Review by Choice Review
This is a determined, detailed attempt to demolish the common belief (or smash to smithereens the straw man) that political communications by the news media, abetted by party campaigns, hinders civic engagement in the US: "learning about public affairs, trust in government, and political activism"; and that "the growth of professional political marketing by parties" has contributed "towards greater public cynicism" in Europe. Norris's weapons are a multimethod research design and triangulated sources of evidence, including content analysis, survey data, experiments, and structural trends in 29 European states. Distinguishing among the production, content, and effects of political communication, Norris looks at the transformation of the news industry and the new information environment in relation to the news media's three basic functions in representative democracy--encouraging pluralistic debate, serving as a watchdog against the abuse of power, and encouraging public learning and participation. She concludes that the process of political communication "over the long term gradually reinforces the activism of the active"; and that media malaise is "at best unproven." Not all the reams of data are essential to the argument, and the writing can be dry. Nonetheless, Norris contributes an appealing study for graduate and research collections. D. L. Paletz Duke University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
