This work examines how, in the months leading up to the French Revolution, both the royal government and its opposition relied heavily upon pamphlets to sway public opinion, and how the number of published pamphlets reached truly astounding proportions in late 1788 and early 1789.

This volume explores the relationship between politics and pamphleteering in the Dutch Republic. By analyzing the political role of pamphlets and their interplay with other media in public debates, the articles provide a new understanding of Dutch political culture.

Setting the Agenda describes the mass media’s significant and sometimes controversial role in determining which topics are at the centre of public attention and action. Although Walter Lippman captured the essence of the media’s powerful influence early in the last century with his phrase, “the world outside and the pictures in our heads,” a detailed, empirical elaboration of this agenda-setting role of the mass media did not begin until the final quarter of the 20th century. In this comprehensive book, Maxwell McCombs, one of the founding fathers of agenda-setting tradition of research, synthesizes the hundreds of scientific studies carried out on this central role of the mass media in the shaping of public opinion. Across the world, the mass media strongly influences what the pictures of public affairs "in our heads" are about. The mass media also influences the very details of those pictures. In addition to describing this media influence on what we think about and how we think about it, Setting the Agenda also discusses the sources of these media agendas, the psychological explanation for their impact on the public agenda, and the subsequent consequences for attitudes, opinions and behaviour.

A history of the printed pamphlet in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Britain.

The Reynolds Pamphlet (1797) is an essay by Alexander Hamilton. Written while Hamilton was serving as Secretary of the Treasury, the Pamphlet was intended as a defense against accusations that Hamilton had conspired with James Reynolds to misuse funds meant to cover unpaid wages to Revolutionary War veterans. Admitting to an affair with Maria, Reynolds’ wife, Hamilton claims that the accusation is nothing more than an attempt at blackmail. This revelation not only endangered Hamilton’s career as a public figure, but constituted perhaps the earliest sex scandal in American history. “The bare perusal of the letters from Reynolds and his wife is sufficient to convince my greatest enemy that there is nothing worse in the affair than an irregular and indelicate amour. For this, I bow to the just censure which it merits. I have paid pretty severely for the folly and can never recollect it without disgust and self condemnation. It might seem affectation to say more.” Accused of corruption in his role as Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton was forced to confess his adultery, bringing shame to himself as a married man and supposedly honorable public figure, yet saving his political career in the process. Looking back on his affair with Maria Reynolds from a distance of five years, Hamilton expresses regret for his foolishness, yet wholeheartedly denies her husband’s accusation that he had been involved in his scheme to misuse government funds. Perhaps the first sex scandal in American history, the Reynolds affair sent shockwaves throughout the burgeoning republic, leaving many to question the motives and character of their leaders for the first time, though certainly not the last. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Alexander Hamilton’s Reynolds Pamphlet is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

In what is widely considered the most influential book ever written by Walter Lippmann, the late journalist and social critic provides a fundamental treatise on the nature of human information and communication. The work is divided into eight parts, covering such varied issues as stereotypes, image making, and organized intelligence. The study begins with an analysis of "the world outside and the pictures in our heads", a leitmotif that starts with issues of censorship and privacy, speed, words, and clarity, and ends with a careful survey of the modern newspaper. Lippmann's conclusions are as meaningful in a world of television and computers as in the earlier period when newspapers were dominant. Public Opinion is of enduring significance for communications scholars, historians, sociologists, and political scientists. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.