"Sound-Bite Saboteurs" examines the emergence of a multifaceted, multimedia culture that encourages the use of sound bites to silence one's opponents at the expense of democratic deliberation and debate. No simple partisan phenomenon or mere attempt to "spin" a particular issue, sound-bite sabotage is, the authors argue, a sophisticated and media-savvy effort by public and private elites to destroy the grounds of public discourse, higher education, and democratic argument. By displacing democratic debate with political spectacle, sound-bite saboteurs attempt to keep citizens more entertained but less informed, more cynical but less engaged, more adept as consumers but less adept as agents. In a broad-based and integrated analysis of this phenomenon, the authors argue that sound-bite sabotage can and must be resisted both within the classroom and beyond. This book contains the following: (1) Sound-Bite Sabotage: Illustrative Stories and Techniques; (2) Roots of Sound-Bite Sabotage: Private-Sector Leadership; (3) Conflicts as Opportunities: Public-Sector Leadership; (4) Saboteurs, Sound Bites, and Simulacra: Democratic Agency and Academic Discourse in a Digital Age; (5) The Possibilities of Engaged Cynicism: Ideals, Practice, and Citizenship in a Democracy; and (6) Public Discourse and Democratic Deliberation. Appendix, notes, works cited and index are also included.