Mediatization of Politics. Understanding the Transformation of Western Democracies

Edited by Frank Esser and Jesper Strömbäck

The first book-long analysis of the mediatization of politics, this book aims to understand the transformation of the relationship between media and politics in recent decades, and explores the linkages between mediatization and growing media autonomy, journalistic framing, media populism, political agenda-setting and new media. The mediatization of politics is defined as a long-term process through which the importance of the media and their spill-over effects on political processes, institutions, organizations and actors have increased.

As politics becomes increasingly mediatized, the role of the media becomes more important in political processes, overlaying and subsuming political logic. This affects not only the presentational aspects of politics but, it is feared, also policymaking processes. This may in turn have far-reaching implications for how well democracy works.

Against this background, “Mediatization of Politics. Understanding the Transformation of Western Democracies” brings together state-of-the-art chapters written by leading scholars in the field of political communication. It synthesizes relevant concepts and arguments, identifies core components of the mediatization paradigm and sets the agenda for subsequent work on the changing relationship between media and politics in general, and on the mediatization of politics in particular.

“This book brings together some of the leading scholars in contemporary political communication to explore the mediatization of politics. Written in a highly accessible way, it provides the reader with a critical insight into this increasingly important concept showcasing the latest theoretical reflections and empirical evidence. I have not doubt that this edited collection will become required reading for all those interested in understanding the mediatization process”.

James Stanyer, University of Loughborough, UK

For more information, see http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=760587