ABSTRACT
In tightly controlled polities, both mythic and real, political authorities control mass media to present coherent, consistent, and self-and state-serving narratives that ascribe responsibility and blame; such narratives might be revised frequently during leadership shifts (think about the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984). In actual democracies the process is more complicated; all versions of causality and responsibility can be contested. Politicians try to take credit for whatever popular outcomes they can, knowing that critics, journalists, and their opponents might take them to task for straining credulity. The stakes are high, however, and the relative openness of debate generally rewards the bold.
