Media, Elections and Democracy examines campaign communication in selected industrial democracies. Klaus Schoenbach, Karen Siune, Doris Graber and a host of authors around the world contribute critical overviews of the systems in their countries. The studies deal with a wide range of issues in modern communication, including the principles and practices of news and public affairs coverage and the impact of new technologies.
In modern democracies, election campaigns are contested to a large degree in the media. Most democracies have enacted regulations dealing with aspects of electoral communication out of concern for the legitimacy of the system. This document presents information on election communication in France; broadcasting and election communication in Britain; mass media and election campaigns in Germany; campaign communication in Scandinavia; campaign communication in Australian elections; the mass media and election campaigns in the United States of America; and mass media and elections in Canada.
Anatomy of a Liberal Victory: Making Sense of the Vote in the 2000 Canadian Election provides a compressive account of the factors that led Canadians to vote the way they did in the Fall 2000 Canadian election, which resulted in a third consecutive Liberal majority government. The book explains the overall impact that these factors had on how well or poorly each of the parties did in the election. The authors address in particular the following questions: Why was turnout so low? What were Canadians’ perceptions of the economy and how much impact did these perceptions have on vote choice? What were voters' opinions on the major issues of the day and did these opinions affect their decision on election day? What did voters think of the leaders and how much weight did these evaluations have on their choice? EOL The study is based on mass surveys, involving more than 3,000 respondents, conducted both during the campaign and after the election. It also draws on a detailed content analysis of the parties’ messages and nightly news broadcasts throughout the campaign and its aftermath. Academics please note that this is a title classified as having a restricted allocation of complimentary copies; complimentary copies remain readily available to adopters and to academics very likely to adopt this title in the coming academic year. When adoption possibilities are less strong and/or further in the future, academics are requested to purchase the title at an academic discount, with the provison that University of Toronto Press will happily refund the purchase price (with or without a receipt) if the book is indeed adopted.
Election Broadcasting in Canada explores the role of media in Canadian politics. David R. Spencer, David Hogarth, Catherine M. Bolan and others look at the history, legal framework, and difficulties in election broadcasting, as well as the impact of new broadcasting services.
The first collection of its kind, this volume assembles both well-established and up-and-coming scholars to address sizable gaps in the literature on media history in Canada.
Consequently, they argue, the institutions of democratic governance now operate in a profoundly different environment than that in which they were founded.".
This volume presents five studies on the relationship between the media and voters. Each examines some aspects of the flow of information to voters during election campaigns and all reflect the assumption that the right to vote must include the right of access and sufficient information to make an informed decision. In separate studies, Jean Crête and Robert MacDermid examine existing studies and data on the relationship between attention to media and voter information and behaviours. Both studies discuss methods for improving voter information. Televised leaders debates have become an important feature of democratic elections. Cathy Widdis Barr examines the effects of these debates on Canadian voters in 1984 and 1988, concluding that they were an important source of campaign information for less-informed voters. Robert Bernier and Denis Monière provide the most comprehensive comparative overview available on the importance of televised leaders debates and the policy issues surrounding them in democratic countries. Finally, Lyndsay Green examines the potential of new communication technologies for improving the information available to voters during campaigns, with particular attention to voters with special information needs. Taken together, the five studies provide a useful overview of the effectiveness of various forms of campaign communication in informing voters. Much of the material presented here is not readily available elsewhere.
This textbook is the standard authority on the government and politics of Ontario. Extensively revised and updated to reflect the early Harris era, this edition also features a new section on change and continuity in the Ontario political system.
