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Comparing Political Communication

Theories, Cases, and Challenges

This volume assesses the state of the art of comparative political com-
munication research and considers potential ways in which it could and
shoulddevelop.Whilecross-nationalstudieswerelongneglected,twenty
experts from Europe and the United States offer a unique and compre-
hensive discussion of the theories, cases, and challenges of comparative
research in political communication. The first part discusses the fun-
damental themes, concepts, and methods essential in order to analyze
the effects of modernization and globalization of political communica-
tion. The second part offers a broad range of case studies that illustrate
the enormous potential of cross-national approaches in many relevant
fields of political communication. The third part paves the way for future
research by describing the most promising concepts and pressing chal-
lenges of comparative political communication. This book is intended
to introduce new students to a crucial, dynamic field as well as to deepen
advanced students’ knowledge of its principles and perspectives.

Frank Esser is Assistant Professor of Mass Communication at the Univer-
sityofMissouri,Columbia.HewasassistantprofessorattheUniversityof
Mainz, Germany, and visiting professor at the University of Oklahoma.
Hisresearch centers around cross-national studies of journalism and
political communication and has appeared in the European Journal of
Communications, American Behavioral Scientist, and 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 University and at the
Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University.
Herresearch interests focus on comparative analyses of political com-
munication and the mediated public sphere.

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