POLS.SP21

Pretty cool course image, right? It came from the website where women can sell jewelry that they've "outgrown" (translation: wedding/engagement rings once they get divorced).

As American politics has become increasingly nationalized and the political parties have become increasingly polarized, presidential campaigns have begun to develop a reputation as battles for the soul of America. Because the stakes have gotten so high, the aftermath of presidential campaigns inevitably sees the winners creating narratives as to why they won while the losers create narratives on how to navigate their way "out of the wilderness" and back into power. There is never a shortage of articulated storylines to explain what happened. But the real world is almost never as simple or straightforward as a story and the scholars who study these campaigns have long debated the merit of these narratives. This course will take what scholars have shown about prior campaign narratives and apply them to the emerging popular discussion and conventional wisdom surrounding the 2020 presidential campaign. Doing so will illuminate some of the most important features, strengths, and weaknesses of both the American political system and of the scholarly study of campaigns and elections.