Although political communication can trace its roots to the earliest classical studies of Aristotle and Plato, modern political communication research is very much an interdisciplinary field of study, drawing on concepts from communication, political science, journalism, sociology, psychology, history, rhetoric, and other fields. In their seminal Handbook of Political Communication, Nimmo and Sanders (1981) traced the development of the field as an academic discipline in the latter half of the 20th century, and other scholars have described the breadth and scope of political communication (Kaid, 1996: Swanson & Nimmo, 1990). Many definitions of political communication have been advanced, but none has gained universal acceptance. Perhaps the best is the simplest: Chaffee?s (1975) suggestion that political communication is the ?role of communication in the political process? (p. 15). The interdisciplinary nature of the field, as well as its growth and importance in the broader communication field, means that the field badly needs scholarly syntheses of its major research and theoretical findings. Not since Nimmo and Sanders? original handbook in 1981 has there been any volume that attempts to provide syntheses and overviews of the major components of the field. In 1990, Swanson and Nimmo provided a look at some new advances, but their volume made no claim to updating the major topics covered in the Nimmo and Sanders handbook. This volume provides the first opportunity in over two decades to bring together the major thrusts of research and theory in political communication.
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