The evolving vice presidency/Do campaigns matter?

Hour 1

If you watch HBO’s show Veep, you might think that the office of the vice president just serves as comic relief.  It’s described on a US senate site as the “least understood, most ridiculed, and most often ignored constitutional office in the federal government.” But, in fact, the vice presidency has evolved into a powerful one in both shaping policy and politics. This hour, we’ll talk about the shifting role of the vice president and look at how it has changed through time with AMY GAUDION, a visiting assistant Professor of Law at the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. Then, just how important are presidential campaigns?  What about the debates, the ads, or even the gaffes? We’ll talk with Temple University political science professor CHRISTOPHER WLEZIEN who tracks the course of presidential elections, about his new book “The Timeline of Presidential Elections: How Campaigns Do (and Do Not) Matter.”

Listen:
[audio: 101112_100630.mp3]