Creating Consent of the Governed: A Member of Congress and the Local Media - Hardcover

Larson PhD, Assistant Professor Stephanie Greco

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0809317877 ISBN 13: 9780809317875

Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992

Synopsis

What would happen if local media provided information that elected representatives did not control that focused on political issues? This is the question that Stephanie Greco Larson asks and answers in Creating Consent of the Governed. Larson explores the role of the news media in contemporary American politics, specifically, the effect of the media on voters’ evaluations of elected representatives. Larson also asks whether the press or the public is responsible for society’s present inattention to issues.

Larson’s book is a case study of the way constituents reacted to local media coverage of Democrat Bill Nelson, representative of a congressional district in east-central Florida. The book examines the relationship between Nelson, his local press, and his constituents in order to understand the media’s role in representation. Having conducted what she terms a social experiment, Larson presents the results of a panel survey of voters that measured what voters knew about Nelson and how supportive they were of him. She highlights a number of factors of growing importance in the field of political communication. For instance, How do the media affect audience perceptions? What information will change voters’ attitudes? How does personality affect the popularity of a representative? Does good or bad news have a greater effect on voters?

Larson concludes that the media can educate voters, but because voters often do not use the information to evaluate their legislators, the media do not facilitate issue representation.

About this title

About the Author

Stephanie Greco Larson is an assistant professor of political science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has written numerous articles on media and the government.

Review

"[The book] makes an important contribution with an original and insightful perspective on a still poorly understood process."—Timothy Cook, Williams College

Edition details

• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0809317877
• ISBN 13: 9780809317875
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224