Special Topics in Political Science (390-0-25)
Topic
The Press & Presidential Elections
Instructors
Lawrence L Stuelpnagel
847/491-3468
McCormick Foundation Building/4-135
Office Hours: Gladly By Appointment
Meeting Info
Parkes Hall 212: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
Presidential elections are hard fought and can be controversial. In the 2020 election former Vice President Joe Biden soundly defeated incumbent president Donal Trump in both the popular vote and the Electoral College. Trump, lying about the voter fraud he claims occurred, has not concede the election. In 2016 polls showed Hillary Clinton would win the popular vote yet Donald Trump emerged victorious in the Electoral College while losing the popular vote. In 2008 America elected its first African American President, Barack Obama and reelected him in 2012. In 2000 George W. Bush also lost the popular vote but he was ultimately chosen the victor by the Supreme Court. The fallout from the recount and the Supreme Court decision that gave Bush the victory is still being debated and studied.
This class will examine presidential elections and how they have evolved since 1952, the first year TV advertising began to have impact on the races. This class will challenge some of the myths about elections and their outcomes. We will also examine the 2008 campaign, which was dubbed the "YouTube" election and was historic by virtue of its outcome, the candidates who ran and the impact the Internet and new technologies had on the race. In 2012 the Obama campaign had the most intense "ground game" of any campaign in history, we will examine how the campaign succeeded in this effort. In 2016 Donald Trump bypassed typical advertising methods of reaching voters by unleashing a torrent of Twitter messages and finding a willing press that was at least in the primaries, willing to give him uncritical or challenging coverage. In 2020 the country was literally plagued with a horrible pandemic, economic collapse and a reckoning regarding racial injustice.
Learning Objectives
There are several learning goals for this class. The first is to give you a historical context for how the modern presidential campaign has evolved from 1952 to the present day. The second is to show you how candidates and the press interact in ways that shape press and social media coverage of a candidate or issue. The first two goals are meant to help achieve the third goal, which is to help you become more critical consumers of both campaigns and the media. If you are planning to go into politics or journalism this class is also meant to give the necessary background for creating new ideas for using the tools of those two careers. Your writing assignments are designed for you to clearly articulate those new ideas or reflect on previous campaigns.
Evaluation Method
Your grade will be determined by a two-to-three page, 800-1,000- word Op-Ed article (45%), a 10-12 page, double spaced, term paper (45%), and your class participation (10%). The topics for the Op-Ed and term paper must be germane to the class and be approved by the professor.
Class Materials (Required)
The required texts for this class are:
The Selling of the President: A Class Account of the Packaging of a Candidate, by Joe McGinnis and is available in two parts on our Canvas site.
In addition I have made PDF's of selected chapters from Everything You Think You Know About Politics and Why You're Wrong, by Kathleen Hall Jamieson and The Control Room: How Television Calls the Shots in Presidential Elections by Martin Plissner