Lynda Lee Kaid – Encyclopedia of Political Communication

Автор: Lynda Lee Kaid
Название книги: Encyclopedia of Political Communication
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Политология и Социология
Страницы: 985
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

The Encyclopedia of Political Communication discusses the major theoretical approaches to the field, including direct and limited effects theories, agenda-setting theories, sociological theories, framing and priming theories, and other past and present conceptualizations. With nearly 600 entries, this resource pays considerable attention to important political messages such as political speeches, televised political advertising, political posters and print advertising, televised political debates, and Internet sites. The audiences for political communications are also central, necessitating concentration on citizen reactions to political messages, how the general public and voters in democratic systems respond to political messages, and the effects of all types of media and message types.

Political communication began with the earliest
studies of democratic discourse by Aristotle and Plato.
However, modern political communication relies on
an interdisciplinary base that draws on concepts from
communication, political science, journalism, sociology,
psychology, history, rhetoric, and others. This
encyclopedia considers political communication from
that broad interdisciplinary perspective, encompassing
the many different roles that communication plays
in political processes in the United States and around
the world. Not limited to communication in electoral
contexts, political communication also considers the
role of communication in governing, incorporating
communication activities that influence the operation
of executive, legislative, and judicial bodies, political
parties, interest groups, political action committees,
and other participants in political processes.
This work contains discussion of the major theoretical
approaches to the field, including direct and
limited effects theories, agenda-setting theories, sociological
theories, framing and priming theories, and
other past and present conceptualizations. Considerable
attention is devoted to major sources of political
communication and to important political messages
such as political speeches, televised political advertising,
political posters and print advertising, televised
political debates, and Internet sites. The channels of
political communication encompass interpersonal and
public communication, radio, television, newspapers,
and the World Wide Web. News media coverage
and journalistic analysis of politics, political issues,
political figures, and political institutions are important
topics included. The audiences for political communications
are also central, necessitating concentration on
citizen reactions to political messages, how the general
public and voters in democratic systems respond to
political messages, and the effects of all types of media
and message types.
Whereas this encyclopedia provides information that
may be helpful in an introductory way for political communication
scholars, researchers, and graduate students,
it is also designed for libraries, undergraduates, and
members of the public with an interest in political
affairs. Media and political professionals, as well as
government officials, lobbyists, and participants in independent
political organizations, will find the volume
useful in developing a better understanding of how the
media and communication function in political settings.
In developing the list of entry terms to be included
in this encyclopedia, we consulted several sources.
First, we considered indexes and lists of topics in other
types of political communication reference materials.
These included The Handbook of Political Communication
(Nimmo & Sanders, 1981), The Handbook of
Political Communication Research (Kaid, 2004), the Communication
Yearbooks sponsored by the International
Communication Association, and major journals in
the field such as Political Communication. We also
consulted other encyclopedias on related topics, such as
the Encyclopedia of Politics (Carlisle, 2005), The
Encyclopedia of Television (Newcomb, 2004), the
Encyclopedia of Radio (Sterling & Keith, 2004), and
the Encyclopedia of Media and Politics (Schaefer &
Birkland, 2004). We further examined the indexes of
many other books and reference materials related to the
political communication discipline.
Additional advice on the headword list came from
our Advisory Board of distinguished scholars, Max
McCombs, Denis McQuail, Doris Graber, Robert
Denton, and Kathleen J. M. Haynes. Reliance on
Haynes’s expertise in library and information science,
as well as her work with Lynda Lee Kaid on the development
of the Political Commercial Archive database
(Kaid, Haynes, & Rand, 1996), allowed us to shape
the entry terms in line with Library of Congress
Subject Headings (LCSH). The nearly 600 entry terms in this encyclopedia are
comprised of four different levels. The first level contains
up to 500 words and is designed for simple concepts,
individual persons, a book or reference item, or
important political communication events or happenings
that are limited in time or scope. These include
political leaders whose political communication styles
or actions warrant description and classic books in the
field. More advanced concepts and those related to
other broader concepts in the field generally justified
entries at the second level of 1,000 words. Examples of
entries at this level include Political Disaffection; Radio,
Politics and; Citizen Journalism; and the Kennedy
Assassination. The description of a major subfield
within political communication or a concept with many
different aspects or ties to other theoretical or research
concepts called for an entry at the third level of 2,000
to 2,500 words. These included Diffusion of
Innovations, Party Identification, Political Engagement,
and Campaign Finance. Finally, the longest entries
(5,000 words) were reserved for major concepts or topics
that overlap many different areas and many different
theoretical concepts. Examples of these larger entries
include Agenda Setting, Political Advertising, Political
Information Processing, and Media Bias.
We also attempted to provide many synonyms or
alternative forms of concepts with blind entries. For
instance, a user who might be interested in civic
engagement would find that term listed with a “See
Political Engagement” notation, pointing the user to
the entry term under which civic engagement is discussed.
Similarly, a user looking for civic journalism
would find an entry directing the user to Public
Journalism. Entries also include cross-reference information
where relevant, thus also pointing the user to
other topics or headwords that might yield additional
information on the topic. Each entry term also
includes, where appropriate, a list of further readings
or references that can help a user delve more deeply
into a subject or topic.
Three other parameters are particularly important in
considering what was and was not included in the headwords
for this encyclopedia. First, it is important to
stress the importance of communication in our conceptualization.
Political topics were not included unless
they had some direct and important tie to communication
and communication processes. Consequently,
every political leader or politician was not included.
Only individuals whose communication actions
have been particularly important or about whom major
communication research or undertakings have revolved
were included. Likewise, concepts from political science
or sociology that have generated considerable
scholarship in those disciplines but have not been
advanced greatly by applications of communication
theory or research were omitted. Examples of concepts
or entities omitted on these grounds included Hegemony,
Isolationism, Political Economy, Xenophobia, and
Immigration. A second important parameter was the
time period covered. In general, this encyclopedia concentrates
on headword entries that represent the field of
political communication since the middle of the 20th
century. A few very classic and central persons and
ideas are included from earlier times, including
Aristotle and his writings, the persuasion techniques of
Machiavelli, the propaganda techniques from World
War II, and the fireside chats of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Nonetheless, important work and persons before 1950
were sometimes omitted because of the need to include
more recent and timely material.
A third parameter of this encyclopedia is its inherent
emphasis on political communication from the
point of view of the United States. There is substantial
and important research and scholarship on political
communication in international contexts. Researchers
in Western Europe, particularly in Germany, Britain,
and France, have made important contributions to
political communication theory and research. Political
communication research in Asia and in Australia and
New Zealand is expanding rapidly. Latin America and
Africa have also yielded important scholarship in
recent years, as have expanding new democracies in
the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. We have
included major developments from these areas where
published scholarship and available reference materials
yielded sufficient depth for inclusion. Nonetheless,
it is still necessary to acknowledge the dominance of
U.S. researchers and published scholarship on political
communication, and our entry terms and the treatment
of them in this volume often represent this U.S.
perspective.