According to its critics, the American election system faces a number of challenges, from the influence of special interests and the incumbent advantage to a scandal-obsessed media and increasing partisanship. If these critics are right, then where has the process gone wrong and how should it be fixed? Identifying the gap between the ideal and the practical, Stephen Wayne answers tough questions as he grapples with the disparity.

With thorough updating, the fourth edition integrates material from the 2006 and 2008 elections, emphasizing changes in the electoral environment and in the elections themselves. New to this fourth edition are discussions of:
• competitive nominations and high primary turnout, and their impact on future nomination contests;
• the demise of public funding and increase in private funding, particularly in small contributions;
• the use of new media, including the Obama campaign’s revolutionary use of the Internet;
• changing sources of election news, unbalanced reporting, and the “Obama spin”;
• the apparent end of partisan parity; and
• the difficulty of transforming a winning electoral coalition into a governing majority.

With thorough updating, the fourth edition integrates material from the 2006 and 2008 elections, emphasizing changes in the electoral environment and in the elections themselves. New to this fourth edition are discussions of:

• competitive nominations and high primary turnout, and their impact on future nomination contests;
• the demise of public funding and increase in private funding, particularly in small contributions;
• the use of new media, including the Obama campaign’s revolutionary use of the Internet;
• changing sources of election news, unbalanced reporting, and the “Obama spin”;
• the apparent end of partisan parity; and
• the difficulty of transforming a winning electoral coalition into a governing majority.

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1. Democratic Elections: What’s the Problem?

2. Popular Base of American Electoral Politics: Suffrage and Turnout

3. How Representative Are American Elections?

4. Has Money Corrupted Our Electoral Process?

5. News Media: Watchdog or Pit Bull?

6. Are American Parties Still Representative?

7. The Nomination Process: Whose Is It Anyway?

8. Campaign Communications: How Much Do They Matter?

9. Elections and Government: A Tenuous Connection

Stephen J. Wayne is a well known author and lecturer on the American presidency. A professor of government at Georgetown University since 1988 and a Washington-based “insider” for almost 40 years, Wayne has written or edited 11 books, many in multiple editions, authored over 100 articles, chapters, and reviews that have appeared in professional journals, scholarly compilations, newspapers, and magazines. At Georgetown, Wayne teaches courses in the area of American government, specializing on the presidency, and psychology and politics.

Professor Wayne is frequently quoted by White House journalists, regularly appears on television and radio news shows. He lectures widely at home and aboard to international visitors, college students, federal executives, and business leaders. He has testified before Congress on the subject of presidential elections and governance and before Democratic and Republican Party advisory committees on the presidential nomination processes. He served as a consultant on presidential staffing in the United States and abroad and participated in transition projects for the National Academy of Public Administration and the Presidency Research Group.