PSC 344—Presidential Campaigns

This course teaches students about the fundamental characteristics of American presidential campaigns and how they affect elections and the public’s ability to control the government. The course begins with some basic questions about presidential campaigns: What is a campaign? What are they supposed to do? Although every presidential campaign is different, what factors affect the results of presidential elections? The course then examines the most recent presidential election with evidence about the context of recent elections, the fundamental context in which the campaign was conducted, the key events of the campaign, and the preference polls leading up to the vote. The course then turns to the broad history of presidential elections, examining the impact of ?the fundamentals? that shape campaigns, the ?playing out? of those fundamentals through the candidates and campaign events in presidential elections, and both the systematic or regular aspects of campaign effects on elections and the unsystematic or ?wild card? developments of campaigns. By examining presidential campaigns in both depth and breadth, students will learn about how presidential campaigns work, about evaluating and applying evidence to answer social scientific questions, and about relating those empirical answers to democratic theory.