This book is dedicated to investigating the political implications of interdependent citizens within the context of the 1984 presidential election campaign as it was experienced in the metropolitan area of South Bend, Indiana. National politics is experienced locally through a series of filters unique to a particular setting. Several different themes are explored: the dynamic implications of social communication among citizens, the importance of communication networks for citizen decision-making, the exercise of citizen purpose in locating sources of information, the constraints on individual...

The idea that we are one step from calamity is as old as history itself. Every step on the road of progress has been countered by those who think that we should keep to a primitive lifestyle that they claim is compatible with nature. But despite the fact they've been proved wrong, the pessimists are undeterred by their abysmal record. Today, industrialization, genetically modified crops, scientific medicine, nuclear power, and the car are held up as harbingers of doom. Politicians and pressure groups play on this same basic fear. They scare us with tales of an inevitable global warming...