Uncivil Wars: Political Campaigns in a Media Age

Just as troublesome are his research methods. Why would anyone in a supposedly educational text cite Maureen Dowd, a fiery political commentator, as a source of information rather than opinion? Further, he cites three works by Thomas Hollihan--himself! One of the first rules of journalism I learned is if you want to maintain credibility, you cannot cite yourself.

Further irritating are the 24 pages on "cyberspace". Anyone who has a basic knowledge of the Internet and its culture will find glaring errors and oversimplifications. His definition of "netizen" as "people who use the Internet for political information and expression" is particularly laughable.

What may be worst of all, however, are inconsistencies in his basic arguments. Early in the book, he tells of the diminishing role and power of the political parties and the growing independent movement. Later, he writes on the lack of centrists, and of the increasing power of partisanship and ideological polarization.

All that having been said, there are some nuggets of information that can be seen as being of interest, but those pale in comparison to this book's glaring inconsistencies, uninformed statements, questionable writing methods, and leftist bias. I recommend this book if it is assigned as required by your professor, or if you are looking for liberal propaganda less inflammatory than "Dude, Where's My Country?" Otherwise, I would avoid this book.


A great read, accurate and well put-together   December 4, 2003
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

... but then I'm biased, as a graduate communication student of Prof Hollihan's at USC. so I declare my interest (and just think of my grades if I gave him a rating of 1). But this book does deserve its plaudits.
Hollihan's a passionate, witty rhetorician of politics. He describes the political process of campaign communication in a way which will keep you reading it. He teaches a course on it every semester or two, and I have it on good authority that he's one of the top commentators in this area.
The book isn't theory-oriented. In other words, if you want a long list of theories and how they apply to political communication then take your Roubles elsewhere. The book is well-grounded in theories and sound understanding of the processes, but, Hollihan being a pragmatist, he structures the book in ways which keep it readable rather than filing-cabinet-structured. In other words, this is a book rooted in the application of theory to actual media in the context of political campaigns. If you want to know about them and then talk intelligently or aademically about them (depending on your predilictions) then this is a fine book for you.


I read this book for a class....so here's my review   May 23, 2001
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I really enjoyed this book. Hollihan does a great job explaining the current state of politics and campaigning in the U.S. He uses very current examples to illustrate communication and political science theories, in a manner that is both informative and fun to read. I especially liked the chapters on communication technologies and campaign financing. This book is a real eye opener for people who want to know how politics has developed into a media strategy game. If you liked the Hardball book by Chris Matthews, you'll probably like this book as well.