Description: Is the process of political communications by the news media and by parties responsible for civic malaise? A Virtuous Circle sets out to challenge the conventional wisdom that it is. Based on a comparative examination of the role of the news media and parties in postindustrial societies, this study argues that rather than mistakenly "blaming the messenger" we need to understand and confront more deep-rooted flaws in the systems of representative democracy.
Review Quotes: "Pippa Norris takes on the received wisdom about media effects and media-induced political malaise and concludes that media critics got it backwards. Blaming television and now the Internet is just picking an easy target. Norrisa careful analysis reveals a more complex evolution of behavioral and institutional change in the US and Europe. This important and controversial book may not end the debate, but it will significantly advance our understanding of how changing media and changing politics in advanced industrial societies are intertwined." - W. Russell Neuman, University of Pennsylvania