Government Communication: Cases and Challenges

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This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Government communication is a curiously neglected area of discursive analysis. No considered examination of the subject exists which provides either an account of the contemporary governmental landscape or an explanation of the common and divergent themes on both a domestic and international basis. This volume aims to fill that gap, providing a concise and illuminating case-study based review of government communication. It will be divided into three sections to reflect differences in both geography and political allegiances, scrutinizing continental Europe, Anglo-American traditions and newly emerging democracies. Offering a global and thematic account, it is an indispensable resource for all students of political communication.

Reviews

This tour of how different governments communicate to press and publics is led by top scholars in the field. The authors have created a valuable sourcebook on an important and changing topic. -- Lance Bennett, Professor of Political Science and Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication, and Director for the Center for Communication & Civic Engagement, University of Washington, US
It has been about time that somebody maps the field of government communication, a field with ever increasing scientific and political importance. This book does the job and it does it theoretically as well as with a plethora of empirical data from no less than 15 countries around the world. For years to come this book will be the first stop for scholars and practitioners seeking information on what is out there and how it can be normatively assessed on blurring lines between information and advertising or spin and substance. -- Wolfgang Donsbach, Professor and Founding Director, Department of Media and Communication at Dresden University of Technology, Germany
This is a much needed and deeply thoughtful book about Government Communication. The authors have brought together a carefully selected group of comparative case studies from around the world using the Freedom House Index as the basis for choice and analysis. The result is a rich picture of the purpose, structure and process of Government Communication in different settings, or to use Canel and Sanders words, 'what it is' and 'what it does'. This seminal text plugs a gap in our knowledge and understanding in a growing area of study and as such is essential reading for both academics and practitioners. -- Anne Gregory, Professor and Director, Centre for Public Relations Studies, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
As somebody who is sometimes described as a 'spin doctor,' it is a pleasure to read a book on government communication that depicts leaders and citizenry in a relationship, rather than simply manipulation from the top. Using rich case studies in fifteen countries, Karen Sanders and Mara Jos Canel analyze the different ways governments cope with growing uncertainty in the world of politics and media and the importance of strategy and perspective over tactics and rapid response. -- Stanley Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research

Author Bio

Karen Sanders is Professor in the Faculty of Communication and Humanities, San Pablo CEU University, Madrid, Spain. She is also visiting lecturer at the University of Navarra, Spain, and teaches on their MA in Political and Corporate Communication run jointly with George Washington University, USA. Mara Jos Canel is Professor in Political Communication and Public Relations at the University Complutense of Madrid, Spain, Vice President of the Section in Political Communication of the International Association for Mass Communication Research (IAMCR) and President of ACOP Asociacin de Comunicacin Poltica. She has published nationally and internationally on government communication and related matters.