Political communication systems in advanced industrial democracies are in a state of flux. The traditional political communication system, with its limited and regulated media channels, stable patterns of media consumption, and identifiable party loyalty, which characterized much of the twentieth century, is giving way to one that is less ordered and structured. This book provides an accessible and comprehensive account of how governments, political parties, established media organizations and citizen audiences, in the US and the UK, are adapting to this systemic change.
Against the background of audience fragmentation and widening social and political divisions, James Stanyer provides a critical appraisal of the evolving relationship of political communicators and their audience. He argues that such divisions influence citizen communicative engagement and are increasingly exacerbated by the strategic activities of political advocates and media organizations. Modern Political Communication is required reading for anyone who wants a fuller understanding of the transformation of political communication and the repercussions for democracy.
Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction
Modern Political Communication
Part 1: Exclusion, Intimacy and the Drive for Popularity
1 Exclusive Campaign Communication: the Hidden Costs of Data Driven Electioneering
The rise of the floating voter
Market research and the electorate
Targeted communication
The cost of campaign communication
The included and the excluded
2 Governing and the Drive for Effective Promotion
The all encompassing promotional culture
Does promotion translate into popularity?
The unpredictable nature of governing
The rise of metacoverage
Selling the removal of Saddam
3 Intimate Politicians: Mediated Visibility and the Erosion of Privacy
Mediated publicness: the rise of the recognisable politician
Intimacy: going behind the scenes
Disclosing and exposing the personal
Part 2: News and the Politics of Market Driven Media
4 News Organisations and the Audience for News
News audiences as citizens
Reconceptualising the role of news audiences in a period of uncertainty
Serving the voter?
5 The Media and the Populist Political Impulse
Political populism
Media and political populism
Talk radio: the voice of the people or channels of resentment?
The press and reactionary populism
Part 3: Communicative Disengagement and the Exercise of Political Voice
6 Turning On, Tuning Out?
A diverse but unequal citizenry
The interested and the disinterested
Consumption gaps
The vicious circle
7 The Rise of Self-Expressive Politics: Exercising Political Voice in a Digital Age
Opportunities for self-expression
'Let us know what you think': encouraging attitude expression
The communicating public?
The loudest and quietest voices
Conclusion
8 Political Communication in an Uncertain and Unequal Age
Bibliography
Index
