POL492 The History of US Presidential Elections

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2011
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Barbora Petrová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Anna Shavit, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Lubomír Kopeček, Ph.D.
Division of Politology – Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Iva Petříková
Timetable
Mon 10:00–11:40 U41
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Students should obtain a detailed and comprehensive awareness of how marketing has permeated the political arena. In the end of the course student will be able independently analyze the presidential elections from practical, historical, critical and comparative perspective. Students will learn how to work with concepts as Professionalization, Americanization of campaigning, packaging and labeling of politics and make deductions based on acquired knowledge. The course is taught in English and students are required to write all the assignments in English.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction and overview; (information about the course, required readings, grading and course objectives)..
  • 2. Introduction to the US political system (electoral and party system); campaign financing, GOPs, PAC. History of campaigning – the roots and tradition
  • 3.GENERAL ELECTIONS 2008 (from Primaries to the White House)
  • 4. US Presidential PR – Public Relations Democracy
  • 5. From Great Depression To New Deal, WWII (FDR, Truman and Eisenhower) – the examples of exceptional campaigns and political advertisements
  • 6.The New Frontier – JFK (the role of media, candidate images, the TV debate with R. Nixon); the Rise of Political Consulting
  • 7. G. H. Bush – Gulf War and Post-Soviet break up; the role of war in US campaigns
  • 8. The Candidate and the speech (practically oriented lecture)
  • 9. reading week
  • 10. Bush – Gulf War and Post-Soviet break up; The role of war in US campaigns, Speech delivery
  • 11. Bill Clinton - the analysis of the campaign strategy and political advertisements; Private is international – the Lewinsky affair
  • 12. Bush vs. Gore 2000, Bush vs. Kerry 2004; the analysis of the campaign strategy and political advertisements, wrapping up session - discussion
  • 13. First term of the final test
Literature
  • Handbook of political marketing. Edited by Bruce I. Newman. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1999, xxiv, 792. ISBN 076191109X. info
  • Handbook of political communication research. Edited by Lynda Lee Kaid. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004, xviii, 541. ISBN 0805837752. URL info
  • BOLLER, Paul F. Presidential campaigns : from George Washington to George W. Bush. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004, xiii, 479. ISBN 9780195167160. info
  • Winning elections : political campaign management, strategy & tactics. Edited by Ron Faucheux. New York: M. Evans and Co., 2003, 688 p. ISBN 1590770269. info
  • Winning elections with political marketing. Edited by Philip Davies - Bruce I. Newman. New York: Haworth Press, 2006, xiii, 239. ISBN 0789033704. URL info
  • NEWMAN, Bruce. The marketing of the president : political marketing as campaign strategy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1994, xvii, 165. ISBN 0803951388. URL info
  • The SAGE handbook of political advertising. Edited by Lynda Lee Kaid - Christina Holtz-Bacha. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, 2006, xi, 492. ISBN 1412917956. info
  • SHEA, Daniel M. and Michael John BURTON. Campaign craft : the strategies, tactics, and art of political campaign management. 3rd ed. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2006, xvi, 235. ISBN 0275990044. URL info
Teaching methods
lectures, class discussion, presentations by professionals in the sectors, reading, analysis of visual materials such as electoral ads and posters
Assessment methods
The final grading consists of two parts. During the semester students has to write 3 written assignments (5800 signs per each), student can gain for each written assignment 15 points (altogether 45 points). The second part is written exam. The exam consists of 10 questions (5 questions graded with 2 points, and 5 questions - for 10 points), altogether student can get 105 points. To pass 59 points is needed.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
https://is.muni.cz/auth/elearning/warp.pl?fakulta=1423;obdobi=4784;kod=POL492;qurl=%2Fel%2F1423%2Fpodzim2009%2FPOL492%2Findex.qwarp;zpet=https:%2F%2Fis.muni.cz%2Fauth%2Fucitel%2Fwarp_predmet_vyber.pl%3Ffakulta%3D1423%3Bobdobi%3D4784%3Bkod%3DPOL492;zpet_t
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2011, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2011/POL492