy is to enforce UNIREG 802 to the
fullest extent. A student found in violation of UNIREG 802 will receive a grade of “F” for the
course and will have a formal charge of academic dishonesty filed against him/her. If sustained,
the charge of academic dishonesty becomes part of the student’s permanent UW record.
Additional punishment, including loss of scholarships and suspension from the university, can be
imposed by UW officials.
Final thoughts
Many aspects of the political process evoke strong opinions. Class discussion will be conducted
on a professional basis. All students are expected to discuss elections, candidates, and the
presidency as political scientists, not as partisans. Additionally, others’ opinions, either
intellectual or political, are to be respected. Be respectful of others and they will be respectful of
you. Be disrespectful of others and you will have to deal with me.
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Schedule of Topics and Readings
( Available on WyoCourses page for POLS 4435/5435)
Note: Exam dates are firm and will not change unless extraordinary circumstances arise. There
will be some flexibility concerning class topics and dates.
August 31
Introduction
September 2-4
Overview
 Wayne, Road to the White House, chapters 1 and 3.
September 9
Modern campaigns – polling
September 11
Modern campaigns – media use
September 14-16
Modern campaigns – finance
 Wayne, Road to the White House, chapter 2.
 Dino P. Christenson and Corwin D. Smidt, “Following the Money:
Super PACS and the 2012 Presidential Nomination,” Presidential
Studies Quarterly 44 (September 2014): 410-430.
September 18
Who runs?
 Barry C. Burden, “United States Senators as Presidential Candidates,”
Political Science Quarterly 117 (Spring 2002): 81-102.
September 21-23
Primaries, caucuses, & strategy I
 Wayne, Road to the White House, chapter 4.
 Emmett H. Buell, Jr., “The Invisible Primary,” in In Pursuit of the
White House: How We Choose our Presidential Nominees, edited by
William G. Mayer (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers, 1996),
pp. 1-43.
September 25-30
Primaries, caucuses, & strategy II
 Wayne, Road to the White House, chapter 5.
 D. Jason Berggren, “Two Parties, Two Types of Nominees, Two Paths
to Winning a Presidential Nominations, 1972-2004,” Presidential
Studies Quarterly 37 (June 2007): 203-227.
October 2-7
Class exercise I
October 9-12
Vice presidents & Conventions
 Wayne, Road to the White House, chapter 6.
October 14-19
Reforming the nomination process
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October 21
Midterm exam
October 23
No class
October 26
Do Fall campaigns matter?
 Wayne, Road to the White House, pp. 244-250.
October 28
Fall campaign: Strategic considerations
 Wayne, Road to the White House, chapter 7.
Oct. 30-Nov. 2Presidential debates
 Wayne, Road to the White House, pp. 219-225.
 Theodore White, “Round Two: The Television Debates,” from The
Making of the President 1960 (New York: Antheneum, 1961), pp.
279-295.
 Dan Balz, “Debacle in Denver,” from Collision 2012: The Future of
Election Politics in a Divided America (New York: Penguin Books,
2013), chapter 24.
November 4
Media coverage
 Wayne, Road to the White House, chapter 8.
 John Allen Hendricks, “The New-Media Campaign of 2012,” in The
2012 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Perspective, edited by
Robert E. Denton, Jr. (Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014), pp.
133-156.
November 6-9
Voter turnout & choice
 Wayne, Road to the White House, pp. 244-267.
 David B. Holian and Charles Prysby, “Candidate Character Traits in
the 2012 Presidential Election,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 44
(September 2015): 484-505.
November 11-13
Class exercise II
November 16
Election Night Media Coverage
 Wayne, Road to the White House, pp. 250-255.
November 18-23
Electoral college
 Jack Rakove, “Presidential Selection: Electoral Fallacies,” Political
Science Quarterly 119 (Spring 2004): 21-38.
 Judith Best, “Presidential Selection: Complex Problems and Simple
Solutions,” Political Science Quarterly 119 (Spring 2004): 39-59.
November 30
Does a president-elect receive a mandate?
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

Wayne, Road to the White House, pp. 268-271.
Robert Dahl, “Myth of the Presidential Mandate,” Political Science
Quarterly 105 (Autumn 1990): 355-372.
December 2-4
Presidential transitions
 Wayne, Road to the White House, pp. 272-273.
 Charles O. Jones, “‘The Biggest Mistake’ and Other Lessons,”
Passages to the Presidency: From Campaigning to Governing
(Washington, DC: Brookings, 1998), pp. 173-197.
December 7-11
Reforming the election process
 Wayne, Road to the White House, chapter 10.
 James Bryce, “Why Great Men Are Not Chosen Presidents,” from The
American Commonwealth, Volume I, new edition (New York:
MacMillan Company, 1912 [original edition, 1893]), pp. 77-84.
December 16
Final exam (1:15 p.m.)
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Entries for the 2016 Run for the Rose Garden
(in order of entrance; strikethrough indicates the candidate has withdrawn)
Democratic Dance
Entry date
State
Prior political experience (italicized if currently in office)
Hillary Clinton
April 12, 2015
New York
Secretary of State, U.S. Senator
Bernie Sanders
April 30, 2015
Vermont
U.S. Senator and Representative (both as Independent), Mayor
Martin O’Malley
May 30, 2015
Maryland
Governor, Mayor
Lincoln Chaffee
June 3, 2015
Rhode Island Governor (as Independent), U.S. Senator (as Republican), Mayor
Jim Webb
July 2, 2015
Virginia
U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy
Republican Rendition
Entry date
State
Prior political experience (italicized if currently in office)
Ted Cruz
March 23, 2015
Texas
U.S. Senator, state government official
Rand Paul
April 7, 2015
Kentucky
U.S. Senator
Marco Rubio
April 13, 2015
Florida
U.S. Senator, state legislator
Ben Carson
May 3, 2015
Maryland
none
Carly Fiorina
May 4, 2015
California
none
Mike Huckabee
May 5, 2015
Arkansas
Governor, Lt. Governor
Rick Santorum
May 27, 2015
Pennsylvania U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative
George Pataki
May 28, 2015
New York
Lindsey Graham
June 1, 2015
So. Carolina U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, state legislator
Rick Perry
June 4, 2015
Texas
Governor, Lt. Governor, state government official
Jeb Bush
June 15, 2015
Florida
Governor, state government official
Governor, state legislator
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Republican Rendition
Entry date
State
Prior political experience (italicized if currently in office)
Donald Trump
June 16, 2015
New York
none
Bobby Jindal
June 24, 2015
Louisiana
Governor, U.S. Representative, state government official
Chris Christie
June 30, 2015
New Jersey
Governor, U.S. attorney, local government official
Scott Walker
July 13, 2015
Wisconsin
Governor, local government official, state legislator
John Kasich
July 21, 2015
Ohio
Governor, U.S. Representative, state legislator
Jim Gilmore
July 29, 2015
Virginia
Governor, state government official
Teasers’ Tango
Party
State
Prior political experience
Joe Biden
Democratic
Delaware
Vice President, U.S. Senator
Andrew Cuomo
Democratic
New York
Governor, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
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