The Formation of Campaign Agendas A Comparative Analysis of Party and Media Roles in Recent American and British Elections

This unusual volume seeks to accomplish three related goals: * to assess the extent and limits of media power in election campaigns * to extend the concept of media agenda-setting to include the contributions of powerful news sources in the process of election agenda formation * to evaluate the impact of national system variables (differences in political and media systems) on the balance of party and media forces in the formation of campaign agendas In the process, it searches for ways of measuring the discretionary power of the media in electoral politics, testing this in terms of the relative ability of journalists and politicians to shape election campaign agendas.

Contents: M. McCombs, Foreword. The Formation of Campaign Agendas in the United States and Britain: A Conceptual Introduction. The British and American Political Communication Systems and Election Campaigns: Cross-National Similarities and Differences. Key Features of the Comparative Research Design. The Election Agenda-Setting Roles of Television Journalists: Comparative Observation at the BBC and NBC. Influences on the Campaign Agenda in the 1984 American Presidential Election. Influences on the Campaign Agenda in the 1983 British General Election. The Formation of Television Agendas in British and American Campaigns. The Formation of Press Agendas in British and American Campaigns. In Conclusion: What Have We Learned?