ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on questions about general perceptions of Washington's political culture, a number of melodramas of political process have also focuses more narrowly on the issue of how female candidates negotiate the political process. In the case of melodramas of political process, plotlines depict characters attempting to navigate or manage the legislative process, election campaigns, and other forms of political activity. This mode of serial melodrama focuses its attention to questions of morality. One of the most influential political dramas in American television history was The West Wing. In the case of The West Wing, the show combined cumulative storylines that took place over several episodes and often remained unresolved for months with shorter storylines that could achieve closure within a single episode. Thus, short-term storylines about political decision-making, such as Matt Santoss (Jimmy Smits) initial refusal to use negative campaign advertising, could resonate with the more extended narrative of his overall run for the presidency.
