The idea of a mandate is central to democratic politics because perceptions of the existence and form of popular mandate determine the scope of what elected officials can claim they were elected to do. This article examines how the notion of "mandate" was used to interpret the results of the 1984 U.S. presidential election. Though four different definitions of "mandate" can be identified in the coverage, the dominant interpretation focused on a policy mandate. Republican sources actively promoted this interpretation to enhance Reagan's standing and legitimize his proposals. Journalists, following media conventions and routines, accepted it and thus strengthened Reagan's position at the start of his second administration.
Current issues are available on the Chicago Journals website: Read the latest issue. Polity is the journal of the Northeastern Political Science Association, published quarterly since 1968. As a general-interest journal, it has always sought to publish work of interest to a broad range of political scientists — work that is lively, provocative, and readable. Polity is devoted to the premise that political knowledge advances through scholarly communication across subdiscipline boundaries.
Since its origins in 1890 as one of the three main divisions of the University of Chicago, The University of Chicago Press has embraced as its mission the obligation to disseminate scholarship of the highest standard and to publish serious works that promote education, foster public understanding, and enrich cultural life. Today, the Journals Division publishes more than 70 journals and hardcover serials, in a wide range of academic disciplines, including the social sciences, the humanities, education, the biological and medical sciences, and the physical sciences.
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Polity