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Over the past decade, scholars have turned their attention to the study of entertainment media and politics. Unfortunately, lacking any established criteria by which to evaluate satire, scholars' arguments have been judged on their own merits, with no means of assessing the validity of competing claims. Consequently, a normative theory approach to the study of political satire is essential in providing a foundation from which assessments of satire can be debated and progress in the field can take place. The normative approach to political satire offered here attempts to answer the following questions: What are the ideal functions of political satire? What role(s) should political satirists play in a democracy? Taking a critical approach, this article situates satire within narrative studies, conceptualizing satire as a type of counternarrative intended to resist entrenched accounts of how the world works. Resistance is thus a constituent feature of satire and one measure of its ideal functions. This article grapples with the consequences of these functions and with the complexities of establishing a satiric ideal within a critical framework.

"This chapter critically reflects on the state of the art in research on the political relevance of entertainment media. It is argued that most research on this important topic has been based on the ideas of understanding or consistency. While these lines of research also need to be expanded, the authors call for bringing the hedonic principle into the fold as a primary explanatory principle for the study of political entertainment media. Moreover, the chapter stresses the need to expand the range of entertainment media content/ genres/ forms that are investigated for their political influence. As an example, the authors reflect on the political influence of graphic novels in this essay. In addition, the authors highlight the importance of an international perspective and of comparative work in this area of study. Only when research expands in such a manner to include these lines of research will substantive judgments concerning the political relevance of entertainment media be forthcoming." (publisher's description)