FRS 002FF —
Sec. 001 —
(2 unit) — CRN 53662 — R 2:10-4:00 PM — 203 Wellman
Presidential Primaries: Strategy, Ideology, and the
Media
Instructor: Stuart Hill, Department of Political Science, College of
Letters and Science
Description: The process of selecting the president
of the United
States begins every four years when the major political parties
choose a nominee
to represent them in the general election. Candidates compete for
votes in primary
and caucus elections in each state to win enough delegates to lead their party.
They build support by positioning themselves ideologically, gaining
endorsements,
raising money, constructing organizations, and managing campaign
events to attract
positive attention from the local and national media. This course will use the
primary elections for the 2004 presidential election to examine which
strategies
are most successful in helping candidates win their party's
nomination and position
themselves to compete effectively in the general election. We will
also ask whether
the politicians who can compete at the highest level in gaining their party's
nomination are likely to be the best choice to fill this demanding office and
represent the desires of most citizens.
Format: The class will meet for two hours each week.
The instructor
will lecture and lead class discussion in the first two weeks on the
major theoretical
claims and empirical findings on the primary determinants for winning
the nomination
of one of the major parties. With the beginning of the primary and
caucus season
in mid January we will turn our attention to investigating how the
Democrats select
their nominee and the presumptive Republican nominee, President
George Bush, responds.
Video clips of key campaign events (debates, ads, network and cable coverage)
will be shown and analyzed in class. We will link this analysis and
other materials
to the changing levels of candidates' popular support at the state and national
levels. Students will select an issue (debates, managing media
coverage, TV ads,
etc.) or candidate in which they will specialize over the course of
the quarter.
They will write a five page paper and make a presentation to the class on what
they have learned. Grading: The paper and
class presentation
of students' research will count 50%. Class participation will make
up the remaining
50% of the grade.
About the Instructor: Stuart Hill is a member of the faculty
in the Department of Political Science. His research interests
include the politics
of protests and riots, the American policy process, and the role of the media
in agenda setting.