Deliberation, the Media and Political Talk (The Iamcr Book Series)

In recent years democratic theory has taken a deliberative turn and one central question that needs to be answered is how to connect face-to-face conversations and deliberations in particular forums to broader discussions in the larger society. Working within the cutting edges of deliberative theories, this book surveys the role of the mass media in the deliberative system and investigates, through a set of empirical cases, a range of key problems in the media arena: the interplay between arguing and strategic manoeuvring; public demands for accountability; emotional appeal for deliberation; tensions between agonistic and diplomatic deliberation; and the public construction of general claims. Adopting an integrative perspective, this book also looks at how affected people use published opinions to make sense of politics and produce bottom-up reasons, in addition to media-driven or top-down discourses in the public sphere. The general aim of the book is to show that the mass media have an important place in deliberative democracy and to enrich political and media theories with new findings. About the Author <strong>Rousiley C. M. Maia</strong> is Associate Professor in the Department of Social Communication at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and the leader of the Research Group on Media and Public Sphere (EME) in this institution. She obtained her M.A and Ph.D. in politics at the University of Nottingham, UK (in 1989 and 1992 respectively), and was a visiting scholar at Boston College, USA (2010-2011).