Journal Articles

Imagining the Polity : Cinema and Television Fictions as Vernacular Theories of British Politics

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This article suggests that political fictions can play a significant role for citizens in permitting them to imagine how key processes work within polities. Using the concept of ‘vernacular theory', it explores how politicians’ behaviour, the operation of British political institutions and the country's external relations are theorised across a range of films and television programmes in the three decades since 1979. The article also attempts to account for and assess the vernacular theories observed. It concludes that while these fictions all too frequently theorise a dysfunctional political system and depict self-interested and incompetent politicians, we should not isolate or overstate the potency of vernacular theories, nor neglect the responsibilities of elected politicians in relation to their fictional counterparts.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Parliamentary Affairs

Call Number

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Publisher

Oxfordshire, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press., 2011

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

00312290

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume64, Issue 2, April 2011. Pp. 263-280

Subject(s)

British Politics
Imagining the polity

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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