Reaffirming the measurements showing how attention to the news relates to political participation, knowledge, and trust, Pippa Norris explores that relationship and expands its definition. Based on data for countries with advanced economies, including the United States and other OECD members, she also proposes to name the relationship “a virtuous circle.” Chapters are also available for download from the Pippa Norris Web site: http://www.pippanorris.com

Francis A. Beer, University of Colorado, Boulder
Meanings of War & Peace
Presidential Rhetoric Series, No. 5
College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2001
232 pages, 9 tables, biblio., illus., 6 1/8 by 9 1/4 inches
$39.95 (cloth), ISBN 1-58544-123-6; $19.95 (paper), ISBN 1-58544-124-4.
http://www.tamu.edu/upress/

Under present conditions of armed conflict (which is war in fact, despite the lack of a congressional declaration), Francis Beer’s book examines case studies including the Gulf conflict under the previous Bush administration and the interventions in Somalia and the Balkans. His approach, similar to his previous books, grows out of rhetoric and linguistics, with an emphasis on the perspectives of cognitive and behavioral psychology.