Published in February 2023, this briefing paper is an output from the American Politics Group of the Political Studies Association

Key Fact:

• Features eight chapters written by academics based in the US, the UK, Germany and the Republic of Ireland
• Foreword by Lara M Brown
• Designed to act as a bridge between journalistic coverage of the 2022 midterms and peer-reviewed academic work
• A launch event hosted by Kingston University, Tuesday 31 January 2023
• A recording of this briefing launch event can be found here and here
• Authors include a mixture of senior academics, mid-career scholars, early career researchers, and PhD students
• Project Lead: Peter Finn, Senior Lecturer in Politics at Kingston University, London
• Editorial Committee: Peter Finn, Tom Furse, Clodagh Harrington & Michael Espinoza
• Chapter Authors: Alex Wadden, Amy Tatum, Caroline Leicht, Chris Gilson, Clodagh Harrington, Felicia Ronnholm, Matthew Schlachter, Michael Espinoza, Peter Finn, & Robert Ledger
• For press inquiries, contact: p.finn@kingston.ac.uk

You can read and download the briefing paper below:

Institutions represented:

• Bournemouth University
• Kingston University
• LSE Phelan US Centre
• UCL’s Institute of the Americas
• University College Cork
• University of Leicester
• University of Southampton
• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Topics explored include:

• An overview of the Republican Party following the Midterm and the fate of moderate Republicans
• Challenges and opportunities for the Democratic Party
• Climate change narratives in Florida
• Gender representation
• Inflation and reproductive rights
• Shifts in the US election system, 2022-2024
• State level elections

The chapter line up is:

• Gender Representation and the 2022 Midterms, Amy Tatum (Bournemouth University)
• Material V Post-Material: Inflation and Reproductive Rights as 2022 Voter Priorities, Clodagh Harrington (University College Cork) & Alex Waddan (University of Leicester)
• Rising Stars and Fading Stars: Challenges and Opportunities for the Democratic Party After the Midterms, Caroline Leicht (University of Southampton). An audio version of this chapter is available here
• The 2022 Midterms were about more than just Congressional Elections: State Elections Mattered too, Chris Gilson (LSE Phelan US Centre)
• A Phoenix from the Ashes or a Dead Duck: The Fate of Moderate Republicans in the 2022 US Midterm Elections, Matthew Schlachter (UCL’s Institute of the Americas)
• Extreme Weather and Climate Change Narratives in the Florida 2022 Midterm Elections, Felicia Ronnholm (Kingston University)
• An Overview of the Republican Party after the 2022 Midterm Elections, Michael Espinoza (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
• Towards 24: Shifts in the US Election System, 2022-2024, Peter Finn (Kingston University) & Robert Ledger (formerly Queen Mary University and Kingston University)

Praise for ‘Exploring the 2022 US Midterms’ Brief:

‘The US mid term elections roll around every four years like clockwork, but little else about them is as predictable as their timing. ‘The incumbent presidential administration always takes a beating’ – except when it doesn’t. ‘It’s always the economy, stupid’ – except when other issues intrude. ‘The elections have become nationalised’ – except when regions and localities show their differences.’ The 2022 mid terms came at a time when the battle between competing forces to define America’s political and social future had become particularly fierce. These authors provide an analysis that is clear, comprehensive and a thoroughly engaging read’

American Politics Group Chair, 

Philip John Davies

‘To help us make sense of this historic election cycle, the American Politics Group (APG) of the UK Political Studies Association has collected a series of papers that investigate and analyse not only what happened (Republicans performed worse than expected), but also offer a number of perspectives about the ways in which we might think about this electoral cycle within the broader political contexts of racial and gender diversity, economic and socio-cultural issues, campaign and candidate rhetorical frames, diverging national, federal, and local interests, and the development of the political parties and the laws that pertain to the casting and counting of ballots.

[…]

The varying perspectives offered here are sure to prove invaluable.’

Former Director of The Graduate School of Political Management, The George Washington University,

Lara M. Brown

Related outputs and material:

• You can find the initial promotional email here
• You can find a news article on the Kingston University Website here, re-posted here, with further and related coverage here, here, here, here, and here
• You can find posts from Chapter Author Caroline Leicht building on her chapter here and here, and a related post here and here
• An audio version of Chapter 3, ‘Rising Stars and Fading Stars: Challenges and Opportunities for the Democratic Party After the Midterms’, is available here
• You can find a summative post from Project Lead Peter Finn here, here, and here
• You can find a post mapping the 2024 primary plans (as of March 2023) of the Democratic Party from Project Lead Peter Finn here
• You can find a podcast interview of Amy Tatum and Caroline Leicht that touches on themes from their chapters here

Find ‘Exploring the 2022 US Midterms’ elsewhere:

• You can find the brief on the site of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley here
• You can find the brief on the site of Kingston University here
• You can find the brief re-posted on the site Geekslop here
• You can find the brief on academic.edu here
• You can find the brief on the site of The Covid-19 and Democracy Project here (In part, Chapter 8 by Peter Finn and Robert Ledger explores the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on US elections)
• You can find the brief listed on the website of Bournemouth University here
• You can find the chapter written by Michael Espinoza listed here on PlumX Metrics
• You can find the chapter from Caroline Leicht listed in the research repository of the University of Southampton here