Communication 458
Political Communication (Campaign Writing)
Fall 2005
Dr. Trevor Parry-Giles
Skinner Bldg. #2105
Office Phone: 301-405-8947
e-mail: tpg@umd.edu
Web site: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~tpg
Office Hours: Monday, 10:30-12:30 , or by appointment.
Course Information: Section # 0101 Time: T/Th, 12:30-1:45 Place: EGR 1104
Textbooks : David D. Perlmutter, ed., The Manship School Guide to Political Communication (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999); Larry Powell & Joseph Cowart, Political Campaign Communication: Inside and Out ( Boston : Allyn & Bacon, 2003).
Course Objectives : This course is designed to introduce the student to the range of communication practices that characterize contemporary political campaigns. Resting on the assumption that communication is central to virtually all political practice, the course will ask students to process existing understandings of political communication theory and to implement that understanding in a campaign exercise. Ultimately, upon completion of the course, students will have a clear understanding of the array of communication behaviors that are characteristic of contemporary political campaigns.
Course Assignments : Candidate Profile/Opposition Research Report (10%) Campaign Strategy Memo (10%) TV & Radio Ad Scripts (15%) Direct & Persuasion Mail (15%) Web & E-mail Copy/Design (10%) Stump Speech (10%) Midterm Examination (10%) Final Examination (20%)
I employ a standard grading scale for the course (A=4.0; B=3.0; C=2.0; D=1.0; F=0). More detailed grading criteria are provided below for the essays. Exam grades are derived from your score out of 100 possible points according to the following scale: 100-93 = A; 92-90 = A-; 89-87 = B+; 86-83 = B; 82-80 = B-; 79-77 = C+; 76-73 = C; 72-70 = C-; 69-67 = D+; 66-63 = D; 62-60 = D-; 59-0 = F. The grading scale for the course is found on my Web site.
Assignments : All work submitted for credit (exams, papers, etc.) should only be identifiable by the campaign team name and the last four numbers of the team member's UMD ID numbers. All work should be submitted to me in Microsoft Word as either an e-mail attachment or on disk (please make sure with attachments that they are attached as Word documents, not HTML or some other format). I will provide comments on the document and you will access those comments and evaluations by using the Word reviewing system. To activate this process, click on View, then Toolbars, then Reviewing. From there, you will see how to read comments on the assignments.
I. Examinations: The examinations for this course are varied in their format and emphasize your ability to synthesize and apply the information from the material. The examinations are also my attempt to make certain that you are reading and understanding the assigned readings for the course, so there will be some questions that are identification questions and that ask you to indicate your recognition/understanding of key concepts, ideas, persons, etc. The final examination is comprehensive. Make-up examinations will be given only when proper and complete written documentation of your absence is provided (doctor's excuse; funeral program, etc.). You are required, by University policy, to provide such documentation. Your absence, according to University policy, must be a result of one of the following: Personal illness; Illness of a dependent; Religious observance; Compelling circumstances beyond a student's control. Students who require special testing arrangements through the Disability Support Services Office should speak to me about such arrangements at least two weeks prior to the examination.
II. Campaign Assignments:
A. Campaign Teams : Students will be divided into four campaign teams. Each team will be assigned a candidate in the 2006 Maryland senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns. One team will be assigned to Governor Robert Ehrlich (R—Governor), one team to Martin O'Malley (D—Governor ), one team to Michael Steele (R—Senate), and one team to Benjamin Cardin (D—Senate). Each team will be required to submit a complete log of individual activity and effort toward team projects. All campaign writing assignments will be submitted by the team, and each team will receive only one grade for the assignment. Every team member is responsible for reviewing and approving of each submitted assignment.
B. Campaign Writing :
1. Candidate Profile/Opposition Research : Each team will submit a complete candidate profile. The profile will offer a full biography of the candidate. It will detail his background, education, personal information, and political history. It will also provide a discussion of the candidate's voting record and/or performance in office. Each team will also simultaneously submit an opposition research report. The report will offer a complete profile of the opposing candidate including a full discussion of specific votes, political positions, and/or personal information that will be useful in negative advertising. The entire project should be at least 10 single-spaced pages with complete citations of information sources.
2. Campaign Strategy Memo : Each team will submit a campaign strategy memo. The memo will detail existing poll information about the campaign, the strategic approach that the campaign will use in advancing their candidate and the oppositional strategy they will use in attacking their opponent. The memo should be specifically concerned with issues of campaign theme, policy emphasis, communication approach, media selection, debating strategy, and candidate image. The memo should be at least 6 single-spaced pages and should include an executive summary of no more than 2 pages for a total of eight pages.
