The US 2008 Elections

Paper Summary:

The paper reviews the social movement literature and assesses the possible utilization of social movement in describing the 2008 political environment. The paper defines the terms used in studying social movements but notes that these terms are subject to various interpretations. The paper concludes that the term "social movement" is partly, yet simultaneously is not completely an appropriate characterization of the U.S. political scene. The paper adds that today's presidential primaries and upcoming election could also be described as the rediscovery of the U.S.' cultural identity. The paper appends a large amount of source material to the paper.

Outline:
Introduction
Considerations
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Today's current political campaign "has been a political analyst's nightmare. It's like they took the textbook and threw it out the window," Charlie Cook, publisher of the Cook Political Report, a newsletter that constrains political races across the US, purports. Wolf Blitzer of CNN and Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, TV anchormen, report the one thing they have learned from this year's politics has been to refrain from religiously relying on polls, as these "statistics" reflect only a glimpse of an unpredictable electorate. Among political analysts, anchors and commentators who routinely express a myriad of controversial opinions, some adopt the term "social movement" to characterize the 2008 U.S. presidential primaries and upcoming election."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bessant, Judith, Rob Watts, Tony Dalton, and Paul Smyth. Talking Policy: How Social Policy Is Made. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 2006. Questia. 26 Mar. 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109729763>.
• Chollet, Derek and Lindberg, Tod. "A Moral Core for U.S. Foreign Policy." (2008) Leland Stanford Junior University. Mar. 2008 <http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/11832051.html>.
• Hall, Stuart. Cultural Identity and Diaspora. (1990). LWbooks.co. UK. Mar. 2008 <http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/ReadingRoom/public/IdentityDiaspora.pdf>.
• Oliver, Pamela E. and Myers, Daniel J. "Diffusion Models of Cycles of Protest as a Theory of Social Movements." Sociological Association, Montreal, July 1998. Mar. 2008 <http://www.nd.edu/~dmyers/cbsm/vol3/olmy.pdf>.
• Peebles-Wilkins, Wilma. "Heather M. Dalmage (Ed.), the Politics of Multiracialism: Challenging Racial Thinking." Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 33.1 (2006): 262+. Questia. 26 Mar.=2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5016724467>.

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