The Internet and Campaign 2004: A Look Back at the Campaigners

Looks at grass roots organizing and mobilization; the 2004 national conventions; fundraising; videos and blogs; and innovations in the use of the Internet that were implemented by the Howard Dean campaign

Click Here for Change: Your Guide to the E-Advocacy Revolution

Describes how organizations are using state-of-the-art technology to engage supporters and improve their advocacy efforts. Includes case studies and lessons on how to incorporate electronic approaches in campaign strategies

Online Political Participation in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: Mobilizing or Reinforcing?

Participation is at the core of democratic society. However, studies have shown that participation is biased toward those who are better educated, more affluent, and in greater possession of civic skills. Scholars have pointed to the Internet as a possible remedy for the disparity in participation for its potential to lower barriers and increase access to those who lack the time, money, and/or necessary civic skills. Research has been mixed about whether the Internet mobilizes new or marginalized participants to the electoral process, simply reinforces those who are active in that process already, or does both. In the 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign, all major presidential candidates utilized the Internet and email as a tool for mobilizing, recruiting, communicating and raising money. New media, especially the Internet and other Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), played a significant role in extending and perhaps even supplanting more traditional methods of political participation. Because of the greater role played by the Internet and ICTs in 2008, the ability to test the mobilization and reinforcement hypotheses was much greater than in previous elections. My research adds to the general debate by 1) testing the reinforcement versus mobilization theories related to the impact of the Internet on political participation; 2) refining these theories by testing whether mobilization or reinforcement occurs differently in online versus offline participation; and 3) exploring the extent to which mobilization and reinforcement are contingent on activities of individual campaigns. The 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey is the data source for this research. This dissertation provides evidence to support each of the mobilization and reinforcement hypotheses I proposed. However, the mobilized groups varied across the campaign by activity. No single group either advantaged or disadvantaged in the past, was mobilized consistently throughout the primaries and general election campaigns. While this study offers evidence of mobilization and reinforcement in a number of instances and among a number of demographic groups, it raises additional questions which cannot be easily resolved with the available data. Nevertheless, the results do illustrate that Internet usage in certain instances is more likely to motivate certain groups to engage in participation activities. Further, online campaign contact is a strong predictor for most participation activities

Populist Strategies in African Democracies

Drawing on insights from Latin America, this paper examines the factors that contributed to the use of populist strategies by political parties during recent presidential elections in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia. Specifically, the paper argues that the nature of party competition in Africa, combined with rapid urbanization and informalization of the labour force, provided a niche for populist leaders to espouse a message relevant to the region’s growing urban poor. Simultaneously, such leaders employed ethno-linguistic appeals to mobilize a segment of rural voters who could form a minimum winning coalition in concert with the urban poor and thereby deliver sizeable electoral victories. While such strategies are similar to those used by Latin American populists, the paper highlights key contrasts as well. By combining crossregional and sub-national perspectives, this paper therefore aims to contribute to a better understanding of how demographic and socioeconomic changes in Africa intersect with voting behaviour and political party development.Africa, democratization, political parties, populism, urbanization, voting behaviour

Lessons of Election 2000

Many people believe that Election 2000 proved only how divided the nation is over politics and policy. In contrast, this study draws six lessons from Election 2000. Congress should set up a commission to recommend changes in the electoral system; the states should have the choice of accepting the reforms and the obligation to pay for them. The Electoral College should be preserved. The framers designed the Electoral College to limit arbitrary power. Abolishing the Electoral College would weaken the states and damage federalism. The United States is a consitutional republic, not a regime based on "the will of the people." Several politicians have appealed to the will of the people in the Florida struggle. The will of the people is a concept alien to the American political tradition of limited constitutional government. Underlying public attitudes strongly supported limited government in Election 2000. Both the platforms of the candidates and public opinion polls indicate that the public's skepticism about government remains high. Campaign spending enhanced turnout and participation in Election 2000. Both the NAACP and unions spent lavishly on getting out the vote. If campaign spending is restricted, turnout will fall, contrary to the professed desire of advocates of capaign finance restrictions. Congress should not hold hearings about media mistakes. Any punishment for errors or bias by the networks on election night should be left to public opinion

New Strategies for Latino Voter Mobilization: The Nevada Democratic Caucus as a Case Study

Describes the 2008 Democratic caucus in Nevada with a focus on the large Hispanic/Latino population. Reviews earlier efforts to raise historically low voter participation rates and the role of the media and suggests new models for voter mobilization

