Transcript Political Communication

Models and Definitions
Gianpietro Mazzoleni
La comunicazione politica
Chapter 2
Political communication as defined
by Wikipedia
• Political Communication is a sub-field of political
science and communication that deals with the
production, dissemination […] and effects of
information, both through media and
interpersonally, within a political context. This
includes the study of the media, the analysis of
speeches by politicians and those that are trying to
influence the political process, and formal and
informal conversations among members of the public
[…]. The media acts as bridge between government
and public.
Actors of the political
communication
• Political system
– Institutional actors: parliament, central and local
government, judiciary, head of state
– Non institutional actors: parties, social
movememnts, interest groups
• Media system
– TV, radio, press, books, cinema, new media
• Citizenship
– Single people, public opinion, electorate
“Pubblicistico-dialogico” model of
political communication
Mediatized model of political
communication
Kinds of relationship between
actors 1
1. From politics to media
1. Regulation
2. News management
3. Politics as a source
2. From politics to citizenship
1. Public communication
2. Personal relationships
3. Electoral ads
Kinds of relationship between
actors 2
1. From citizenship to politics
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Voting
Public debate
Direct relationships
Polls and surveys
2. From media to politics
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General information
Watchdog journalism
Partisan information
Mediatization
Kinds of relationship between
actors 3
1. From media to citizenship
1. General information
2. Partisan information
3. Political advertising
2. From citizenship to media
1. Exit from a TV or a journal
2. Blog, post, citizen journalism
Developments of the communication research
1 Infancy
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Rhetoric
Propaganda
Attitudes changes
Voting
Government-media relationships
Functional analysis
Technological improvements
Developments of the communication research
2 Adulthood
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Electoral communication
Political information
Political rhetoric
Information, political attitudes, and political
behaviors
Developments of the communication research
3 The European countries
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Beyond “limited effects”
The holistic perspective
Mixed approach
Taking a normative perspective in account
Interactions between media and politics
Longitudinal, long-trend analysis
Growing comparative research
The phases of the political communication
1 Since WWII to the Fifties
• Preeminence of the mass parties
• Citizens strongly identified with them
The phases of the political communication
2 From the Sixties to the Eighties
• Fading away of the party identification (or end
of ideology)
• Growing use of the TV (public and
commercial)
• Involvement of previously detached citizens
• Professionalization of the campaigning
The phases of the political communication
3 Since the Nineties
• Professional management of the relationship
with the public opinion by the spin doctors
• Infotainment as an usual practice
• Populism (as pop politics)
• Targeting
• Random exposition to political messages
The phases of the political communication
4 New tendencies
• Non monopolistic use of the ICT (Information
and Communication Technology) due to the
access to the Web
• Generalized use of the public and commercial
TV
• Changing boundaries of the citizenship