Suchergebnisse

The press plays a crucial role early in the preprimary presidential campaign, determining which candidates appear viable to voters, contributors, and other media. This process necessarily benefits some candidates over others. We analyze how the press winnowed the candidate fields of both parties in the early 2008 preprimary campaign. We find coverage remarkably similar across a wide range of traditional and new media, including newspaper, radio, television, cable, legacy and web-native Internet news, and talk shows. The media ignored most candidates to concentrate on the Democratic contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama while paying less attention to the Republican race. Tone towards candidates was uniform except on partisan talk shows. The tone of Internet news was slightly more balanced than traditional outlets. Similar coverage across media results from journalistic preference for dramatic story lines, staffing constraints, and widespread speculation about candidate viability, which we describe as "handicapping the candidates."

Discusses the US presidential election of November 7, 2000, & its aftermath, with focus on the problems surrounding the vote & possibilities for voting reform. The perspectives of the critics & noncritics of the electoral outcome are analyzed. A review of patterns of voting rights since the formation of the US reveals a system that is not a populist democracy, & theories of democracy are surmised, namely a comparison between minimal democracy & participatory democracy. The essays in this text address the events of the election, why they occurred, & what should be learned from the process. L. Collins Leigh

Concludes the text's collection of articles on voting reform in the US following the presidential election of 2000. The arguments of minimalists & participatory democrats are summarized with commentary on recommendations for change. Future prospects for the study of voter turnout & analysis of voting are surmised. L. Collins Leigh