Product Review

Stephen K. Medvic’s Campaigns and Elections addresses two distinct but related aspects of American electoral democracy―both the processes that constitute campaigns and elections and the players who are involved. In addition to this balanced coverage on process and actors, it also gives equal billing to both campaigns and elections, and to contests for both legislative and executive positions at the national and state and local level.

The book starts by providing students with the conceptual distinctions between what happens in an election and the campaigning that proceeds it. Significant attention is devoted to setting up the context for these campaigns and elections by covering the rules of the game in the American electoral system as well as aspects of election administration and the funding of elections. Then the book systematically covers the actors at every level―candidates and their organizations, parties, interest groups, the media, and voters―and the macro level aspects of campaigns such as campaign strategy and determinants of election outcomes. The book concludes with a big picture assessment of campaign ethics and implications of the "permanent campaign".