This book provides a concise and engaging analysis of the particularly unusual 2020 election year in the USA. The political science perspective illuminates societal tensions in the context of the Corona pandemic and elaborates election-deciding discourses. Larger socio-political trends such as ideological polarisation are addressed as well as the different campaign strategies of the two parties. In addition, the book offers insights into the election results of this landmark presidential election for American society and for the development of its democracy. The final evaluation of the resulting implications for transatlantic relations rounds off the book.
Author(s): Christiane Lemke, Jakob Wiedekind
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 205
City: Wiesbaden
Preface
Acknowledgement
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction
References
2 Joe Biden’s Road to the Nomination
2.1 The Democratic Party’s System for Candidate Selection
2.2 Turning Points South Carolina and the Super Tuesday
2.3 Joe Biden and the Democratic Electorate
2.4 Summary
References
3 Voting in the Shadow of the Pandemic
3.1 The Absentee Ballot in the United States in the Context of Partisan Polarization
3.2 Who is Allowed to Vote?—Voter Registration, Voter ID Laws and Polling Stations
3.3 Summary
References
4 Democrats vs. Republicans
4.1 The Southern Strategy as a Precursor to Asymmetric Polarization
4.2 The Radicalization of the Political Discourse
4.3 Summary
References
5 The Polarization and its Characteristics
5.1 Party Affiliation and Preferences in the American Electorate
5.2 The Polarization of Representatives in Congress
5.3 Summary
References
6 Economic Policy as a Salient Issue: The Elections in the Shadow of Recession
6.1 The Shadows of the Pandemic
6.2 Social Inequality
6.3 Government Policy in Times of Crisis
6.4 Economic Policies of the Trump Administration
6.5 The Economic Policy Concept of the Democrats
6.6 Summary
References
7 A Society Without a Safety Net: Social Issues in the Election Campaign
7.1 The Crisis in the Health Care System
7.2 Social Justice: The Demand for Social Justice as a Controversial Issue
7.3 The Ideological Balance in the Supreme Court and its Social Consequences
7.4 Summary
References
8 Minorities in the USA: The Controversial Immigration Debate
8.1 Contrasting Models of Society
8.2 Social Development and Political Orientations of Minorities
8.2.1 The Hispanic Minority
8.2.2 The Asian-American Minority
8.2.3 The African-American Minority
8.3 Summary
References
9 The Strategies in the 2020 Election Campaign
9.1 Biden’s Classical Approach as an Antithesis to Trump’s Populism
9.2 Contrasting Narratives: The Democratic and Republican Conventions
9.3 The Delegitimization of the Election and its Consequences
9.4 Summary
References
10 The Election Results and Their Transatlantic Implications
10.1 The Results of the 2020 Presidential Elections in Historical Perspective
10.2 Transatlantic Relations under President Biden: A New Beginning?
10.3 Summary
References
11 Final Considerations
References
Index
