The United States' presidential selection process is intricate, constantly evolving, and imperfectly understood by most American voters. The long campaign brings to light conflicting concepts of the role of the president, inherent constraints on his powers, contradictions in the selection process, and possibilities for change or compromise that are at once its strength and its weakness.The Selection and Election of Presidents is based on a series of meetings and seminars organized by a French-American organization concerned with the presidential selection/election process. A varied group of experts ranging from former presidential candidates, to party leaders to professors engaged each other in an informal setting with much give and take between the speakers and questions from participants. The result is a primer on how political parties operate, their relationship to other elements in the American political system, and how eff ectively parties operate in the light of changes or reforms.The exchanges resulting from the seminars that are the basis of this volume provide a still-valuable outline of how the American system works when presidents are selected.

Tired of the emotional whirlwinds surrounding political campaigns? Weary of wading through mudslinging ads? In an effort to encourage citizens to bypass the ugly drama so prevalent in most political campaigns, the author offers her insights on how to uncover little noticed facts on candidates. It takes some digging, yet the cost is mostly in your time spent. The process is simple and just about anybody can do this. The results of such research can bring clarity in the midst of seemingly chaotic and juvenile hype of political campaigns. Elections should be about qualifications for candidates, not popularity contests. Political campaigns should not be the equivalent of choosing the high school prom king or queen. It is a privilege to elect our own leaders, but we can only elect good leaders if we take the time to find out who they are. Otherwise, our choices are merely gambles.

The United States' presidential selection process is intricate,constantly evolving, and imperfectly understood bymost American voters. Th e long campaign brings to lightconf icting concepts of the role of the president, inherentconstraints on his powers, contradictions in the selectionprocess, and possibilities for change or compromise thatare at once its strength and its weakness. The Selection and Election of Presidents is based on aseries of meetings and seminars organized by a French-American organization concerned with the presidentialselection/election process. A varied group of expertsranging from former presidential candidates, to partyleaders to professors engaged each other in an informalsetting with much give and take between the speakers andquestions from participants. Th e result is a primer on howpolitical parties operate, their relationship to other elementsin the American political system, and how eff ectivelyparties operate in the light of changes or reforms. The exchanges resulting from the seminars that arethe basis of this volume provide a still-valuable outlineof how the American system works when presidents areselected. Robert S. Hirschfield was dean of communications at theCity University of New York. In addition to this book, he is theauthor of The Constitution and the Court: The Development ofthe Basic Law Th rough Judicial Interpretation and he has writtennumerous articles and reviews that have appeared in The NewYork Times, The Nation, and Public Policy among others.

“Wegman combines in-depth historical analysis and insight into contemporary politics to present a cogent argument that the Electoral College violates America’s ‘core democratic principles’ and should be done away with..." —Publishers Weekly The framers of the Constitution battled over it. Lawmakers have tried to amend or abolish it more than 700 times. To this day, millions of voters, and even members of Congress, misunderstand how it works. It deepens our national divide and distorts the core democratic principles of political equality and majority rule. How can we tolerate the Electoral College when every vote does not count the same, and the candidate who gets the most votes can lose? Twice in the last five elections, the Electoral College has overridden the popular vote, calling the integrity of the entire system into question—and creating a false picture of a country divided into bright red and blue blocks when in fact we are purple from coast to coast. Even when the popular-vote winner becomes president, tens of millions of Americans—Republicans and Democrats alike—find that their votes didn't matter. And, with statewide winner-take-all rules, only a handful of battleground states ultimately decide who will become president. Now, as political passions reach a boiling point at the dawn of the 2020 race, the message from the American people is clear: The way we vote for the only official whose job it is to represent all Americans is neither fair nor just. Major reform is needed—now. Isn't it time to let the people pick the president? In this thoroughly researched and engaging call to arms, Supreme Court journalist and New York Times editorial board member Jesse Wegman draws upon the history of the founding era, as well as information gleaned from campaign managers, field directors, and other officials from twenty-first-century Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, to make a powerful case for abolishing the antiquated and antidemocratic Electoral College. In Let the People Pick the President he shows how we can at long last make every vote in the United States count—and restore belief in our democratic system.

6 Party Government and Responsiveness: James A. Stimson

Gender and Elections offers a systematic, lively, multi-faceted account of the role of gender in the electoral process through the 2004 elections. This timely, yet enduring, volume strikes a balance between highlighting the most important developments for women as voters and candidates in the 2004 elections and providing a more long-term, in-depth analysis of the ways that gender has helped shape the contours and outcomes of electoral politics in the United States. Individual chapters demonstrate the importance of gender in understanding and interpreting presidential elections, voter participation and turnout, voting choices, congressional elections, the participation of African American women, the support of political parties and women's organizations, candidate communications with voters, and state elections. Without question, this book is the most comprehensive, reliable, and trustworthy resource on the role of gender in electoral politics.