A virtuous circle : political communications in postindustrial societies
"Is the process of political communication 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."--Jacket
Print Book, English, 2000
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2000
Book
xvii, 398 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
9780521790154, 9780521793643, 0521790158, 0521793645
43552757
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 evolution of campaign communications; 8. The rise of the post-modern campaign?; Part III. The Impact on Democracy: 9. Negative news, negative public?; 10. Knows little? Information and choice; 11. Cares less? Cynical media, cynical public?; 12. Stays home? Political mobilization; 13. American exceptionalism?; 14. A virtuous circle?; Technical appendix; Notes; Select bibliography; Author index; Subject index.