The media's influence on political behavior has been a subject of scholarly investigation since the 1920s. Although readers might question the need to be aware of anything other than tge most recent research findings, many of the early studies have been of tremendous importance. In fact, their impact has been so profound, they are considered "classic" and the conclusions they articulated as well as the methods they employed influenced all who followed. Thus, we discuss each of the major perspectives as well as the general models or hypotheses that were derived fron them during the more that thirty-year period in which they dominated mass communication research.