Democratic politics is a collective enterprise, not simply because individual votes are counted to determine winners, but more fundamentally because the individual exercise of citizenship is an interdependent undertaking. Citizens argue with one another and they generally arrive at political decisions through processes of social interaction and deliberation. This book is dedicated to investigating the political implications of interdependent citizens within the context of the 1984 presidential campaign as it was experienced in the metropolitan area of South Bend, Indiana. Hence this is a community study in the fullest sense of the term. National politics is experienced locally through a series of filters unique to a particular setting and its consequences for the exercise of democratic citizenship.

"You want to read this book if you want to explore the fundamental tension in politics between life experienced as an individual and life experienced as a collectivity. You will want to understand the theoretical insights offered here. And you will want to understand the intellectual agenda that Huckfeldt and Sprague have pushed forward." Journal of Politics

"This is an extraordinarily powerful book...This volume displays powerful and novel insights into American politics." American Political Science Review

"With this book, the authors have presented an impressive study of social communication and its influence on political practice." Political Science Quarterly