The Forum

Welcome to the new look of our journal email announcements!

We are pleased to announce a very timely special issue of The Forum. Scroll down for a list of articles and links.

What Do We (Think We) Know about the Politics of Presidential Selection?

For this special issue, the Editors asked an array of political scientists, not so much to predict the outcome of the 2008 nominating contests - though we did invite everyone to take a flyer on that one - but to set out what we think we now know about the politics of presidential selection, that is, the fundamentals of this politics that are now more or less invariant.

In pursuit of this topic, Peverill Squire returns to the full chronicle of the Iowa caucuses, in what is part defense, part eulogy. William Mayer applies two bedrock indicators, the absolutely most regular behavioral patterns of the last thirty years, to the contest of 2008. Marty Cohen, David Karol, Hans Noel, and John Zaller argue that there is a different fundamental regularity, one reliably overlooked by both scholars and analysts, in the way that the political parties have resumed control over the selection of their nominees. Alan Abramowitz turns to the place of a growing ideological polarization within the electorate for presidential primaries - and castigates scholars for blaming it on candidates or activists rather than the general public. Costas Panagopoulus asks whether the national party conventions still contribute anything to all of this. Joel Rivlin finds a powerful underlying rhythm to the political advertising associated with all the major campaigns, one that should only grow in 2008. And Bruce Altschuler argues that the end result is a process so flawed that it needs to be swept away and replaced with a national primary.

Irving Louis Horowitz then addresses the role of American politics in European integration - or as much, the risks in having no role - most especially at the point when all the major players must grapple with the place of Turkey in this evolution. And in the book review section, Kenneth Baer and Elaine Kamarck tackle Bruce Miroff's reflections on the 'McGovern moment' and fall into a spirited debate with the author about how it should be understood.

We encourage you to share this issue with your colleagues, especially those who cover elections in the media and blogosphere. They, like you, will be able to access articles at no charge.

The Iowa Caucuses, 1972-2008: A Eulogy

Peverill Squire

Handicapping the 2008 Nomination Races: An Early Winter Prospectus

William G. Mayer

Political Parties in Rough Weather

Marty Cohen, David Karol, Hans Noel, and John Zaller

Don't Blame Primary Voters for Polarization

Alan Abramowitz

Presidential Nominating Conventions: Past, Present and Future

Costas Panagopoulos

On the Air: Advertising in 2004 as a Window on the 2008 Presidential General Election

Joel Rivlin

Selecting Presidential Nominees by National Primary: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

Bruce E. Altschuler

The European Union, Turkish Limitations, and American Disinterest

Irving Louis Horowitz

Glory Days: A Review of Bruce Miroff's The Liberals' Moment: The McGovern Insurgency and the Identity Crisis of the Democratic Party

Kenneth S. Baer

The Heart of the Problem: A Book Review of The Liberals' Moment by Bruce Miroff

Elaine C. Kamarck

Response to Kenneth Baer and Elaine Kamarck

Bruce Miroff

Response to Bruce Miroff

Kenneth S. Baer