Includes bibliographical references and index.

The invisible primary in presidential nominations, 1980-2004 / Marty Cohen ... [et al.] -- The reemergence of the Iowa caucuses : a new trend, an aberration, or a useful reminder? / Andrew E. Busch -- How television covers the presidential nomination process / Stephen J. Farnsworth and S. Robert Lichter -- Television advertising during the presidential nomination season / Travis N. Ridout -- African American voters and the presidential nomination process / Vincent L. Hutchings and LaFleur Stephens -- Presidential nomination finance in the post-BCRA era / David B. Magleby and William G. Mayer -- Voting in presidential primaries : what we can learn from three decades of exit polling / William G. Mayer -- What the founders intended : another look at the origins of the American presidential selection process / William G. Mayer.

Discusses the presidential election process with eight chapters that cover such topics as how television covers the nomination process, the origins of the presidential selection process, and nomination finance in the post-Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act era.