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Leading candidates

Leading candidates

Kasey Renee Shaw and Michelle Tedford September 23, 2024

Do American politics make sense? In this election year, faculty share their expertise on how to understand the elections and some of the influences on politics. Plus, we share a bonus book that has nothing to do with elections.

 An election-year reading list, from the faculty at the University of Dayton.  

Book cover, I'm Here To Ask For Your Vote.jpg

I’m Here To Ask for Your Vote: How Presidential Campaign Visits Influence Voters

by Christopher Devine, associate professor, political science; 2023, Columbia University Press.

From whistlestop tours to arena spectacles, candidates are stumping for your vote. Devine analyzes the influence of presidential campaign visits on election outcomes. 

 

Publius journal cover

Alternative Route to Voting Reform: The Right to Vote, Voter Registration, Redistricting and U.S. State Constitutions

by Nancy Martorano Miller, professor and chair, department of political science; Summer 2019, Publius: The Journal of Federalism.

Are you registered to vote? If so, how easy it was might depend on the state in which you live. In this journal article, Miller and her co-authors discuss how reformers leverage state constitutions to contest restrictive voting laws and gerrymanders. 

 Cover of book Do Running Mates Matter?

Do Running Mates Matter?: The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections  

by Christopher Devine, associate professor, political science, and Kyle C. Kopko, executive director, Center for Rural Pennsylvania; 2020, University Press of Kansas.

It’s been a doozy of an election year, with two new vice-presidential running mate selections. But does who gets picked matter? Devine and Kopko break down decades of data to discover what such choices tell voters about the top of the ticket.

 Book cover The Social Practice of Human Rights

The Social Practice of Human Rights

by Joel Pruce, associate professor of political science and Human Rights Center director of applied research and learning; 2015, Palgrave Macmillan.

In the streets and around kitchen tables, the tough work of promoting human rights is being done. Pruce, who coordinates UD’s biennial Moral Courage Project student immersion, edits this volume, which explores how activists use grassroot strategies to champion and implement human rights in their communities — and create a positive impact on the political world.

Book cover of Reasons to Be Happy

Reasons to be Happy

by Katrina Kittle, lecturer, English; 2011, Sourcebooks Young Readers.

Especially in a contentious election year, it’s important to find our own reasons to be happy. What better reason than curling up with a good book? In this young adult novel, author Kittle explores a teen’s struggles and fears — and her adventure to figure out her own reasons to be happy.

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