Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 514
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-5381-1434-6 • Paperback • August 2018 • $76.00 • (£49.95)
978-1-5381-1435-3 • eBook • August 2018 • $72.00 • (£47.95)
Mark D. Brewer is professor of political science and teaches in the honors college at the University of Maine.
L. Sandy Maisel is Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government at Colby
1
| Elections and Political Parties
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2
| American Political Parties and Party Organization
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3
| Voting and Other Forms of Political Participation
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4
| Organized Groups in the Political Process
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5
| Campaign Finance
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6
| State and Local Nominations
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7
| State and Local Elections
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8
| Presidential Nominations
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9
| Presidential Elections
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10
| The Media and the Electoral Process
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11
| Party in Government
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12
| The Role of Political Parties
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This eighth edition of a popular political science title is an excellent textbook for an upper-division undergraduate course in parties and elections. Written by Brewer (Univ. of Maine) and Maisel (Colby College), the book offers a summary of the literature on parties and elections that is quite excellent, with generous attention to historical perspective. The data offered is very good. . . This latest edition includes coverage of the 2016 US presidential election and the first year and a half of the Donald Trump administration. Other updates include the ongoing aftermath of the 2008–09 economic crisis, the failed Arab Spring, the upsurge of populism and the fragility of democracies, and elections in Nigeria. The bibliography is generally excellent, good enough that some instructors of graduate courses may choose to use the book.
Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.
— CHOICE
Creating a text on American political parties that is comprehensive, accessible, and lively is a major challenge. Brewer and Maisel have done an excellent job in responding to that challenge. Anyone seeking an introduction and beyond to parties and the vast number of studies about them can confidently rely on this text.
— Jeffrey M. Stonecash, Maxwell Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University
This eighth edition is a welcome update of Brewer and Maisel’s comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible account of American political parties and elections, past and present. The authors carefully evaluate as well as describe the complex roles these institutions have evolved to play in our political system, with special attention to their effect on the quality of governance in the United States.
— Gary C. Jacobson, University of California, San Diego
All chapters are fully updated to incorporate the 2016 election cycle and the first 1 1/2 years of the Trump Administration. Chapters 5, 8, 9, and 10 have received extensive revision.