The 2008 Presidential Elections
A Story in Four Acts

The election of Barack Obama fundamentally changed America's relationship with the outside world. Written by a mix of scholars and practitioners, the chapters cover the entire electoral process and analyze what Obama's victory suggests about the development of America, socially, economically, and in its foreign relations.

A second purpose is to give an American audience some sense of why these elections are so closely followed outside the United States -- and why so many Europeans complain that they should have a vote. Part of this has to do with how the elections are framed. The prologue, 'aftermath' and epilogue to the volume cast the issues from a European perspective and show what implications are drawn from them by the outside world.

Prologue: Erik Jones, Salvatore Vassallo
Act I: Choosing the Candidates
The Democratic Primaries
John A. Gans, Jr.
The Republican Primaries
Trevor B. McCrisken
Third Parties
William C. Binning
Act II: The National Campaigns
Setting the Agenda: "Yes We Can"
Jennifer Palmieri
A Perfect Campaign: The Role of Money, Organization, and Strategy
Alicia Kolar Prevost &
James A. Thurber
The Conventions and Debates
Andrew Wroe
Act III: And the Winner Is ...
The Victory of Barack Obama
Michael E. Shin
The Other Elections: Congress and the States
B. Guy Peters
The New Administration
Fabrizio Bucci
Act IV: The Aftermath
A New Foreign Policy for the United States?
Mario Del Pero
A New U.S. Economy?
Jonathon W. Moses
A New U.S. Politics and Society?
Christopher J. Bailey
Epilogue
Erik Jones, Salvatore Vassallo