"The speed of mass communications has forever altered the process of political change. CNN pierces national borders and renders old notions of sovereignty obsolete. Elites can no longer govern behind closed doors. Masses of ordinary men and women increasingly demand a voice in their own governance, stimulating movements of revolt and democracy the world over." "The inexorable march of technology, argues Michael J. O'Neill in The Roar of the Crowd, is reshaping the contours of political discourse, and the way that people think about the political processes in which they find themselves ensnared. The implications are profound; the consequences grave: Democracy is deepened even as the people are tyrannized by the sound bite. Never before have so many had access to the transmission belts of power. Through the daily avalanche of images that showers the globe, the expectations of people everywhere rise. In a world increasingly divided between haves and have-nots, images of prosperity glimpsed through the ubiquitous window of television have a revolutionary impact. The escalation of desire and the inflation of hope combine to form a particularly combustible admixture." "Michael J. O'Neill, a distinguished journalist and author, has traveled to Eastern Europe and other parts of the world to witness firsthand the radical changes that cutting-edge mass communications have wrought on politics and polities. From Tiananmen Square to the collapse of Soviet communism, mass communications has played a role that cries out for serious and thoughtful examination. Michael J. O'Neill has the boldness to tackle some of the most fundamental - and ill-understood - questions of our time. The result is a meditation with many shrewd and stimulating insights. The Roar of the Crowd is essential to understanding the shape of a future already upon us. This is an unfailingly provocative book."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved