When politicians attack
Subtitle: party cohesion in the media
By: Tim Groeling
Series: Communication, society and politics
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780521842099; 9780521603072
Description: "Fostering a positive brand name is the chief benefit parties provide for their members. They do this both by coordinating their activities in the legislative process and by communicating with voters. Whereas political scientists have generally focused on the former, dismissing partisan communication as cheap talk, this book argues that a party's ability to coordinate its communication has important implications for the study of politics. The macro-level institutional setting of a party's communication heavily influences that party's prospects for cohesive communication. Paradoxically, unified government presents the greatest challenge to unified communication within the president's party. As this book argues, the challenge stems primarily from two sources: the constitutional separation of powers and the intervening role of the news media. In this setting, internal disputes with the president or within the congressional majority are more likely to arise; these disputes are disproportionately likely to be featured by the news media, and stories of intra-party strife become the most credible and damaging type of partisan story"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction: singing from the same hymnbook: party cohesion in the media; 2. McParty: cohesion and the party 'brand name'; 3. Man bites president: the mediation of partisan communication; 4. Breaking the eleventh commandment: party cohesion in presidential news; 5. Life in the shadows: the president's legislative party as newsmaker; 6. When politicians attack: the political implications of partisan conflict in the media; 7. With enemies like these: the silver lining of divided government; 8. Conclusion: uncircling the firing squad: party cohesion in a new media era.