The Dynamics of Political Communication ― Media and Politics in a Digital Age

What impact do news and political advertising have on us? How do candidates use media to persuade us as voters? Are we informed adequately about political issues? Do twenty-first-century political communications measure up to democratic ideals? The Dynamics of Political Communication: Media and Politics in a Digital Age, Second Edition explores these issues and guides us through current political communication theories and beliefs by detailing the fluid landscape of political communication and offers us an engaging introduction to the field and a thorough tour of the discipline. Author Richard Perloff examines essential concepts in this arena, such as agenda-setting, agenda-building, framing, political socialization, and issues of bias that are part of campaign news. Designed to provide an understanding and appreciation of the principles involved in political communication along with methods of research and hypothesis testing, each chapter includes materials that challenge us by encouraging reflection on controversial matters.

Inside this second edition you’ll find:

• Expanded discussion of conceptual problems, communication complexities, and key issues in the field.
• New examples, concepts, and studies reflecting current political communication scholarship.
• The integration of technology throughout the text, reflecting its pervasive role in the political spectrum.

Accompanied by an updated companion website with resources for students and instructors, The Dynamics of Political Communication prepares you to survey the political landscape with a more critical eye, and encourages a greater understanding of the challenges and occurrences presented in this constantly evolving field.

Richard M. Perloff, Professor of Communication, Political Science, and Psychology at Cleveland State University, has a very successful persuasion textbook with Routledge, now in its sixth edition (2017), as well as an earlier scholarly text on political communication (1998). He is well-known for his scholarship on the third-person effect and theoretical integrations of media influences. A Fellow of the Midwest Association of Public Opinion Research, Perloff has been on the faculty at Cleveland State University since 1979 and served as director of the School of Communication from 2004–2011. Taking scholarship to the public arena, he has had many letters to the editor of The New York Times and op-ed columns for The Cleveland Plain Dealer. He is an inveterate follower of political communication, reading the news each day in a coffee shop following a morning swim.