Politics, Media, and Modern Democracy: An International Study of Innovations in Electoral Campaigning and Their Consequences - Paperback

by Paolo Mancini (Author), David Swanson (Author)

This important new text brings together an outstanding group of international scholars to look at the current state of electoral politics around the world. Elements of the modern (or American) model of election campaigning have been adopted in many countries in recent years--including the use of mass media, the personalization of campaigns, use of public opinion polls, and a general professionalization of campaigns--and conditions would seem to favor the spread of that model. Contributors to this volume, from established democracies, new and restored democracies, and democracies facing destabilizing pressure, examine the extent to which electoral politics in their countries have been affected by the emergence of high-tech professional campaigns. Countries examined provide a cross-section of today's democracies, including the United States, Britain, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Poland, Spain, Israel, Italy, Argentina, and Venezuela. The work will be of interest to scholars and students alike in political communication, political parties and elections, and comparative politics.

Author Biography

DAVID L. SWANSON is Professor and Head of the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author (with D. Nimmo) of New Directions in Political Communication (1990) and (with J. Delia) of The Nature of Human Communication (1976).

PAOLO MANCINI is Professor of Sociology of Communication and Academic Director of the School of Broadcast Journalism at the Universita de Perugia in Italy./e He is the author of Videopolitica (1985), Come Vincere le Elezioni (1989), Guardando il Telegiornale (1991), and Il Giornalismo e le Sue Regole (1992).