The American Election 2012 Contexts and Consequences

Elections encapsulate both what the American nation is, and where it wants to go. In this regard, the 2012 election may be the most important in a generation: it marked a still-contentious turn in the nation's understanding of itself. The American Election 2012 explores these themes and their broader implications within the contemporary American political landscape. Unified by the thesis that elections and policies act together dynamically, this edited volume is organized into four sections: the state of American political parties, emerging strategies in 2012 campaigns, foreign and domestic policy implications, and the role of religion in modern campaigning. As this collection shows, the dreams and aspirations of the electorate are enacted in, and confronted by, politics - creating a dynamic between elections and representation that extends beyond the ballot box.

R. Ward Holder is a Professor of Theology at Saint Anselm College, Manchester, USA.
 
Peter B. Josephson is an Associate Professor of Politics at Saint Anselm College, Manchester, USA.

Introduction - The American Election 2012: Contexts and Consequences; R. Ward Holder and Peter B. Josephson
PART I: THE STATE OF THE PARTIES IN 2012
1. The Consequences of Party Reform in the 21st Century; Terri Susan Fine
2. Closed for Repairs So It Can Reengage with the World: Prospects for Reforming the Republican Party; Douglas M. Brattebo
3. The 2012 Elections and the Southern Roots of Polarized Politics: The Continuing Power of Southern Conservatives After Obama's Reelection; Allen Neal
4. The Ever-Widening Gap: Gender and the 2012 Presidential Election; Derya Rix
5. Data, America's Shifting Landscape, and the Meaning of 2012; Dante Chinni
PART II: EMERGING STRATEGIES IN THE 2012 CAMPAIGN
6. Are Super PACs Really Arms of Political Parties? A Study of Coordination; Dante Scala
7. Economic Appeals in Unequal Communities: Stump Speeches in the 2012 Presidential Election; Christopher B. Chapp
8. Casualties of the Ground War: Personal Contacting in 2012 and Its Discontents; Robert Boatright
9. Unfriendly to Women? Female Politicians, Rape Comments and the GOP in 2012; Jennifer Lucas and Tauna Sisco
10. Weighing In or Waiting: When, Whether, and Whom Republican Officeholders Endorsed in 2012; Kevin J. Parsneau and Christopher Galdieri
PART III: IMPLICATIONS OF THE 2012 ELECTION: DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICIES
11. The Past as Prologue: Obama, Health Care and the Election of 2012; Anne Marie Cammisa
12. Healthcare Spending and Prevention within the Affordable Care Act: Contrasting the Public Health and Medical Models of Prevention; T. Lucas Hollar
13. Natural Uncertainty: Reconciling the Contrasting Environmental Goals of America's First Natural Security President – Barack Obama; Mark O'Gorman
14. Federal Judicial Vacancies: Obama's Record and Prospects; Susan Siggelakis
15. The Politics of Presidential Foreign Policy: Unilateral Authority and the Role of Congress; Brandon Prins and Bryan Marshall
16. Decline or Not: America's Continued Primacy in the Persian Gulf?; Wesley Renfro and Marc O'Reilly
PART IV: FAITH AND POLITICS: 2012 AND BEYOND
17. Courting the Catholic Vote: Obama, Romney, and the U.S. Catholic Bishops in the 2012 Presidential Election; Richard J. Powell and Mark D. Brewer
18. Catholic Vice Presidential Candidates and the Politics of Abortion: The 2012 Debate in Context; Angela Senander
19. What Romney's Nomination Means for Mormons and the Presidency; Luke Perry
20. The Liberal State and the Gay Marriage Debate: Lessons from American Catholic Thought; Aaron Taylor
21. Obama and the Common Good; Daniel Daly
22. The Rise of the Liberal Protestant? Faith and Politics in the Obama Administration; R. Ward Holder and Peter B. Josephson