December 2011

With the U.S. presidential election less than a month away, the presidential campaigns are in full swing. Each candidate is busy raising campaign funds and vying with each other to promote their messages and views. It’s a fortuitous time to show students how the campaign process works, and how voter attitudes often change over time. Inevitably, many early frontrunners fizzle out, while other political contenders slog along in the shadows until some aspect of their campaign happens to catch the popular imagination. While political campaigns are often viewed as either high drama or theatres of the absurd, they are still a vitally important element in the democratic process.