1. Presidential Elections and Democratic Theory.
- Author
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Buchanan, Bruce
- Subjects
- *
ELECTION Day , *PRESIDENTIAL elections , *PRACTICAL politics , *HOLIDAYS - Abstract
Candidate and voter interests are often incompatible, yet the relatively equal balance of interests achieved on Election Day is not matched during presidential campaigns, when candidate interests are better served. I argue that the most influential normative justifications for such candidate dominance are flawed and suggest that the same interest-balancing discernible on Election Day should also exist during the campaigns that precede it. Parity requires candidates to share agenda control with voters and to abandon deceptive practices. It also requires media to stop reinforcing candidate dominance and to offer more informative campaign briefings to voters. To benefit from these changes, voters themselves must overcome their distaste for politics and accept more responsibility for protecting their own interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004
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