This publication is a collection of socio-political studies on the phenomenon of political communication in the 21st century and changes caused by the use of new technologies. The book explores the phenomenon of political communication in Germany, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, the USA and Zimbabwe.

Bogus?awa Dobek-Ostrowska, PhD, is Full Professor at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Wroclaw (Poland). She is founder and editor of the and president of the Polish Communication Association and member of the ECREA and the ICA. Jan Garlicki, PhD, is Full Professor at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Warsaw (Poland). His research interests include sociology of politics and political marketing. He specializes in the issues of political culture and political participation. He is member of the Polish Sociological Association PTS.

Contents: Bogus?awa Dobek-Ostrowska/Jan Garlicki: The impact of new technologies on political communication. Western patterns and the case of Poland – Barbara Pfetsch/Silke Adam: Democratic Potentials of Online Communication for Political Debate – James Moir: Mediating Politics in Scotland: Information and Ideology – Tendai Chari: Online news media and the limits of the alternative public sphere: the case of Zimbabwe – David J. Jackson/Brian Collins: Social Media, Entertainment and the Politics of Young People in the US – German Espino Sanchez: The participation of Mexican political leaders in Web 2.0 in 2011 – Ewa Krz?ta?a-Jaworska: Municipalities Mastering Social Networks. But For What? – Jakub Nowak: Political Communication, Social Media and Popular Culture: The Facebook Protest Case Study – Jürgen Wilke: Between tradition and innovation: Election campaigns for the European Parliament in Germany (1999-2009) – Jan Garlicki/Daniel Mider: The use of new media in election campaigns in Poland – Ilona Grzywi?ska: Political dialogue on Facebook - myth or reality? A case study of the Law and Justice and Civic Platform parties in Poland – Antonio Momoc: Populist candidates and social media marketing during the 2009 Romanian presidential campaign – Ewa Nowak: The news effect: Shifting salience between media and policy agenda – ?ukasz Wojciechowski/Peter Mikuláš/Katarína Fichnová: Billboards in Municipal Elections in Slovakia: Unexpected Contexts – Peter Szabo/Peter Mikuláš/Lucia Spálová: Comparative Media Discourse Analysis of a Selected Political Event in Slovakia.