Political Communication and Deliberation [Paperback]

John Gastil (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1412916283 | ISBN-13: 978-1412916288

"Professor Gastil has been a leading voice in the deliberative democracy movement for the last 15 years, and with this book he has created a wonderful resource that adeptly captures the broad, valuable work being done both inside and outside academia concerning public deliberation and political communication. I hope this book will help spark a whole new generation of courses focused on this critical topic." -Martín Carcasson, Colorado State University


The act of deliberation is the act of reflecting carefully on a matter and weighing the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions to a problem. It aims to arrive at a decision or judgment based not only on facts and data but also on values, emotions, and other less technical considerations. Though a solitary individual can deliberate, it more commonly means making decisions together, as a small group, an organization, or a nation. Political Communication and Deliberation takes a unique approach to the field of political communication by viewing key concepts and research through the lens of deliberative democratic theory. This is the first text to argue that communication is central to democratic self-governance primarily because of its potential to facilitate public deliberation. Thus, it offers political communication instructors a new perspective on familiar topics, and it provides those teaching courses on political deliberation with their first central textbook. This text offers students practical theory and experience, teaching them skills and giving them a more direct understanding of the various subtopics in public communication.

Companion Web site!
A dedicated Web site at www.ideliberate.org inventories everything that might be useful for instructors using Political Communication and Deliberation in their courses. Syllabi suggestions show how to use the book when teaching on a semester - or a quarter-long course, as well as a set of classroom exercises and larger projects that have been used in previous courses. Also, a wiki and forum let instructors exchange teaching ideas, links, and new content to supplement each chapter.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Political Communication and Deliberation is a groundbreaking volume. It advances our theorizing about deliberation, analyzes deliberative practices in a wide range of venues, and offers prescriptions for improving our democracy." (Robert Asen )

"In this remarkable book, Gastil shows how the concept of deliberation can be used to understand and evaluate the functioning of diverse political institutions, from elections to the media. With a superb command of diverse literatures, along with his characteristic good sense and wit, Gastil makes clear just how important talk is to a democratic society. Chock full of novel insights into political dynamics that we often take for granted, Political Communication and Deliberation will be of interest to both fledgling and seasoned students of politics."
(Francesca Polletta )

"Professor Gastil has been a leading voice in the deliberative democracy movement for the last 15 years, and with this book he has created a wonderful resource that adeptly captures the broad, valuable work being done both inside and outside academia concerning public deliberation and political communication. I hope this book will help spark a whole new generation of courses focused on this critical topic."
(Martín Carcasson )

"Political Communication and Deliberation is a thorough, thoughtful, readable, accessible, and smart book. Gastil's analyses and cases will surely spark deliberation. It is a gift to citizens, students, scholarly inquiry and the future of our democratic system." (Sharon E. Jarvis )

"The book works well as a textbook, a research summary that identifies where scholars can usefully devote their attention, and an inspiration to concerned citizens looking for realistic ways to improve democracy. Unusual in a work at the highest scholarly standards, there are even flashes of refreshing humor." (R.E. O'Connor Choice Magazine )

About the Author

John Gastil is a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington, where he specializes in political deliberation and group decision making. Prior to joining the University of Washington in 1998, Gastil received his communication Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994 and worked for three years at the University of New Mexico Institute for Public Policy.

In 1993, Gastil published Democracy in Small Groups (New Society Publishers), and he continued to explore democracy and deliberation at many levels of analysis in By Popular Demand: Revitalizing Representative Democracy through Deliberative Elections (University of California, 2000), The Deliberative Democracy Handbook: Strategies for Effective Civic Engagement in the Twenty-First Century (co-edited with Peter Levine, Jossey-Bass, 2005), and Political Communication and Deliberation (Sage, 2008).

The National Science Foundation has supported three large-scale research programs in which Gastil has served as a principal investigator. The Jury and Democracy Project rediscovered the jury system as a valuable civic educational institution. Gastil has also contributed to the Cultural Cognition Project, which explores the cultural underpinnings of attitudes toward various public policy issues. Most recently, Gastil has worked with Australian colleagues to study the flow of ideas and arguments through the Citizens’ Parliament held in Canberra in 2009.

Gastil’s scholarly articles from these and other projects have appeared in Adult Education Quarterly, Communication Theory, Harvard Law Review, Human Communication Research, Human Relations, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Communication, Journal of Public Deliberation, Political Communication, Small Group Research, and other academic journals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412916283
• ISBN-13: 978-1412916288
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Gastil (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) is Professor and Head, Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State University. He published DEMOCRACY IN SMALL GROUPS in 1993 and has since continued to explore democracy and deliberation at many levels of analysis in BY POPULAR DEMAND (2000), THE DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY HANDBOOK (co-edited with Peter Levine in 2005), and POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND DELIBERATION (2008). He also returned to the study of group behavior in THE GROUP IN SOCIETY (2010). He is also one of the co-authors of THE JURY AND DEMOCRACY (2010). The National Science Foundation has supported numerous large-scale research programs for which he has served as a principal investigator. He has also worked on campaigns for federal, state, and local office in California and New Mexico.