The 2020 US presidential race was one of the most hotly contested and contentious in recent American history. While the election produced the greatest turnout in American history and the highest percentage turnout in 60 years, the election still came down to a handful of swing states that ultimately decided the election. In their third edition of Presidential Swing States, Rafael Jacob and David Schultz examine the 2020 presidential election, keying in on the few critical states that actua...

This book uses a multi-method approach to explain why recent Iowa governors have been able to stay in office significantly longer than their peers. Voters in Iowa value a personal connection with their governor and those governors who ignore that expectation are held accountable at the polls.

The rhetoric and political communication of the 2016 Presidential Election was arguably unconventional, partisan, and polarizing—becoming a defining characteristic of the tone and feel of the campaign. In this volume we examine how rhetoric and various political communication strategies influenced and shaped the contours of the election and ultimately its outcome. Witnessing the most diverse electorate in U.S. political history, we look at how voters were primed for an anti-establishment/o...

Revolt! is a battle cry for the newly elected Republican majority from the New York Times bestselling authors of Outrage, Fleeced, Catastrophe, and 2010: Take Back America. Dick Morris and Eileen McGann offer a blueprint for rolling back the worst of the legislation passed by the Obama administration and an agenda for establishing new, conservative policies. Revolt! provides the necessary keys to economic recovery and outlines positive steps in the right direction—as well as important the ...

"Full of interesting arguments and insights that will turn many deep-seated beliefs about American politics on their head." —Stefan Fergus, Civilian ReaderOn the night of the 2000 presidential election, Americans watched on television as polling results divided the nation's map into red and blue states. Since then the color divide has become symbolic of a culture war that thrives on stereotype—pickup-driving red-state Republicans who vote...

A provocative critique of the Obama administration's economic policies and an examination of America's difficult economic futureDuring the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised "a net spending cut" to make government smaller in order to reduce the deficit. But this huge increase in government spending and debt, and the resulting prospect of higher taxes, will make America a poorer country. Are Americans happier because the government has determined wher...

Barack Obama has taken America to the brink of financial ruin. Will we be able to stop before we go over the edge? Author John Lott sounds the alarm as he documents the economic challenges we face with four more years of an Obama presidency, and builds an case for fundamental change—the kind we need to save America.

Barack Obama's stunning victory in the 2008 presidential election will go down as one of the more pivotal in American history. Given America's legacy of racism, how could a relatively untested first-term senator with an African father defeat some of the giants of American politics? In The Obama Victory, Kate Kenski, Bruce Hardy, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson draw upon the best voter data available, The National Annenberg Election Survey, as well as interviews with key advisors to eac...

Who Votes Now? compares the demographic characteristics and political views of voters and nonvoters in American presidential elections since 1972 and examines how electoral reforms and the choices offered by candidates influence voter turnout. Drawing on a wealth of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and the American National Election Studies, Jan Leighley and Jonathan Nagler demonstrate that the rich have consistently voted more than the poor for the pas...

Conventional wisdom holds that programs for the poor are vulnerable to instability and retrenchment. Medicaid, however, has grown into the nation’s largest intergovernmental grant program, accounting for nearly half of all federal funding to state and local governments. Medicaid’s generous open-ended federal matching grants have given governors a powerful incentive to mobilize on behalf of its maintenance and expansion, using methods ranging from lobbying and negotiation to creative financ...

Pundits have observed that if so many incumbents are returned to Congress to each election by such wide margins, perhaps we should look for ways to increase competitiveness – a centerpiece to the American way of life – through redistricting. Do competitive elections increase voter satisfaction? How does voting for a losing candidate affect voters’ attitudes toward government? The not-so-surprising conclusion is that losing voters are less satisfied with Congress and their Representative, b...