Comparing Political Communication : Theories, Cases, and Challenges

Aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of comparative political communication, this volume analyzes the media systems of Europe and America. It considers whether election campaigns around the world have become "Americanized," how international news journalists understand their jobs and produce different forms of television news programs, and how governmental media relations and news management efforts evolve in different political systems. The book analyzes transnational similarities and dissimilarities in the context of their potential effects on society and democracy.

Frank Esser is Assistant Professor in the Institut fuer Publizistik at the University of Mainz, Germany. His research centers around cross-national studies of journalism and political communication. He has written articles for various journals, including the European Journal of Communications and the Harvard International Journal of Press Politics.

Barbara Pfetsch is Professor of Communication and Media Policy at the University of Hohenheim, Germany. She was a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and at the Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University. Her research interests focus on comparative analyses of political communication and the mediated public sphere.