This book was designed to make a contribution to our understanding of how and why people make the decisions they do at the polls. Coleman and Wu analyze a decade of research to examine how the media's image presentation of political candidates influences voting at both the aggregate and individual level.

By Renita Coleman and Denis Wu

1 The Importance of Image and Affect in Politics
2 Historical Traces and Relevant Concepts
3 The Role of Information Processing

4 The Methods Behind the Research: How We Did These Studies
5 The Two Levels of Agenda Setting: Issues and Attributes
6 Visual Cues in the Formation of Affect
7 The Valence of Affect: Accentuate the Negative or Put Your Best Foot Forward?
8 The Makeup of Affect: Emotions and Traits
9 New Media and Demographic Differences in Agenda Setting

10 An International Investigation of Affective Agendas
11 What We Now Know About Affect and Implications for Democracy