Platforms, Power, and Politics: An Introduction to Political Communication in the Digital Age

by Ulrike Klinger, Daniel Kreiss, Bruce Mutsvairo

Political communication has fundamentally transformed as digital technologies have become increasingly important in everyday life. Technology platforms have become powerful political instruments for world leaders, campaigns, social movements, journalists, and non-governmental organizations. Moreover, they are essential to how people communicate about politics, encounter and share political information, and take action to pursue their political goals. This is the first textbook to center digital platforms in understanding political communication. With global examples beyond the context of Western democracies, the text reveals how digital technologies such as social media and search engines are increasingly shaping political communication in countries around the world. It shows how the core processes of political communication are being reshaped by platforms, from how elections are contested to how issues make it onto policymaking agendas. Topics covered include public opinion, journalism, strategic communication, political parties, social movements, governance, disinformation, propaganda, populism, race, ethnicity, and democratic backsliding. Full of lively examples and pedagogical features,  Platforms, Power, and Politics  offers an exciting and innovative new approach to political communication. It is essential reading for students of political communication and an important resource for scholars, journalists, and policymakers.

288 pages, Hardcover

Published December 26, 2023

Reviews

[Courtney Tabor]

I assigned this book for my 300-level Political Communication course and it turned out to be perfect! The writing is very accessible for undergraduate students, the authors include many global examples from varying political contexts and ideologies, and it overall establishes a baseline understanding of polcomm from a contemporary technologically-informed perspective. Even as the professor of the class, I learned a lot from the book and was able to really expand my approach to teaching the topic based on the book. Huge fan!

[YUEJING]

Very nice overview of the platform research in political communication