It is often remarked that politicians’ private lives are
becoming a feature of political communication in many advanced
industrial democracies. However, there have so far been no
genuinely comparative studies examining the personalized nature of
political communication. Intimate Politics provides for the
first time a systematic comparative analysis of such developments
in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US.
Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, it
assesses the extent to which the private lives of politicians have
become a feature of political communication in each democracy. The
book provides a comprehensive account of the shifting boundaries
between the public and private, and whether any developments are
universal or more advanced in some democracies than others, and
seeks to explain why this might be. Intimate Politics will
be of great value for students and scholars of communication and
media studies and political science and is required reading for
anyone who wants a fuller understanding of the transformation of
mediated politics in advanced industrial democracies.
Spis treści
Contents
List of figures and tables
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Politicians’ Personal Lives in the Media
Spotlight
1. Soft Focus: Leaders’ Personal Lives Close-up
2. Digging for Dirt: Publicizing Politicians’ Sex Lives
3. Changing Exposure: Critical Moments and the
Uncovering of Politicians’ Infidelity
4. Transnational Revelations: Flows, Access and Control in a Global
News Environment
5. Drawing Conclusions: Intimization and Democratic Politics
Appendix: Notes on Research Methods and Indicators
References
Endnotes
O autorze
James Stanyer is senior lecturer in Media and Communication Studies at Loughborough University.