Elements of Political Communication: Introduction – Style

Elements of Political Communication does not address most basic grammatical and stylistic issues; therefore, use the information in this wikibook as an addendum to more comprehensive style guides. Don’t obsess over obscure rules; an Internet search solves most dilemmas. If you find yourself in a situation in which you must make a choice between breaking the rules or creating an unclear or awkward message, break the rules. Some of the information in this guide may contradict or overlap with these readings, but the guidance they provide will generally apply to all forms of political communication:

  • The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 2012, 47th Edition, by the Associated Press
  • The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, by the University of Chicago Press
  • The Elements of Style, 4th Edition, by William B. Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White

Local style points for the content in this wikibook include:

  • Images or other media used are licensed under the Creative Commons or in the public domain.
  • Chapter and section names are in sentence case (only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized).
  • Chapters do not typically have their own table of contents.
  • Citations are in short form on their respective pages, but they link to full references on a separate page, which use citation templates.
  • Short form citations, which reference a full citation in the bibliography, are located at the end of their respective chapters.

Background