The New Hampshire Primary and the American Electoral Process

(Hardback)

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This study examines the peculiar role and history of the New Hampshire primary in American presidential politics, through the 1996 election season. The work reviews the primary's history, analyzes the media's treatment of New Hampshire results, and provides a study of the phenomenon of momentum, and the role played by local media such as the infamous Manchester ^IUnion Leader^R. There is also an examination of the strained relationship between New Hampshire's state parties and their national equivalents and of the efforts of Congress to reform the entire electoral system, with the express purpose of reducing New Hampshire's supposed power in determining nomination outcomes. Finally, the analysis addresses questions of the Granite State's suitability as a benchmark for testing and judging candidates. Is this tiny New England state the last haven for genuine interpersonal campaigning or a relic from a bygone political era which now distorts and oversimplifies candidate choice And does the New Hampshire primary's increasing unpopularity with journalists and candidates reflect deeper changes in the nation's psyche This book will be of interest to scholars and students of the American political process and 20th-century American history.

Reviews

Palmer's book offers the first significant look at its subject since the publication of Charles Brereton's First in the Nation: New Hampshire and the Premiere Presidential Primary in 1987 and Dayton Duncan's Grass Roots: One Year in the Life of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary in 1991. Neither of these works, however, approaches Palmer's depth of analysis or breadth of contextualization....Palmer has written a well argued and highly readable book that will be of great interest to scholars of the American political scene and especially to anyone who has participated in a New Hampshire primary campaign.-The New England Quarterly
"Palmer's book offers the first significant look at its subject since the publication of Charles Brereton's First in the Nation: New Hampshire and the Premiere Presidential Primary in 1987 and Dayton Duncan's Grass Roots: One Year in the Life of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary in 1991. Neither of these works, however, approaches Palmer's depth of analysis or breadth of contextualization....Palmer has written a well argued and highly readable book that will be of great interest to scholars of the American political scene and especially to anyone who has participated in a New Hampshire primary campaign."-The New England Quarterly

Author Bio

NIALL A. PALMER is Lecturer in American Studies at Brunel University in London, England. He holds degrees from University College, Swansea, and the University of Bristol.