Choosing The President [Paperback]

The League of Women Voters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

From the early jockeying and the first candidate announcements to the final tally on Election Day, choosing the president is an exciting, sometimes bewildering, and ever evolving process that dominates American politics for up to two years. Choosing the President is a thorough yet accessible and completely nonpartisan look at the players and events, explaining every important land mark on the road to the White House including: publicly visible events such as primaries, caucuses, and conventions; the strategies that guide fund-raising, campaigning, and spin doctoring; institutions that include the national parties, governmental oversight committees, and public-policy organizations; voting rights and voter behavior; the role of the media and the effects of polls and reporting; and the actual laws that govern how we choose the president - from the Constitution to the latest campaign-finance rules.

While casting a vote is every citizen's right, casting an informed vote is every citizen's responsibility. This completely up-to-date and fully revised guide will enable every citizen to cast that informed vote.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-An updated handbook to the upcoming presidential election that is clear, concise, and completely nonpartisan. It begins with an explanation of the requirements for the office, with excerpts from the Constitution in sidebars, and then focuses on the technology, communications, political strategies, and voter behaviors that have become such an important part of the process. The book guides voters through the players and sidebars highlight special topics, including the pros and cons of the two-party system, tabloid journalism, and the battle of endorsements. The pointers for evaluating news coverage, the debates, the convention, polls, and radio and television ads are particularly useful. Each chapter is relatively short and then broken into smaller sections, making it easy to browse. This title should provide answers to most questions about the framework of the presidential elections.
Jane S. Drabkin, Potomac Community Library, Woodbridge, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

From the early jockeying and the first candidate announcements to the final tally on Election Day, choosing the president is an exciting, sometimes bewildering, and ever evolving process that dominates American politics for up to two years. Choosing the President is a thorough yet accessible and completely nonpartisan look at the players and events, explaining every important land mark on the road to the White House including: publicly visible events such as primaries, caucuses, and conventions; the strategies that guide fund-raising, campaigning, and spin doctoring; institutions that include the national parties, governmental oversight committees, and public-policy organizations; voting rights and voter behavior; the role of the media and the effects of polls and reporting; and the actual laws that govern how we choose the president - from the Constitution to the latest campaign-finance rules. While casting a vote is every citizen's right, casting an informed vote is every citizen's responsibility. This completely up-to-date and fully revised guide will enable every citizen to cast that informed vote. (5 1/2 X 8 1/4, 176 pages, charts)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558219595
• ISBN-13: 978-1558219595
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,831,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The League of Women Voters...Rocks, November 17, 2000

By 

Tracy (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choosing The President (Paperback)

I have been active in electoral politics for 12 years now--and, let it never be said that anything that the League of Women Voters puts out--is ever bad. This jewel of a book provides a non-partisan look at the whole process of selecting presidential candidates, on through to the individual campaign trails that follow said selection. The League of Women Voters has been providing this service (unknowingly, by many people) for as long as I can remember. I have always gone to their (non-partisan) informative "voter's guides" for as long as I have been voting for the candidates of my choice (in both local and national elections). A free (but, much more condensed obviously) version is put out by them, at the onset of the beginning of "spin season" (when campaigning begins, for all of the chosen candidates) that has become the traditional prelude to every election day--which, is usually widely available at locations such as libraries and post offices across America. What I like about this (expanded) book version--is that they expand their coverage of the individual candidates (and their respective viewpoints and public record, in regards to current political issues) to a much broader, more detailed scale. This book is a must-read, in terms of being able to lay out (for the average, usually unaware or unknowing citizen) the proven political stance of all of the major players in this year's presidential elections. And, even though this year's election day has since passed--be sure to look for future non-partisan "voter-education" guidebooks--that will inevitably be put out by the League of Women Voters, in the years to come.