Elections

A mirror to the media

What: A Primary Lesson on “Parties, Campaigns and Elections” — and an opportunity for a live remote
Who: Professor Taylor Dark and his students
When: 6:15 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008
Where: Call CSULA Public Affairs office at (323) 343-3050 for class location

This year marks the first time since 1928 that neither an incumbent president nor an incumbent vice president was running for president—and, as Cal State L.A. elections expert Taylor Dark III sees it, it’s a political science lesson in the making. Dark and students in his “Parties, Campaigns and Elections” class (PoliSci 418) will view and discuss the evening news coverage of the California Presidential Primary Tuesday, Feb. 5, beginning at 6:15 p.m.

What are the key issues students want to see covered? What do they think of the reporting? The candidates? The process? And how can they be improved? And, are they voting for a presidential candidate for the first time?

Media interested in interviewing students or academic experts, or capturing b-roll of students watching and commenting on the primary election returns, should contact the Cal State L.A. Public Affairs office at (323) 343-3050 in advance to make arrangements.

Dark, whose research focuses on the nexus between labor and politics in presidential campaigns, is an assistant professor of political science at Cal State L.A. He explains, “In this course, we analyze the nature of American parties, campaigns, and elections through a case study of the presidential election of 2008. We will focus on such topics as the presidential nominating process in both parties, the effects of the electoral college, the role of the media and consultants, campaign fundraising and strategy, partisan coalitions, and voting behavior.”

Dark is author of The Unions and the Democrats: An Enduring Alliance and of a chapter in The Making of the Presidential Candidates, 2004. He has also published widely in labor and political science journals. He formerly taught at the Graduate School of American Studies at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. He earned master’s degrees in political science and government at UC Berkeley and at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He earned a Ph.D. in political science at UC Berkeley.

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