Political Communication and Social Theory presents an advanced, challenging text for students and scholars of political communication and the role of media in democracies.

List of Tables and Figures Preface and Acknowledgements 1. In Search of the 'Good' Democracy: Comparing Political and Media Systems 2. Citizens, Political Representation and Parliamentary Public Spheres 3. Professionalised Parties, the Electoral Mechanism and the New Wave of Party Leaders: The Rise of David Cameron 4. The Production of Policy and News: Liquid Politics and the Working Cultures of the New Capitalism 5. Journalist-Source Relations, Mediated Reflexivity and the Politics of Politics 6. Celebrity Politics, Symbolic Communication and Media Capital in the Political Field 7. New Media and Fat Democracy: The Paradox of Online Participation 8. Politics and Communication Between the National and the Global: Determining the Boundaries and Significance of 'International Political Communication' 9. Foreign Policy-Making, War and the Disembedding of Cosmopolitan Elite Networks: The Case of Iraq 2003 10. The 'Crisis' of Politics and Communication in Ageing Democracies List of Interviewees Bibliography Index