ABSTRACT
A decade ago, we contributed a chapter on political communication effects (McLeod, Kosicki, & McLeod, 1994) to Bryant and Zillman’s (1994) collection of essays on media effects. In that chapter, we argued that recent developments in political communication research indicated a renewed concern for normative orientations about how social institutions “ought to” work, a concern that had been largely ignored by political communication researchers since the days of Walter Lippman (1922). Since this chapter was published, a flourish of interest in the concepts of social capital, the public sphere, social protest, and civic journalism indicate the implicit concern that many political communication researchers have for the importance of citizen participation in democratic societies. To reflect this expanded concern, the scope of this chapter has been broadened to include research on civic engagement, participation, and socialization. The value of participatory democracy, active and widespread popular participation informed by a free and responsible press, serves as an important impetus to political communication research. In reviewing political communication research, we broaden the scope beyond the individual level to macro-level concerns about the role of mass media in democratic systems. We also expand the traditional emphasis on voting research to encompass a broad conception of the antecedents and consequences of political communication.
