Entertaining the Citizen: When Politics and Popular Culture Converge

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Rowman & Littlefield, 2005 - History - 181 pages
Can politics be combined with entertainment? Can political involvement and participation be fun? Politics and popular culture are converging all the time, whether it's in Arnold Schwarzenegger's election as governor of California or in political television dramas and movies like The West Wing and Dave. This book encourages readers to think about how links between entertainment and politics have the potential to rejuvenate citizenship, endorse civic values, and sustain civic commitment. Instead of discarding the popular as irrelevant or dangerous to the democratic process, Liesbet van Zoonen shows us the possibilities for increasing political knowledge and participation through the arenas of politics and popular music, political "soaps," political television dramas, and politicians as celebrities. A first-rate starting point for debate, Entertaining the Citizen will stimulate and entertain students and general readers alike.

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Contents

II
1
III
19
IV
37
V
51
VI
67
VII
85
VIII
121
X
141
XI
151
XII
175
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About the author (2005)

Liesbet van Zoonen is professor of media studies in the Amsterdam School of Communications Research at the University of Amsterdam.