Democracy Disrupted

Leading scholars analyze three disruptions in the 2020 presidential campaign and election: disruptions to the status quo caused by the renewed quest for racial justice and greater diversity of candidates, pandemic disruptions to traditional campaigning, and disruptions to democratic norms.
Democracy Disrupted documents the most significant features of the 2020 U.S. presidential election through research conducted by leading scholars in political communication. Chapters consider the coinciding of three historical events in 2020: a 100-year pandemic co-occurring with the presidential campaign, the reinvigorated call for social and racial justice in response to the killing of George Floyd and other Black men and women, and the authoritarian lurch that emerged in reaction to Donald Trump's norm-challenging rhetoric. The Democratic Party's campaign stood out because of the historically diverse field of presidential candidates and the election of the first female vice president.
Chapter authors adopt diverse scientific methodologies and field-leading theories of political communication to understand the way these events forced candidates, campaigns, and voters to adapt to these extraordinary circumstances. Experiments, surveys, case studies, and textual analysis illuminate essential features of this once-in-a-generation campaign. The four editors of this timely volume have been central to describing and contextualizing each recent presidential contest.

Benjamin R. Warner is Associate Professor of Communication and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Missouri, USA.
Dianne G. Bystrom is Director Emerita of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University, USA.
Mitchell S. McKinney is Dean of the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Akron, USA.
Mary C. Banwart is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas, Director of the Institute for Leadership Studies, and program director for the Women's Global Leadership Consortium.

Introduction Exploring the Disruptive 2020 Campaign: Contextualizing the Role of the Push for Progress, the Pandemic, and the Insurrection at the Capitol Benjamin R. Warner and Dianne G. Bystrom Part One Disrupting the Status Quo Chapter 1Looking In/Looking Out: Pete Buttigieg's Not-So-Queer Run for the Presidency3 Bryan G. Pepper and Mitchell S. McKinney Chapter 2Mediating Race and Gender in Campaign 2020: The Cooking with Kamala Videos21 Trevor Parry-Giles, Divine Narkotey Aboagye, Jin R. Choi, Taylor Hourigan, Meg Itoh, Carolyn Robbins, Matthew Salzano, Kalin Schultz, and Shelby Sturm Chapter 3Rhetoric of Optimism and Promise of Transformation: Concession Speeches by U.S. Presidential Women Candidates in 2020 Julia A. Spiker Chapter 4Partisan Motivations for News Use: Implications for Threat Perceptions during the 2020 U.S. Election Andrea Figueroa-Caballero and Julius Matthew Riles Chapter 5Navigating Difficult Conversations in the Family in the 2020 Election Environment77 Xavier Scruggs and Colleen Warner Colaner Part Two Disrupting the Campaign Chapter 6Political Party Tweets during the 2020 Presidential Campaign93 Daniel Montez and Kate Kenski Chapter 7Donald Trump and the COVID-19 Information Environment in Campaign 2020117 Joshua M. Scacco, Jonathon Smith, and Kevin Coe Chapter 8Forced Online: The Promise and Challenge of Relational Organizing Technology in a 2020 State-Level Campaign Ashley Muddiman and Cameron W. Piercy Chapter 9"The SPN Family Votes!": Celebrity Endorsements in Online Fan Communities159 Ashley A. Hinck Chapter 10Hope and Fear in a Pandemic: Videostyle in 2020 Presidential Advertising 177 Kelly L. Winfrey Part Three Disrupting Democratic Norms Chapter 11Donald Trump, Emotional Activation, and Authoritarianism207 Robert C. Rowland Chapter 12Reclaiming the Center: Constitutive Rhetoric and the "Moderate Ethos" in Crossover Endorsements for Joe Biden Ryan Neville-Shepard Chapter 13Trump's Disruptive Debate: Analyzing the Candidate Branding Costs239 Josh C. Bramlett, Benjamin R. Warner, and Mitchell S. McKinney Chapter 14Social Dominance, Sexism, and the Lasting Effects on Political Communication from the 2020 Election Mary C. Banwart and Michael W. Kearney Chapter 15Partisan Media and Polarization in the 2020 Campaign289 Benjamin R. Warner, Jihye Park, Go-Eun Kim, and Alyssa N. Coffey About the Editors and Contributors 311 Index 317