The Four Pillars of Politics

Why Some Candidates Don't Win and Others Can't Lead

James T. Kitchens, Larry Powell

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781498507233
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Communication Studies
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The Four Pillars of Politics provides a uniform foundation for evaluating political campaign strategies. The four pillars identified in this book—fear, national narcissism, consumerism, and religion—serve as attitudinal anchors that American voters use in making their voting decisions. The dominant pillar may change from election to election, leading to situations in which a candidate who wins in one election may be defeated four years later. Kitchens and Powell examine how political communication is understood by combining these four pillars with the related matrix of attitudes, beliefs, and values that are integral components of the American culture. The Four Pillars of Politics will appeal to scholars of political science, communication studies, and journalism.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• The Four Pillars of American Politics
• The First Pillar of the American Psyche
• The Second Pillar of American Politics
• Pillars of the American Psyche
• The Fourth Pillar of the American Psyche
• Why Voters Frighten Politicians
• Republicans versus Democrats
• The Republican Party
• The Democratic Party
• Practical Lessons
• Why Some Public Figures Can’t Lead
• Index
• About the Authors