This timely, highly readable edited collection undertakes an interdisciplinary analysis of the innovative ways in which both the political process and the entertainment industry appeal to voters under the age of 30 and how the intended audience receives these endeavors. Along the way, contributors shed light on the state of the modern American political system and its relationship to entertainment and popular culture. By integrating academic investigations with a 'real-world' point of view...

Coming out of the 2000 Canadian federal election, the dominance of the Liberal Party seemed assured. By 2011 the situation had completely reversed: the Liberals suffered a crushing defeat, failing even to become the official opposition and recording their lowest ever share of the vote. Dominance and Decline provides a comprehensive, comparative account of Canadian election outcomes from 2000 through to 2008. The book explores the meaning of those outcomes within the context of the...

Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig investigates the most vexing problem in American democracy: how money corrupts our nation's politics, and the critical campaign to stop it.In an era when special interests funnel huge amounts of money into our government-driven by shifts in campaign-finance rules and brought to new levels by the Supreme Court in *Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission-*trust in our government has reached an all-time low. More than...

Can a football game affect the outcome of an election? What about shark attacks? Or a drought? In a rational world the answer, of course, would be no. But as bestselling historian Rick Shenkman explains in Political Animals, our world is anything but rational. Drawing on science, politics, and history, Shenkman explores the hidden forces behind our often illogical choices.Political Animals challenges us to go beyond the headlines, which often focus on what politic...

A timely and nonpartisan book on voter manipulation and electoral corruption—and the importance of stimulating voter turnout and participationThough voting rights are fundamental to American democracy, felon disfranchisement, voter identification laws, and hard-to-access polling locations with limited hours are a few of the ways voter turnout is suppressed. These methods of voter suppression are pernicious, but in Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich, Dr....

Twenty essential tips for picking great leaders from the father of modern politicsOne of the greatest political advisers of all time, Niccolò Machiavelli thought long and hard about how citizens could identify great leaders—ones capable of defending and enhancing the liberty, honor, and prosperity of their countries. Drawing on the full range of the Florentine's writings, acclaimed Machiavelli biographer Maurizio Viroli gathers and interprets Machiavelli's timeless...

As Europe’s Muslim communities continue to grow, so does their impact on electoral politics and the potential for inclusion dilemmas. In vote-rich enclaves, Muslim views on religion, tradition, and gender roles can deviate sharply from those of the majority electorate, generating severe trade-offs for parties seeking to broaden their coalitions. Dilemmas of Inclusion explains when and why European political parties include Muslim candidates and voters, revealing that the ways in w...

Why American democracy favors the affluent and educatedPolitically active individuals and organizations make huge investments of time, energy, and money to influence everything from election outcomes to congressional subcommittee hearings to local school politics, while other groups and individual citizens seem woefully underrepresented in our political system. The Unheavenly Chorus is the most comprehensive and systematic examination of political voice in ...

From the award-winning author of Out of Order—named the best political science book of the last decade by the American Political Science Association—comes this landmark book about why Americans don’t vote.Based on more than 80,000 interviews, The Vanishing Voterinvestigates why—despite a better educated citizenry, the end of racial barriers to voting, and simplified voter registration procedures—the percentage of voters has steadily decreased to th...

Record numbers of Americans fear that our political process is brokenfor good reason. Our nation faces unprecedented challenges, yet our politicians spend most of their energy attacking one another. All the while, no one in public life has offered a practical way to neutralize the bitter partisanship that paralyzes Washington.The Cure for Our Broken Political Process fills that void. The authors show exactly how concerned citizens can get politicians from all camps to negot...

New Hampshire-a small state with a small, distinct population-is nevertheless the beacon of American democracy. Since 1920, its residents have been the first in the nation to cast their votes in the presidential primaries. History has shown that if you want to be commander in chief, you have to win, or at least place a strong second, in New Hampshire. Donald Trump bolstered the trend with his victory in 2016.For that reason, the state is also the graveyard of political ambitions: i...

This volume presents five studies on the relationship between the media and voters. Each examines some aspects of the flow of information to voters during election campaigns and all reflect the assumption that the right to vote must include the right of access and sufficient information to make an informed decision.In separate studies, Jean Crête and Robert MacDermid examine existing studies and data on the relationship between attention to media and voter information and behaviour...