Attack Politics: Strategy and Defense
- ISBN-10
- 027593375X
- ISBN-13
- 9780275933753
- Category
- Political science (General)
- Pages
- 194
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1990
- Publisher
- Praeger
- Authors
- Michael Pfau, Henry C. Kenski
Description
In a timely contribution to the political communication and U.S. politics literature, Pfau and Kenski trace the nature and growth of political attack messages through the 1988 election. As the authors note at the outset, political attack messages have grown more and more popular in contemporary political advertising, in large part because research indicates that attack messages are extremely effective in influencing voters. The authors examine the various attack strategies, both generally and as applied in specific campaigns, and then focus on responses to political attacks. Particular attention is given to the resistance strategy of inoculation which, the authors argue, is one of the few viable strategic defenses available to candidates who find themselves under attack. In addition to reviewing early laboratory research on inoculation, the authors present the results of two large experimental field studies--one involving a Senate campaign in 1986, the other the 1988 presidential campaign--which represent the first tests of inoculation in a political campaign context.
Following an overview of the historical role played by attack messages in American politics, the authors examine the rapid growth of attack politics during the Reagan era, culminating in the 1988 election. They demonstrate the inadequacies of existing and proposed options for limiting the use of attack messages in political campaigns, arguing that the judiciary's support for unfettered political expression combined with the perception among campaign professionals that attack strategies are an important and effective option mitigate against any decrease in their use. The authors also point out the inadequacies inherent in present defenses against attack messages--the preemptive attack, the refutation strategy, and the counterattack strategy. Turning to a consideration of the inoculation message strategy, Pfau and Kenski present an extended discussion of the results of the 1986 and 1988 field studies. The findings indicate that inoculation messages deflect the persuasiveness of subsequent attack messages that might be launched by an opponent during a campaign, thereby reducing the likelihood that political attacks will influence either receiver attitudes about candidates or actual receiver votes. Both political scientists and political campaign professionals will find Attack Politics enlightening and provocative reading.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2009-09-01
- 400 pages
- Paperback
- University Press of Kansas
-
- 2009
- 392 pages
- Paperback
- Studies in Government & Public
-
- 2008
- 354 pages
- Paperback
- University Press of Kansas
Similar books
-
Single Parents: A Reference Handbook
By Karen L. KinnearCasey Foundation . 1995. Kids Count Data Book . Baltimore , MD : Annie E. Casey Foundation . Chambers , Diane . 1997. Solo Parenting : Raising Strong and Happy Families . Minneapolis : Fairview Press . Cherlin , Andrew J. , ed . 1988.
-
Women, Politics, Media: Uneasy Relations in Comparative Perspective
By Karen Ross... American studies report that salient differences in approach and priorities do exist which fracture along gendered lines . ( See , for example , Thomas , 1991 ; Boles , 1991 ; Blankenship & Robson , 1995 ; Schumaker & Burns , 1998. ) ...
-
Climbing the Hill: Gender Conflict in Congress
By Karen Foerstel, Herbert N. FoerstelWhen the voters went to the polls in November 1992 , they gave Harman a decisive victory over Flores , but two years later Harman would have a more difficult battle against still another Republican woman , Councilwoman Susan Brooks .
-
西柏坡研究.四
By 西柏坡纪念馆本书是2015年度国家社会科学重大项目“西柏坡时期中国共产党历史文献整理与研究”（15ZDB043）的文字成果。汇编了近年来社会各界研究西柏坡精神、西柏坡历史、两个务必、“赶考 ...
-
西柏坡研究(三)
By 西柏坡纪念馆20世纪90年代初以来，西柏坡精神研究经历了从初步到逐步深入、从河北省到走向全国、从理论研究到成为现代化建设特别是全面建设小康社会的实践指导这样一个不断发展的过程。
-
Feminism and the Legacy of Revolution: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas
By Karen KampwirthBooth, John. 1985. The End and the Beginning: The Nicaraguan Revolution. Boulder: Westview. Booth, John, and Thomas W. Walker. 1989. Understanding Central America. Boulder: Westview Borge, Tomás. 1984. Carlos, the Dawn Ls No Longer ...
-
American Legislative Leaders in the West, 1911-1994
By Nancy Weatherly Sharp, James Roger Sharp... ROBERT MCMASTER 1967 ELDRIDGE DONALD DELOS 1970 COPELAND THOMAS L 1971 SWAYZE THOMAS ALLEN JR 1973 SAWYER LEONARD ALSON ... K 1919 SULLIVAN EUGENE J 1921 EWART LEWIS R STATE NAME 1 ST SPKR ARIZONA 1912 BRADNER SAMUEL B 292 APPENDIX 1.
-
The State of Social Welfare: The Twentieth Century in Cross-national Review
By John C. Dixon, Robert P. ScheurellThis collection of documents analyzes the global rise and fall of the welfare state in the 20th century. It concentrates on Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Zimbabwe.
-
Human Rights and International Political Economy in Third World Nations: Multinational Corporations, Foreign Aid, and Repression
By William MeyerFinally , shortly after the disaster , UC claimed that they believed the leak may have been caused by the deliberate sabotage of a disgruntled employee ( Bogard , 1989 : 3—4 ) . Bogard's investigation of the Bhopal disaster considers ...
-
Experiencing Citizenship: Concepts and Models for Service-learning in Political Science
By William E. Hudson, Richard M. BattistoniThis volume is part of a series of 18 monographs service learning and the academic disciplines. This collection of essays focuses on the use of service learning as an approach to teaching and learning in political science.