Communicating Democracy: The Media and Political Transitions

by Patrick H. O'Neil (Editor)

Ten articles look at the institutional contexts of media in seeking to understand the role that media plays in political transition periods, and the role that it can play in the future towards greater democratization in the developing world. The articles discuss that relationship in Argentina and other Latin American countries, Africa, Eastern Europe, and South Korea. Some of the issues discussed how low literacy levels lead to greater reliance on electronic media, which in turn can be more easily manipulated by authoritarian regimes; the levels of state control of media; the differences in transition outcomes between precensorship and postcensorship systems; the economic aspects of media control; and finally how the increasing globalization of mass communications affects chances for democratization in developing nations. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1998