Author Description

This Book Addresses Opinion Leadership In Democratic Politics As A Process Whereby Individuals Send And Receive Information Through Their Informally Based Networks Of Political Communication. The Analyses Are Based On A Series Of Small Group Experiments, Conducted By The Authors, Which Build On Accumulated Evidence From More Than Seventy Years Of Survey Data Regarding Political Communication Among Interdependent Actors. The Various Experimental Designs Provide An Opportunity To Assess The Nature Of The Communication Process, Both In Terms Of Increasing Citizen Expertise As Well As In Terms Of Communicating Political Biases-- 1. Experts, Activists, And Self-educating Electorates / Ahn, Huckfeldt Ryan -- 2. The Imperatives Of Interdependence / Ahn, Huckfeldt Ryan -- 3. Experts, Activists, And The Social Communication Of Political Expertise / Ahn, Huckfeldt, Mendez,osborn, Ryan -- 4. Unanimity, Discord, And Opportunities For Opinion Leadership / Ahn, Huckfeldt, Mendez And Ryan --; 5. Informational Asymmetries Among Voters / Ahn, Huckfeldt And Ryan -- 6. Expertise And Bias In Political Communication Networks / Ahn, Huckfeldt, Mayer And Ryan -- 7. Interdependence, Communication, And Calculation: Costs, Benefits And Opinion Leadership/ Ahn, Huckfeldt And Ryan -- 8. Partisanship And The Efficacy Of Social Communication In Constrained Environments /ryan -- 9. Noise, Bias, And Expertise: The Dynamics Of Becoming Informed / Huckfeldt, Pietryka And Reilly -- 10. Complex Dynamics Of Polical Communication / Huckfeldt, Pietryka And Reilly -- 11. Experts, Activists, And Democratic Prospects / Ahn, Huckfeldt And Ryan. T.k. Ahn, Robert Huckfeldt, John Barry Ryan. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.