A Virtuous Circle

"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…