Star Power American Democracy in the Age of the Celebrity Candidate Media and Power Series

Are celebrity politics the spice of American public life or a pox on policy progress? This book identifies and measures the attributes of celebrities that make them well-equipped to win campaigns and yet poorly prepared to govern effectively. The framers of the U.S. Constitution worried about the propensity of an undereducated public to elect unqualified entertainers rather than fit characters to government positions. Celebrities have come to play an increasingly central role in the American political process as fundraisers, surrogates, and as candidates themselves, yet remain a sorely understudied topic in political science. Through a multimethod approach that includes qualitative analysis, novel public opinion surveys, and survey experiments, this book assesses whether Americans are more likely to vote for celebrities than well-known traditional politicians and the implications of these preferences for democracy in the U.S. Perfect for students, scholars, and interested citizens, Star Power looks at the contemporary American political landscape through new lenses of research as well as popular appeal.

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. A Short History of a Longstanding Obsession

2. In Their Own Words: Why Celebrities Run

3. Celebrities, They’re Not Like Us

4. Do Voters Prefer Celebrity Candidates to Politicians?

5. The Death of U.S.?

Appendix

Index

Dr. Lauren A. Wright is a Lecturer in Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, where she teaches courses on The Presidency and Executive Power, Women and Politics, and Political Communication. Wright is also the author of On Behalf of the President: Presidential Spouses and White House Communications Strategy Today (Praeger, 2016). Wright is a contributor to The Hill and The Huffington Post and her writing has frequently appeared in The Washington Post. Her commentary has also been featured in The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, The Houston Chronicle, Newsweek, The New York Daily News, The San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, and US News and World Report. She is a frequent guest political analyst and has appeared on CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, and MSNBC. Wright’s research interests include presidential politics, public opinion, and public and private sector communications strategy. She currently serves as Strategic Communications Director at NV5 Global, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVEE) and is a board member of The White House Transition Project. Wright received a Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University in 2014. Before that, she was a Field Representative for Meg Whitman’s campaign for governor of California.