A virtuous circle : political communications in postindustrial societies / Pippa Norris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Norris, Pippa.

Series:

Communication, society, and politics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Communication in politics.

Communication--Political aspects.

Communication.

Press and politics.

Political parties.

Physical Description:

xvii, 398 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Summary:

Is the process of political communications by the news media and by parties responsible for civic malaise? A Virtuous Circle sets out to challenge this conventional wisdom. Based on a comparison of the role of the news media and parties in 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 representative democracy.

The book outlines appropriate standards for evaluating the performance of the news media and compares changes in the news media, including the rise of the Internet and the development of postmodern election campaigns. Norris shows that although negative news can erode public support for specific policy issues, in general there is a consistently positive relationship between attention to the news media and political knowledge, trust, and participation. The theory of a 'virtuous circle' is proposed to account for the main findings.

Contents:

Part I The News Media and Civic Malaise

1 The News Media and Democracy 3

2 Evaluating Media Performance 22

3 Understanding Political Communications 36

Part II Trends in Political Communications

4 The Decline of Newspapers? 63

5 The Rise (and Fall?) of the Television Age 90

6 The Emerging Internet Era 120

7 The Evolution of Campaign Communications 137

8 The Rise of the Postmodern Campaign? 162

Part III The Impact on Democracy

9 Negative News, Negative Public? 183

10 Knows Little? Information and Choice 208

11 Cares Less? Cynical Media, Cynical Public? 233

12 Stays Home? Political Mobilization 255

13 American Exceptionalism? 279

14 A Virtuous Circle? 309.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 331-388) and indexes.

ISBN:

0521790158

0521793645

OCLC:

43552757