Media, Elections and Democracy examines campaign communication in selected industrial democracies. Klaus Schoenbach, Karen Siune, Doris Graber and a host of authors around the world contribute critical overviews of the systems in their countries. The studies deal with a wide range of issues in modern communication, including the principles and practices of news and public affairs coverage and the impact of new technologies.

This important contribution to the study of Canadian elections forcefully argues that knowledge of the dynamics at the local level is essential to a full understanding of Canadian polity, its underlying social basis, and the factors that determine successful election campaigns. As such, Parties, Candidates, and Constituency Campaigns in Canadian Elections will intrigue not only political scientists and students of Canadian politics but also election candidates and party strategists.

Mass media has become an integral part of the human experience. News travels around the world in a split second affecting people in other countries in untold ways. Although being on top of the news may be good, at least for news junkies, mass media also transmits values or the lack thereof, condenses complex events and thoughts to simplified sound bites and often ignores the essence of an event or story. The selective bibliography gathers the books and magazine literature over the previous ten years while providing access through author, title and subject indexes.

Taken together, the five studies provide a useful overview of the effectiveness of various forms of campaign communication in informing voters. Much of the material presented here is not readily available elsewhere.

Election Broadcasting in Canada explores the role of media in Canadian politics. David R. Spencer, David Hogarth, Catherine M. Bolan and others look at the history, legal framework, and difficulties in election broadcasting, as well as the impact of new broadcasting services.

The General Election of 1997 did not turn out as Jean Chretien and the Liberal Party had planned. Chretien called an early election, believing that his party was in a position to retain the majority they had won in 1993. They got their majority, but just barely. When the campaign began, the focus for many Canadians was the economy and job creation. National unity, however, quickly became a key issue, and triggered the most heated debates of the campaign. As was the case in 1993, the election of 1997 saw the country divided along regional lines. The Bloc Quebecois remained strong in Quebec, while the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats dominated the maritime provinces. The Reform Party, meanwhile, won the west in a landslide, becoming the Official Opposition for the first time. It was Ontario, however, where the election was won: the Liberals won all but two seats in Canada's largest province, and in the end that was enough to carry Jean Chretien to victory. The Canadian General Election of 1997 is a study of the key aspects of the campaign and the election itself. In addition to analyzing each party's campaign, authors examine the role of the media, pollsters, the electoral system, and the voters. Articles are contributed by some of the best-known political writers in Canada today: Anthony Westell, Stephen Clarkson, Peter Woolstencroft, Alan Whitehorn, Keith Archer, Faron Ellis, AndrBernard, Chris Dornan, Ed Greenspon, Michael Marzolini, and Louis Massicotte. This readable volume will appeal to an academic as well as a general readership, and is ideally suited for libraries and political science courses. New to this year's volume is a post-election survey by Jon Pammett.

Consequently, they argue, the institutions of democratic governance now operate in a profoundly different environment than that in which they were founded.".

This textbook is the standard authority on the government and politics of Ontario. Extensively revised and updated to reflect the early Harris era, this edition also features a new section on change and continuity in the Ontario political system.