Everything You Think You Know About Politics...and Why You're Wrong

Here, at last, is the book for anyone who ever wondered how the media extravaganzas we call political campaigns really work. Everything You Think You Know About Politics...and Why You're Wrong explores why the American public, seemingly so eager for "unspun" information about candidates and their positions, invariably ends up feeling manipulated by our political process.Challenging the reader with strategically placed quizzes, well-known commentator on the media and politics Kathleen Hall Jamieson surveys the existing public record on voting patterns, campaign promises, and all manner of electioneering and comes up with an engaging mix of analysis, surprising factoids, and political cartoons. This book separates the facts from the convenient fictions that deter Americans from caring about the processes and outcomes of elections.

A nationally renowned expert on presidential politics, Kathleen Hall Jamieson is Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of several widely acclaimed books on American politics and is herself a frequent media commentator on "CBS News," "Weekend Edition," and "CNN's Inside Politics." She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.