Initial Ideas

Idea:

Political culture. How have political campaigns changed in the course of the 20^th century, at the national level with the changing roles of media (radio, TV, Internet), the increasing importance of money [and attempts to regulate it?], the emergence of political action committees and the effects of the money they spend, and the changing morality of politics. At the local level, I would like to investigate political corruption and making politics a "family business".

Starting Point:

To begin, I plan to read Lewis Gould's Four Hats in the Ring. This book is about the 1912 presidential election, which is the supposed birth of modern American politics. It seems best to first focus on national elections and then get more local. Possible topics to examine on the national level include how and why political parties choose their particular candidates, the evolution of what the "job qualifications" to be president are (ex. Ike was a Five Star General in the Army, George Bush was a one term governor of Texas, and Obama was a one term senator from Illinois), the role that Radio, Television, and the Internet have changed national elections, and the effects of negative campaigning and campaign attack ads. Other books on my radar are Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Political Campaigns, Conventional Wisdom and American Elections, and Nightly News Nightmare: TV's Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections from 1988-2004.