Political Communication: Rhetoric, Government, and Citizens

This award-winning book presents politics as an essentially rhetorical process, a societal conversation that is the essence of democracy. In this ongoing conversation among citizens, and between citizens and their government, issues are shaped, ideology debated, decisions formed, and public policy created.

There have been enormous political and technological changes in the world in recent years, the author notes, yet some things remain the same: for democracy to flourish, citizens must be active, critical participants in the societal conversation.

Political Communication: Rhetoric, Government, and Citizens shows how students can rise to the challenge. The book presents a basic framework for understanding major ideologies and shows how those ideologies reflect and are reflected in political argument. It draws on contemporary theory and research to explore the language choices, metaphors, and other rhetorical strategies that shape public discourse--and illustrates them with a rich array of historical and contemporary events, issues, and political commentary.

FEATURES
--presents political communication as an ongoing societal dialogue about public issues such as education, welfare, war, health care, and taxes, as well as election campaigns

--describes politics as a fundamentally rhetorical process, emphasizing language choices and their effects on how issues are defined and public policy shaped

--explores the effects of euphemisms, social myths, government secrecy and surveillance, and common metaphors on the democratic process

--emphasizes the skills and understandings necessary for citizens to take an active role in the democratic process

--provides a conceptual framework for understanding major political ideologies and how they influence perspectives and arguments

--draws examples from a broad range of historical and contemporary issues, events, and political commentary

--highlights key concepts, societal contexts, and applications by opening each chapter with a pertinent quotation and ending with questions for further consideration

FEATURES OF THE NEW EDITION
--New, up-to-date examples and analyses reflect current political issues and discourse, showing the continuing importance of concepts and principles.

--The rising significance of the Internet in politics, with its potential and limitations, is discussed in a new appendix by Candace Todd and elsewhere in the book.

--Some material has been revised to be more accessible to students and more flexible to classroom needs. (See, for example, Chapters 8 and 9, "Sexual Language and Politics" and "The Marriage Metaphor in Politics.")

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan F. Hahn is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Culture and Communication at New York University. Educated at Kansas State University (B.S.), the University of Kansas (M.A.), and the University of Arizona (Ph.D.), he is the author of more than two hundred articles, book chapters, and convention papers exploring aspects of political communication. He also is coauthor of two books, Presidential Communication: Description and Analysis (with Robert E. Denton, Jr.) and Listening for a President: A Citizen’s Campaign Methodology (with Ruth Gonchar Brennan).

Dr. Hahn has chaired the departments of communication at Queens College and Florida Atlantic University. He has served as president of the Eastern Communication Association. His recent honors include the National Speakers Association’s Outstanding Professor Award (1994), the Florida Communication Association’s Scholar of the Year Award (1995), selection for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (1996), the Eastern Communication Association’s Distinguished Service Award for lifetime contributions to the field (1996), and election as an Eastern Communication Association Research Fellow (1996) and Teaching Fellow (1997).

HONORS

The Eastern Communication Association awarded Dr. Hahn the Everett Lee Hunt Award for the first edition of Political Communication: Rhetoric, Government, and Citizens.

The first edition of this book was reviewed in H-Pol (H-Net Reviews) , Discourse & Society, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, and Public Relations Review.