The American Election 2012 Contexts and Consequences

Elections capture a sense of national identity and imply a future direction for the nation. The book seeks to unravel how elections and policies act together dynamically by analyzing parties, strategies, foreign and domestic policies, and the role of religion in political dialogue.

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 PersianGulf?; 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

Neal Allen, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Wichita State University, USA Robert G. Boatright, Associate Professor of Political Science, Clark University, USA Douglas M. Brattebo, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Hiram College, USA Mark D. Brewer, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Maine, USA Anne Marie Cammisa, Georgetown University, USA Christopher Chapp, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin Whitewater, USA Dante Chinni, American University, USA Daniel J. Daly, Associate Professor and Chair of Theology, Saint Anselm College, USA Terri Susan Fine, Professor of Political Science, University of Central Florida, USA Christopher J. Galdieri, Assistant Professor of Politics, Saint Anselm College, USA T. Lucas Hollar is Assistant Professor of Public Health at Nova Southeastern University, USA Jennifer C. Lucas, Associate Professor of Politics, Saint Anselm College, USA Bryan W. Marshall, Professor of Political Science, Miami University, USA Mark J. O'Gorman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Maryville College, USA Marc J. O'Reilly, Associate Professor of Political Science, Heidelberg University, USA Kevin Parsneau, Luke Perry is the Chair of the Department of Government and Politics and Luke Perry, Chair and Associate Professor of Government, Utica College, USA Richard J. Powell, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Maine, USA