The Politics of Misinformation
The Politics of Misinformation is a critical examination of how and
why the public has confidence in political progress and innovation
even though most change is superficial. Concentrations of social
and economic power produce illusions that create the impression of
beneficial social change while erasing the possibility of such change.
Language, bureaucratic authority, law, political parties, science, and
other social institutions help to produce images that mislead both
non-elite and elite, creating the appearance of rational democracy
while at the same time obscuring structural inequality, discouraging
critical evaluation of political policy, and thwarting involvement in
democratic politics.
Murray Edelman was emeritus professor of political science at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison and one of the most widely read
scholars of political communication in the world. He was the author
of numerous books, including The Symbolic Uses of Politics and
Constructing the Political Spectacle.
Communication, Society and Politics
Editors
W. Lance Bennett, University of Washington
Robert M. Entman, North Carolina State University
Editorial Advisory Board
Larry M. Bartels, Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,
Princeton University
Jay G. Blumler, Emeritus, University of Leeds and University of Maryland
Daniel Dayan, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris,
and Department of Media & Communications, University of Oslo
Doris A. Graber, Department of Political Science, University of Illinois
at Chicago
Paolo Mancini, Istituto di Studi Sociali, Facolta di Scienze Politiche,
Universita di Perugia and Scuola di Giornalismo Radiotelevisivo, Perugia
Pippa Norris, Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public
Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Barbara Pfetsch, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung
Philip Schlesinger, Film and Media Studies, University of Stirling
David L. Swanson, Department of Sp