The United States' presidential selection process is intricate, constantly evolving, and imperfectly understood by most American voters. The long campaign brings to light conflicting concepts of the role of the president, inherent constraints on his powers, contradictions in the selection process, and possibilities for change or compromise that are at once its strength and its weakness.

The Selection and Election of Presidents is based on a series of meetings and seminars organized by a French-American organization concerned with the presidential selection/election process. A varied group of experts ranging from former presidential candidates, to party leaders to professors engaged each other in an informal setting with much give and take between the speakers and questions from participants. The result is a primer on how political parties operate, their relationship to other elements in the American political system, and how eff ectively parties operate in the light of changes or reforms.

The exchanges resulting from the seminars that are the basis of this volume provide a still-valuable outline of how the American system works when presidents are selected.

About the Author
Robert S. Hirschfield was dean of communications at the City University of New York. In addition to this book, he is the author of The Constitution and the Court: The Development of the Basic Law Through Judicial Interpretation and he has written numerous articles and reviews that have appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, and Public Policy among others.


Book Information
ISBN 9780202362762
Author Robert S. Hirschfield
Format Paperback
Page Count 182
Imprint AldineTransaction
Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
Weight(grams) 249g