iPolitics: Citizens, Elections, and Governing in the New Media Era

Richard L. Fox · Jennifer M. Ramos

Nov 2011 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

Politicians rely on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to exercise political power. Citizens around the world also use these tools to vent political frustrations, join political groups and organize revolutions. Political activists blog to promote candidates, solicit and coordinate financial contributions and provide opportunities for volunteers. iPolitics describes the ways in which new media innovations change how politicians and citizens engage the political arena. Among other things, contributors to this volume analyze whether the public's political knowledge has increased or decreased in the new media era, the role television still plays in the information universe, the effect bloggers have had on the debate and outcome of healthcare reform, and the manner in which political leaders should navigate the new media environment. While the majority of contributors examine new media and politics in the United States, the volume also provides a unique comparative perspective on this relationship using cases from abroad.

About the author

Richard L. Fox is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University. He is the co-author of It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office (Cambridge, 2010) and Tabloid Justice: The Criminal System in the Age of Media Frenzy, 2nd edition (2007), as well as co-editor of Gender and Election, 2nd edition (Cambridge, 2009).

Jennifer M. Ramos is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University. Her research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of political change, with an emphasis on the role of ideas, norms and identity. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, International Studies Perspectives, the Journal of Political Ideologies and Human Rights Review.