3. TV & Radio Ad Scripts : Each team will submit scripts for 6 television spot commercials and 3 radio commercials. The television scripts should be divided as follows: 2 positive spots (1 60 sec.; 1 30 sec.), 2 comparative spots (each 30 sec.), and 2 negative spots (each 30 sec.). The radio scripts should be divided as follows: 1 positive spot (60 sec.), 1 comparative spot (60 sec.), and 1 negative spot (30 sec.). Television scripts should include both the visual and audio dimensions of the spot. Radio spots should specify sound effects and other non-spoken dimensions of the spot.
4. Direct & Persuasion Mail : Each team will submit 1 complete direct mail fundraising package (including envelope design, letter copy, insert, reply card) and 6 persuasion mail pieces (2 positive; 2 comparative; 2 negative). The persuasion mail pieces should specify imagery to be included as well as copy.
5. Web & E-mail Copy/Design : Each team will submit a complete design with copy of a Web homepage for the campaign. Each team will also submit copy for 2 e-mails to be sent to supporters—one a positive, issue-based e-mail and one a negative, image-based e-mail. The homepage should indicate what will be included on the candidate's Web site, should include a welcome message, and should demonstrate the graphic nature of the site.
6. Stump Speech : Each team will submit a complete stump speech. The speech should be a full discussion of the candidate's background, his policy positions and themes, his preferability to his opponent, and the overall theme of his campaign. The speech should be no longer than 5 double-spaced pages.
Grading Criteria: Work receiving the grade of “A” will be uniformly excellent. It will meet all of the criteria for the assignment and exceed them in quality and execution. It will be totally free of errors and demonstrate an exceptional level of creativity and technical skill. Work receiving the grade of “B” will be uniformly good. It will meet virtually of the criteria for the assignment and will do so in a highly competent manner. It will be predominantly free of errors and demonstrate creativity and technical skill. Work receiving the grade of “C” will be sufficient to fulfill the requirements for the assignment. The work will be generally competent and relatively free of errors. It will also demonstrate a modicum of creativity and technical skill. Work receiving the grades of “D” or “F” will fail to achieve the requirements of “C” work.
Course Policies : Incompletes : As reprinted from the University Undergraduate Catalog: The mark of "I" (Incomplete) is an exceptional mark that is an instructor option. It is given only to a student, whose work in a course has been qualitatively satisfactory, when, because of illness or other circumstances beyond the student's control, he or she has been unable to complete some small portion of the work of the course. In no case will the mark "I" be recorded for a student who has not completed the major portion of the work of the course.
Academic Dishonesty : As reprinted from the University Undergraduate Catalog: The University is an academic community. Its fundamental purpose is the pursuit of knowledge. Like all other communities, the University can function properly only if its members adhere to clearly established goals and values. Essential to the fundamental purpose of the University is the commitment to the principles of truth and academic honesty. Accordingly, The Code of Academic Integrity is designed to ensure that the principle of academic honesty is upheld. While all members of the University share this responsibility, The Code of Academic Integrity is designed so that special responsibility for upholding the principle of academic honesty lies with the students. Definitions Academic Dishonesty: any of the following acts, when committed by a student, shall constitute academic dishonesty: Cheating: intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise. Fabrication: intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.
Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate any provision of this Code. Plagiarism: intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise. Responsibility to Report Academic Dishonesty Academic dishonesty is a corrosive force in the academic life of a university. It jeopardizes the quality of education and depreciates the genuine achievements of others. It is, without reservation, a responsibility of all members of the campus community to actively deter it. Apathy or acquiescence in the presence of academic dishonesty is not a neutral act. Histories of institutions demonstrate that a laissez-faire response will reinforce, perpetuate, and enlarge the scope of such misconduct. Institutional reputations for academic dishonesty are regrettable aspects of modern education. These reputations become self-fulfilling and grow, unless vigorously challenged by students and faculty alike. All members of the University community, students, faculty, and staff share the responsibility and authority to challenge and make known acts of apparent academic dishonesty. The University has a nationally recognized Honor Code, administered by the Student Honor Council. The Student Honor Council proposed and the University Senate approved an Honor Pledge. The University of Maryland Honor Pledge reads: I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination. You will be asked to sign a statement to this effect on the final page of your exams. In addition, you will be asked to submit a written version of this pledge each time you submit an essay for evaluation. Students who fail to write and sign the Pledge will be asked to confer with the instructor.
