Description
Book SynopsisThis book presents the results of systematic comparative analyses of electoral behavior and support for democracy in 13 countries on four continents. It is based on national election surveys held in old and new democracies in Europe (Germany, Britain, Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria), North and South America (the United States, Chile and Uruguay), and Asia (Hong Kong) between 1990 and 2004. It is methodologically innovative, notwithstanding the fact that its core concern with political intermediation (i.e., the flow of political information from parties and candidates to voters through the mass-communications media, membership in secondary associations, and direct, face-to-face contacts within interpersonal networks) was first introduced to the study of electoral behavior by Paul Lazarsfeld and his collaborators in the 1940s. In addition to reviving that long-neglected analytical framework, this book breaks new ground by systematically exploring the impact of socio-political v
Trade ReviewDemocracy, Intermediation, and Voting stands out as an important book. Its main strength is the wealth of empirical information about different political intermediaries and their impact on voting and on political cultural variables...[The book] represents a renewal of a political sociological tradition that has long been neglected. * Perspectives on Politics *
Table of Contents1. Introduction: Intermediation, Information, and Electoral Politics ; 2. Democracy and Intermediation: Some Attitudinal and Behavioral Dimensions ; 3. The Mass Media in Third-Wave Democracies: Gravediggers or Seedsmen of Democratic Consolidation? ; 4. Intermediation Through Secondary Associations: The Organizational Context of Electoral Behavior ; 5. The Flow of Political Information: Personal Discussants, the Media, and Partisanship ; 6. Voting and Intermediation: Informational Biases and Electoral Choices in Comparative Perspective ; 7. Value Cleavages and Partisan Conflict ; 8. Conclusions: Processes of Intermediation, Electoral Politics, and Political Support in Old and New Democracies
