[C] = Coles, Kimberley. Democratic Designs: International Intervention and Electoral Practices in Postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina. University of Michigan Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780472069859. [Preview with Google Books]
[I] = Issenberg, Sasha. The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns. Broadway Books, 2013. ISBN: 9780307954800.
[L] = Lakoff, George. Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservative Think. 3rd edition. University of Chicago Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780226411293. [Preview with Google Books]
[LE] = Lempert, Michael, and Michael Silverstein. Creatures of Politics: Media, Message, and the American Presidency. Indiana University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780253007520. [Preview with Google Books]
[N] = Nielsen, Rasmus Kleis. Ground Wars: Personalized Communication in Political Campaigns. Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780691153056. [Preview with Google Books]
[S] = Schudson, Michael. The Good Citizen: A History of American Civic Life. Free Press, 2011. ISBN: 9781451631623.
[SG] = Stromer-Galley, Jennifer. Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age. Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780199731947. [Preview with Google Books]
[W] = Witsoe, Jeffrey. Democracy Against Development: Lower-Caste Politics and Political Modernity in Postcolonial India. University of Chicago Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780226063478. [Preview with Google Books]
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | No readings assigned |
| 2 | Ethnography of Elections (1) |
[C] Chapter 1: Introduction. [C] Chapter 2: Blueprints and Builders. |
| 3 | Ethnography of Elections (2) | [C] Chapter 7: Election Day. |
| 4 | Ethnography of Elections (3) |
[C] Chapter 8: Electoral Actants: Translating Voter Will into Political Authority. Banerjee, Mukulika. "Democracy, Sacred and Everyday: An Ethnographic Case from India." Chapter 3 in Democracy: Anthropological Approaches. Edited by Julia Paley. School for Advanced Research Press, 2008. ISBN: 9781934691076. |
| Foundational Myths of American Elections | ||
| 5 | Consensus |
[S] "Introduction." [S] Chapter 1: Colonial Origins of American Political Practice: 1690–1787. |
| 6 | Equality | [S] Chapter 2: The Constitutional Moment: 1787–1801. |
| 7 | Authority |
[L] Chapter 1: The Mind and Politics. [L] Chapter 2: The World View Problem for American Politics. [L] Chapter 7: Why We Need a New Understanding of American Politics. [L] Chapter 8: The Nature of the Model. [L] Chapter 9: Moral Categories in Politics. |
| Mass Markets, Consumers and Consensus Experts | ||
| 8 | Citizens / Consumers |
[S] Chapter 5: Cures for Democracy? Civil Religion, Leadership, Expertise-and More Democracy. Bernays, Edward L. "The Engineering of Consent." Chapter 14 in Public Relations. University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780806114576. |
| The Science (and Politics) of Campaigning | ||
| I. Polling and Consensus | ||
| 9 | Public Opinion and Consensus (1) |
[I] "Prologue: How to Win an Election Without Anyone Knowing." [I] Chapter 1: Blinded by Political Science. [I] "Notes." Lepore, Jill. "Politics and the New Machine." The New Yorker, November 16, 2015. |
| 10 | Public Opinion and Consensus (2) |
[I] Chapter 2: A Game of Margins. [I] Chapter 3: The New Haven Experiments. |
| 11 | Consensus by Aggregation |
Bourdieu, Pierre. "The Mystery of the Ministry: From Particular Wills to the General Will." Constellations 11, no. 1 (2004): 37–43. Paley, Julia. "Accountable Democracy: Citizens' Impact on Public Decision Making in Postdictatorship Chile." American Ethnologist 31, no. 4 (2004): 497–513. |
| 12 | Representation and Minorities |
[S] Chapter 6: Widening the Web of Citizenship in an Age of Private Citizens. Anderson, Margo J. "Introduction." In The American Census: A Social History. 2nd edition. Yale University Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780300195422. [Preview with Google Books] ———. "The Census and the New Nation: Apportionment, Congress, and the Progress of the United States." Chapter 1 in The American Census: A Social History. 2nd edition. Yale University Press, 2015, pp. 7–14. ISBN: 9780300195422. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 13 | Consensus and Difference |
