2012 U.S. Presidential Election Challenges and Expectations

As every presidential election, the 2012 cycle was also unique. On the one side we had president Barack Obama, who either due to his own shortcomings or rather the character of the inherited political regime, as defined by Stephen Skowronek (1997), was struggling for reelection. On the other, we had former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney – the first major party candidate since Walter Mondale, and the first Republican since Ronald Reagan, who had not held a public office at the time of his nomination. In this volume 26 scholars, from all around the world, take a look on how those two public figures, with so different backgrounds and life stories, though having graduate degrees from the same Alma Mater, were directing their ways to the White House. Nevertheless, discussing what strategy did they take, what rhetoric applied, and what policy proposed on domestic and international issues, as well as what campaign innovations introduced is only a part of the story. The other one is that the 2012 contest was presented in a broader picture of historical and legal context of the American presidential elections.