A Virtuous Circle Political Communications in Postindustrial Societies [Hardcover]

This book, first published in 2000, challenges the idea that the news media and political parties are responsible for civic malaise.Is the process of political communications by the news media and by parties responsible for civic malaise? A Virtuous Circle sets out to challenge and critique the conventional wisdom. Based on a comparative examination of the role of the news media and parties in 29 postindustrial societies, focusing in particular on Western Europe and the United States, this study argues that rather than mistakenly 'blaming the messenger' we need to understand and confront more deep-rooted flaws in systems of representative democracy.Is the process of political communications by the news media and by parties responsible for civic malaise? A Virtuous Circle sets out to challenge and critique the conventional wisdom. Based on a comparative examination of the role of the news media and parties in 29 postindustrial societies, focusing in particular on Western Europe and the United States, this study argues that rather than mistakenly 'blaming the messenger' we need to understand and confront more deep-rooted flaws in systems of representative democracy.Is the process of political communications by the news media and by parties responsible for civic malaise? A Virtuous Circle sets out to challenge the conventional wisdom that it is. Based on a comparative examination of the role of the news media and parties in postindustrial societies, this study argues that rather than mistakenly blaming the messenger we need to understand and confront more deep-rooted flaws in the systems of representative democracy.List of tables; List of figures; Preface; Part I. The News Media and Civic Malaise: 1. The news media and democracy; 2. Evaluating media performance; 3. Understanding political communications; Part II. Trends in Political Communication: 4. The decline of newspapers?; 5. The rise (and fall?) of the television age; 6. The emerging internet era; 7. The evoll)