New directions in political communication

The field of political communica tion has witnessed unprece dented growth and change over the past decade.

And as this change occurs, scholars and re searchers are reshaping the way they view the field and are asking questions as to where the field is heading in the 1990s. Has the traditional voter persuasion paradigm been altered or replaced? If it has been replaced, what new paradigms are emerging?

New Directions in Political Communica tion addresses these questions and high lights some of the most challenging and promising directions for future research. An impressive array of scholars explores the field's broad foundations (P. Corcoran & R. Joslyn), offers examples of an in creased understanding of what messages should be viewed as "political" (M. Mansfield, M. Gurevitch, & J. Blumler), and presents commentaries and reviews of the field's current approaches and future directions (D. Swanson, D. Nimmo, & A. Johnston). In addition, the editors and con tributors have assembled an extensive bib liography of the most recent-and important research published since the Handbook of Political Communication appeared in 1981.