Raising Youth Turnout: The Role of Campaigns and Political Involvement Organizations

This paper will explore a different side of the youth voter and the mystified year of the youth voter by examining the elections of 1992, 2004, and 2008. In investigating this issue, instead of examining the actions of the young voters during these elections, the actions of campaigns and get out the vote organizations are examined. It seems that the disappointment in young voters is not an issue for which young people hold sole responsibility. The other actors in the election, too, must do their part in courting the young voter. They must spend the time, effort, and money necessary to attract this group of voters and address the needs of this group. These entities are rarely to never examined in relation to the youth vote due to difficulties quantifying their role. The conclusions address the campaigns and organizations efforts towards young people as well as issues with the concepts behind the myth of the youth voter

Women Mobilizing Women: Candidates' Strategies for Winning the Presidency

Latin America has elected more female presidents than any other region in the world, yet dominant theories on campaigning tend to ignore gender. In addressing this lacuna, this article argues that the widespread belief that women are better at mobilizing women means that female candidates tend to invest more significant effort into cultivating a core constituency of women on the basis of gender identity. In contrast, male candidates tend to delegate women-mobilization tasks to female surrogates. An analysis of approximately 1,000 newspaper articles reveals that the “most different” female candidates in Chile and Brazil consistently met with female voters early in their campaigns, evoked gender identities and promised pro-women change. The “most different” male candidates enlisted their wives and female politicians to target women, defend their pro-women promises, and deflect accusations of sexism. The theory illuminates multiple ways in which viable female candidates’ entry into the political arena can improve women’s representation.América Latina ha elegido a más mujeres presidentas que cualquier otra región en el mundo, sin embargo, las teorías dominantes sobre las campañas tienden a ignorar el género. Al abordar esta brecha en la literatura, este artículo argumenta que la creencia generalizada de que las mujeres son mejores para movilizar a las mujeres hace que las candidatas mujeres tiendan a invertir esfuerzos más significativos en cultivar una base electoral de mujeres votantes sobre la base de la identidad de género. Por el contrario, los candidatos hombres tienden a delegar en mujeres sustitutas las tareas de movilización de mujeres. Un análisis de aproximadamente 1,000 artículos de diarios revela que las candidatas más diferentes en Chile y Brasil se reunieron consistentemente con votantes mujeres al principio de sus campañas, evocaron identidades de género y prometieron cambios pro-mujer. Los candidatos hombres más diferentes alistaron a sus esposas y mujeres políticas para atacar a las candidatas mujeres, defender sus promesas de mujeres y desviar las acusaciones de sexismo. La teoría ilumina las múltiples formas en que la entrada de mujeres candidatas viables en la arena política puede mejorar la representación de las mujeres ciudadanas

Branding and strategic maneuvering in the Romanian presidential election of 2004: A critical discourse-analytical and pragma-dialectical perspective

In this paper I analyse differences in the legitimation strategies used by and on behalf of the two presidential candidates in the elections of December 2004 in Romania, using a combination of Critical Discourse Analysis and pragma-dialectics. These differences are seen to lie primarily in the varieties of populist discourse that were drawn upon in the construction of legitimizing arguments for both candidates: a paternalist type vs. a radical, anti-political type of populism. I relate the success of the latter type to more effective strategic maneuvering in argumentation, part of more effective branding strategies in general, but also to existing types of political culture amongst the electorate and to social, economic circumstances. In CDA terms, I discuss the "Băsescu brand" as involving choices at the level of discourse, genre and style; in pragma-dialectical terms, I view its success as partly the effect of successful strategic maneuvering. I also place the success of this brand within the Romanian context at the end of 2004, where often questionable populist electoral messages were perceived as reasonable and acceptable, as fitting adjustments to the situation and even as means of optimizing the deliberative situation of the electorate

Electioneering Across the Ages: Examining the Application and Implication of Media-Based Mobilization in American Presidential Campaigns Post-Radio

This work follows the evolution of media-based mobilization strategies employed by presidential candidates and their campaign teams. Assessing how this practice has changed over the centuries involves examining the technologies and philosophies that underlie specific mobilization methodologies. Part of the discussion is compiled from uncovering national newspaper articles printed around Election Day each year from 1980 to 2000. Another section explores more deeply the two presidential campaigns that have occurred since the turn of the millennium