Nimmo and Combs discuss the key role political analysts play, their methods and strategies, and the potential danger they pose to American democracy--by transforming it into a "punditocracy" which replaces serious citizen debate with discussion guided by show business values. Punditry, Nimmo and Combs argue, produces symbolic rather than effective healing of political ills, political paternalism rather than political reflection, and, in the end, public disenchantment with politics.