Politicians and observers alike in Western democracies watch with growing dismay the cynicism that pervades the electorate in response seemingly to any political initiative, regardless of its merit and from whatever side of the political spectrum it may originate.All too frequently, government announcements are dismissed as just more'spin'. Meantime, the party faithful despair that media strategies have taken precedence over ideological principles;that courting the media has become more important than(or synonymous with?) serving the public interest.Although empirically demonstrated that...