Abrajano, Marisa A. "Campaigning to a Changing American Electorate." Chapter 1 in Campaigning to the New American Electorate: Advertising to Latino Voters. Stanford University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780804768962. ———. "Campaigning to Ethnic and Racial Minorities in the U.S." Chapter 3 in Campaigning to the New American Electorate: Advertising to Latino Voters. Stanford University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780804768962. Anderson, Benedict. "Nationalism, Identity, and the World-in-Motion: On the Logics of Seriality." In Cosmopolitics: Thinking and Feeling Beyond the Nation. Edited by Pheng Cheah and Bruce Robbins. University of Minnesota Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780816630684. [Preview with Google Books] |
| II. Candidate Branding | ||
| 14 | Campaigning for Hearts and Minds |
Brader, Ted. "Appealing to Hopes and Fears." Chapter 1 in Campaigning for Hearts and Minds: How Emotional Appeals in Political Ads Work. University of Chicago Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780226069890. ———. "The Art and Science of Campaigning." Chapter 2 in Campaigning for Hearts and Minds: How Emotional Appeals in Political Ads Work. University of Chicago Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780226069890. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 15 | The Multimodality of Message |
[LE] Chapter 1: Introduction: "Message" Is the Medium. [LE] "Notes." |
| 16 | Celebrity Politics |
[LE] Chapter 4: Ethno-Blooperology. Hall, Kira, Donna M. Goldstein, et al. "The Hands of Donald Trump: Entertainment, Gesture, Spectacle." Journal of Ethnographic Theory 6, no. 2 (2016): 71–100. Rao, Ursula. "Neoliberalism and the Rewriting of the Indian Leader." American Ethnologist 37, no. 4 (2010): 713–25. |
| 17 | Popular Politics |
[W] "Introduction: Democracy and the Politics of Caste." [W] Chapter 2: Lalu Yadav's Bihar. [W] "Notes." Laclau, Ernesto. "Populism: What's in a Name?" Chapter 1 in Populism and the Mirror of Democracy. Edited by Francisco Panizza. Verso, 2005. ISBN: 9781859844892. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 18 | Politics on the Ground | [W] Chapter 5: A Multiple Village: Caste Divisions, Democratic Practice, and Territorialities. |
| III. Engineering Majorities | ||
| 19 | Microtargeting |
[I] Chapter 5: You Mean You Don't Do This In Politics? [I] Chapter 10: The Soul of a New Machine. |
| 20 | Ground Wars (1) |
[N] Chapter 1: Personalized Political Communication in American Campaigns. [N] Chapter 2: The Ground War Enters the Twenty-first Century. |
| 21 | Ground Wars (2) | [N] Chapter 3: Contacting Voters at Home. |
| 22 | Ground Wars (3) |
[N] Chapter 4: Organizing Campaign Assemblages. [N] Chapter 5: Targeting Voters for Personal Contacts. |
| 23 | Ground Wars (4) |
[N] Chapter 6: Always Fighting the Same Ground War? Fake News Exercise ReadingsA Great Resource to Understand Fake News Zimdars, Melissa. "My 'Fake News List' Went Viral. But Made-up Stories are Only Part of the Problem," Washington Post, November 18, 2016. A Controversial Legitimate Article Timberg, Craig. "Russian Propaganda Effort Helped Spread 'Fake News' During Election, Experts Say," Washington Post, November 24, 2016. Fake News Olson, Kyle. "Hillary Threw Americans into 'Bucket of Losers' in Wall Street Speech," October 7, 2016, theamericanmirror.com. Native Advertisement "15 Things We Did At School That Future Students Will Never Understand," August 11, 2014, buzzfeed.com. Satirical News Borowitz, Andy. "Mexican President Says He Made Trump Pay for Lunch." The New Yorker, September 1, 2016. |
| 24 | Controlled Interactivity |
[SG] Chapter 1: Introduction: The Paradox of Digital Campaigning in a Democracy. [SG] "Notes." |
| 25 | Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age |
[SG] Chapter 6: 2012: Data-Driven Networked Campaigning. [SG] Chapter 7: Conclusion: Shifting Practices of Political Campaigns and Political Culture. |
| 26 | Presentations | No readings assigned |
| 27 | Presentations and Wrap-Up | No readings assigned |