Classroom Atmosphere & Respect : As reprinted from the University Undergraduate Catalog: The University of Maryland values the diversity of its student body and is committed to providing a classroom atmosphere that encourages the equitable participation of all students. Patterns of interaction in the classroom between the faculty member and students and among the students themselves may inadvertently communicate preconceptions about student abilities based on age, disability, ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation. These patterns are due in part to the differences the students themselves bring to the classroom. Classroom instructors should be particularly sensitive to being equitable in the opportunities they provide students to answer questions in class, to contribute their own ideas, and to participate fully in projects in and outside of the classroom. Of equal importance to equity in the classroom is the need to attend to potential devaluation of students that can occur by reference to demeaning stereotypes of any group and/or overlooking the contributions of a particular group to the topic under discussion. Joking at the expense of any group creates an inhospitable environment and is inappropriate. Moreover, in providing evaluations of students, it is essential that instructors avoid distorting these evaluations with preconceived expectations about the intellectual capacities of any group. Sexual harassment of any kind (unwanted/unwelcome sexual comments; unwanted/unwelcome requests for sexual favors; the creation of a hostile educational environment) will not be tolerated.
Attendance : This class does not have an attendance policy largely because the University does not allow such policies and because I believe you are responsible for your own education. Should you choose not to attend class, then, you are responsible for the consequences of that choice. Please do not request that I review my lecture/discussion for you. Do not ask me to repeat course announcements that you missed because of your absence. Once you have obtained notes and announcements from another class member, I will be happy to answer any of your questions. Please do not feel obligated to explain your absence to me.
Course Schedule :
Week One 9/1, Course Introduction
Week Two 9/6, Political Communication—The Basics . Readings : P&C, Chapter 1; Friedenberg, Napolitan in Perlmutter. 9/8, Political Socialization & Campaign Strategies . Readings : P&C, Chapters 2 & 3; Bovee in Perlmutter.
Week Three 9/13, Campaign Strategies & Polling (cont.) . Campaign team meetings. Readings : P&C, Chapter 10; Hamilton/Beattie, Glick in Perlmutter 9/15, Candidate Images . Readings : P&C, Chapter 4.
Week Four 9/20, Media and Political Campaigns . Readings : P&C, Chapter 5; West in Perlmutter. Due: Campaign Profile/Opposition Research. 9/22, Campaign Teams . Readings : P&C, Chapter 6.
Week Five 9/27, Media Campaign Communication—TV & Radio . Readings : P&C, Chapter 7; Hutchens, R. Strother, D. Strother in Perlmutter; Fletcher in Perlmutter. Due: Campaign Strategy Memo. 9/29, Media Campaign Communication—TV (cont.) .
Week Six 10/4, Direct Voter Contact . Readings : P&C, Chapter 8; Clinton/Clinton in Perlmutter. 10/6, Direct Voter Contact (cont.) .
Week Seven 10/11, Voting Constituencies . Readings : Brazile, Parent, Gutierrez, Cunningham, Avellino in Perlmutter. Due: TV & Radio Ad Scripts. 10/13, Midterm Review.
Week Eight 10/18, Other Mediated Campaign Communication . Readings : Stone, Edmonds , Reilly, Walter in Perlmutter. 10/20, Midterm Exam .
Week Nine 10/25, New Technologies in Political Campaigns . Readings : Reed, Perkins, Reavy, Paquin in Perlmutter. 10/27, New Technologies (cont.) . Due: Direct/Persuasion Mail Pieces.
Week Ten 11/1, Speechwriting . Readings : P&C, Chapter 9; Parry-Giles in Perlmutter. 11/3, Speechwriting (cont.) .
Week Eleven 11/8, Press Coverage and Media Relations . Readings : P&C, Chapter 11. 11/10, No Class— Hofstra University Presidential Conference .
Week Twelve 11/15, Press Coverage/Media Relations (cont.) . Due: Web/E-Mail Copy & Design. 11/17, Money & Politics . Readings : P&C, Chapter 12; King in Perlmutter.
Week Thirteen 11/22, Political Campaigning and Interpersonal Influence . Readings : P&C, Chapter 13. 11/24, No Class—Happy Thanksgiving.
Week Fourteen 11/29, Critical Events in Campaigns . Readings : P&C, Chapter 14. 12/1, Debates and Political Campaigns . Due: Stump Speech.
Week Fifteen 12/6, Ethics & Political Campaigns . Readings : P&C, Chapter 15. 12/8, Course Assessment/Make-Up Day.
Week Sixteen 12/13, Review for the Final Exam. 12/20, Final Exam (1:30-3:30).
© 2005, Trevor Parry-Giles, All Right Reserved.