Everything You Think You Know About Politics...and Why You're Wrong - Softcover

Jamieson, Kathleen Hall

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0465036279 ISBN 13: 9780465036271

Publisher: Basic Books, 2000

Synopsis

Here, at last, is the book for anyone who ever wondered how the media extravaganzas we call political campaigns really work. Everything You Think You Know About Politics…and Why You're Wrong explores why the American public, seemingly so eager for "unspun" information about candidates and their positions, invariably ends up feeling manipulated by our political process.Challenging the reader with strategically placed quizzes, well-known commentator on the media and politics Kathleen Hall Jamieson surveys the existing public record on voting patterns, campaign promises, and all manner of electioneering and comes up with an engaging mix of analysis, surprising factoids, and political cartoons. This book separates the facts from the convenient fictions that deter Americans from caring about the processes and outcomes of elections.

About this title

About the Author

A nationally renowned expert on presidential politics, Kathleen Hall Jamieson is Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of several widely acclaimed books on American politics and is herself a frequent media commentator on "CBS News," "Weekend Edition," and "CNN's Inside Politics." She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

Although the title overstates her case, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication and savvy political commentator Jamieson (Dirty Politics, etc.) challenges much of the assumed wisdom about presidential elections. It is, she writes, a "widely held belief that politics in the United States is broken: [that] soundbites are worthless..., politicians don't keep their promises [and] campaigns are increasingly negative." This is not trueDat least, not according to her data. Based on the results of the Annenberg Campaign Mapping ProjectDa collaborative research project that examined the character of every presidential campaign since 1952 and took 10 years to completeDthe book is at once scholarly and practical. Sprinkled with explanatory sidebar tidbits, cartoons and graphs, it conveys a tremendous wealth of information in an easily digestible format. Narrowly focused chapters deal with each faulty assumption one by one (several chapters are barely two or three pages); other chaptersDincluding the one about how local TV crime coverage feeds irrational racial fearsDare remarkably in-depth and subtle. The author argues that, contrary to what the pundits say, candidate debates are informative and useful; that most presidents try to keep their campaign promises; and that campaigning hasn't gotten more attack-based over time. Although it offers no discussion of the possibility that presidential campaigning might be broken in ways other than those examined here, Jamieson's thorough and persuasive book promises to add perspective to our sense of presidential campaigning when we need it most. This is essential reading for political junkies. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

With the assistance of a team of researchers, JamiesonDwho is dean of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Packaging the PresidencyDpresents a collection of essays that empirically challenge some widespread political assumptions. The findings are extrapolated from the Annenberg Campaign Mapping Project, the most thorough investigation conducted of modern presidential campaigns, which was based on analyses of 2,535 speeches, 880 ads, and 23 debates. The author stresses the importance of campaigns: presidents work hard to keep their campaign promises, or voters will penalize them. Campaign ads are important, and negative ads are useful when they criticize an opponent's policies. Televised news is racially biased, one of her studies reveals: persons of color are more likely to be portrayed as perpetrators and whites as victims, although most crimes are intra- and not interracial. The optimistic Jamieson disputes the unsubstantiated view of a broken political system manipulated by scheming politicians who run rampant over an apathetic electorate. This scholarly yet accessible appraisal is recommended for academic and larger public libraries.DKarl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465036279
• ISBN 13: 9780465036271
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320