This book makes an important contribution to the study of political communication. Its chapters provide a detailed analysis of forms of media talk associated with contemporary political elections. The approach is derived from the study of broadcast media talk, which extends here to political communication on the Internet. Key topics include: changing forms of political interview, televised political debates (held in the UK for the first time in 2010), the use of multimedia in promotional discourse, and uses of the Internet to engage with voters (an approach used successfully in the Obama presidential campaigns of 2008 and 2012). In addition to chapters from the UK and USA, there are also contributions from Greece, Spain, Sweden and Austria. Accordingly this book breaks new ground, not only in its coverage of the way politics is communicated to citizens, but also its recognition that in the modern world political culture is increasingly globalised, requiring an international critical perspective.

This edited collection makes a unique contribution to analyses of the changing nature and challenges of mediated political communication, through a distinctive comparative discourse analytical approach. The book explores how politics is performed and discursively constructed in television news and current affairs in five countries (France, Greece, Italy, Sweden and the UK) and focuses on a moment in time in European politics characterized by challenging tensions; increased Euroscepticism, questioning of mainstream politics; accentuated gaps between the elite and the citizens, and polarizations between member states. Emphasising the performative and discursive dimensions of political communication, the chapters provide a detailed comparative analysis that is centred around three themes: how symbolic representations of politics are shaped by journalistic practices, genres and styles of news reporting; the language and performances of mainstream and populist political leaders; and the participation and representation of citizens' voices.

This edited collection makes a unique contribution to analyses of the changing nature and challenges of mediated political communication, through a distinctive comparative discourse analytical approach. The book explores how politics is performed and discursively constructed in television news and current affairs in five countries (France, Greece, Italy, Sweden and the UK) and focuses on a moment in time in European politics characterized by challenging tensions; increased Euroscepticism, questioning of mainstream politics; accentuated gaps between the elite and the citizens, and polarizations between member states. Emphasising the performative and discursive dimensions of political communication, the chapters provide a detailed comparative analysis that is centred around three themes: how symbolic representations of politics are shaped by journalistic practices, genres and styles of news reporting; the language and performances of mainstream and populist political leaders; and the participation and representation of citizens' voices.

Fully revised, with an updated bibliography and new, relevant illustrative examples based on work inspired by critical realism, this new edition of Explaining Society constitutes an up-to-date resource connecting methodology, theory, and empirical research. Including discussions of more recent scholarship in the field which connects critical realism with interdisciplinary research, this second edition also clarifies concepts - such as retroduction and retrodiction - so as to render them consistent with developments within critical realism, which are covered in a new chapter. An accessible account of the nature of society and social science, together with the methods used to study and explain social phenomena, Explaining Society will appeal to scholars of sociology, philosophy, and the social sciences more broadly.

This book makes an important contribution to the study of political communication. Its chapters analyse forms of media talk associated with contemporary political elections. Key topics include: changing forms of political interview, televised political debates, and the use of multimedia in promotional discourse.

Fully revised, with an updated bibliography and new, relevant illustrative examples based on work inspired by critical realism, this new edition of Explaining Society constitutes an up-to-date resource connecting methodology, theory, and empirical research. Including discussions of more recent scholarship in the field which connects critical realism with interdisciplinary research, this second edition also clarifies concepts - such as retroduction and retrodiction - so as to render them consistent with developments within critical realism, which are covered in a new chapter. An accessible account of the nature of society and social science, together with the methods used to study and explain social phenomena, Explaining Society will appeal to scholars of sociology, philosophy, and the social sciences more broadly.