Political communication and deliberation

Abstract

This book is intended as a textbook in introductory political communication courses, especially those that focus on public deliberation. Like any textbook, it does more to survey than investigate its subject matter. And, it does this very well. It is well-written and even witty at times, and is chock-a-block with vivid examples to help students connect ideas to real world events. In its own terms, the volume is a solid contribution to overviews of American political communication. There are a few things I wish Gastil had included in the text (more on this below), but I offer these thoughts less as criticism than as a set of suggestions for future revisions. I assume that many IAP2 practitioners will never teach an introductory course in public deliberation, much less political communication. However, as someone who does, I can tell you that Gastil’s is a solid new text in a rather meager field. Most of these volumes focus on the relationship between mass media and government, and give short shrift to other topics. Also, though many are highly critical of mass mediated political communication, the grounds of their criticism are rarely made explicit much less defended. Often, the text takes students through a litany of complaints about the mass media, leaving them to understand that mass mediated political communication is just plain bad, and getting worse, but the normative basis of their criticism is rarely raised for discussion. Compared to the typical political communication textbook, Gastil’s volume is a welcome addition. In the first place, he offers a broad view of political communication. Chapters 2-5 cover traditional topics of political communication research: conversation; mass mediated deliberation, elections, and governmental communication. Gastil then adds chapters on juries, public meetings, community talk, and international communication. This is by far the most expansive view of political communication in the field. It allows students to see political communication as something more than transactions between government, media, and public