3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

The art of political persuasion has evolved rapidly in the past few centuries, but the present mimics the past. Conventional political wisdom asserts that the 2020 election – with the bombastic Donald Trump and a slate of unconventional freshmen Democrats on the ballot – is unlike any witnessed in the nation’s history, but with the increase in partisanship over the last few decades, can voters really be persuaded or dissuaded from voting straight party line tickets in November 2020? This course will seek to answer that question in real time, as the students and professor slowly unwrap and examine the packaging – verbal, visual and other – candidates have employed over the last few decades to sell themselves and their platforms to voters. After first laying a historical foundation for understanding the evolution, or devolution, of U.S. rhetoric and campaigns, this course will examine every twist and turn of Election 2020 with an eye towards the means of persuasion employed by candidates, surrogates and PACS. Students will also examine the role money is playing in this post-Citizens United world, along with how free – or “earned” – media and new modes of technology are being employed by contemporary campaigns. The course will also devote a substantial amount of time to examining the media’s role in how the public views current and former candidates. Guest lecturers include some of the nation’s top political reporters.