Author

Sean Murphy

Date of Award

4-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Patrick Donnay

Abstract

The Bannock Street Project was an effort by the Democratic Party during the 2014 congressional elections, to offset the Midterm Dilemma. The Midterm Dilemma is the focus of many theories trying to assess why the president's party tends to do poorly during the midterms. The Bannock Street project failed and as a result the Democrats lost control of the Senate in 2014. I attempt to discover why the Democrat's project failed, and if its failure can be attributed to either The Surge and Decline Theory or The Negative Voting Theory. I use 2014 Pew Center election data to analyze the question. I expect to find that the Negative Voting theory was the major factor in the 2014 midterm shift in power, and furthermore that the Bannock Street Project was not designed to combat this theory. This research can help us better understand American voting habits, especially in midterm elections.

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