The forthcoming US presidential election has spawned books about the science of voting. Political decisions can be made more democratic using social choice and game theory, allowing voters to express their preferences and enabling public goods to be divided fairly, explains Steven J. Brams in Mathematics and Democracy: Designing Better Voting and Fair-Division Procedures (Princeton Univ. Press, 2008). Brams has also updated his classic 1978 book, The Presidential Election Game (A. K. Peters, 2008), which dissects presidential campaign strategies.

Engaging emotions is key to winning votes and political arguments, argues George Lakoff in The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain (Viking, 2008). He suggests that fact-laden Democrat campaigns could benefit from using emotionally loaded phrases such as 'tax relief' or 'war on terror'.

In Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It) (Hill & Wang, 2008), William Poundstone seeks out the fairest voting systems and explains why the most popular candidate may not always win.

Facing decisions on topics from nuclear terrorism to climate change, the new president might consult Richard A. Muller's Physics For Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines (W. W. Norton, 2008). Or he might turn to Joseph S. Nye's The Powers to Lead (Oxford Univ. Press, 2008) for tips on how to mimic the best leadership styles.

And for perking up that speech, he might consider reading Tippecanoe and Tyler Too: Famous Slogans and Catchphrases in American History (Chicago Univ. Press, 2008) by Jan R. Van Meter, for the stories behind 50 famous phrases, such as “nice guys finish last”.