Page 26 - An Introduction to Political Communication Third Edition

POLITICS IN THE AGE OF MEDIATION

The book also lacks, in the sections dealing with governmental
communication, substantial discussion of local (i.e. city and district,
regional and town) politics. As Bob Franklin and others have
described, local government is a sphere of political activity in which
communication is of growing importance (Franklin and Murphy,
1991; Franklin, 1994).

THE SCOPE OF THE BOOK

The study of political communication directs our attention to
the relationship between three elements in the process by which
political action is conceived and realised.

Political organisations

First, there are the political actors, narrowly defined: those individ-
uals who aspire, through organisational and institutional means, to
influence the decision-making process (see Figure 1.1). They may
seek to do this by attaining institutional political power, in govern-
ment or constituent assemblies, through which preferred policies
can be implemented. If in opposition their objectives will be to
obstruct existing power-holders, and have them replaced by
alternatives.

Political parties
This category of political actor includes, most obviously, the
established political parties: aggregates of more or less like-minded
individuals, who come together within an agreed organisational
and ideological structure to pursue common goals. These goals will
reflect the party’s underlying value system, or ideology, such as the
British Conservative Party’s adherence to ‘individual freedom’ and
the supremacy of the market; or their Labour opponents’ preference
for ‘capitalism with a human face’ and the principles of social
justice and equality. In the US the Democrats have historically been
associated with relative liberalism in social policy, and an inter-
ventionist approach to the economy, while the Republicans aspire
to reduce state involvement in all aspects of socio-economic life.
Despite the ideological differences which may exist between
political parties in modern democracies they share a commitment to
constitutional means of advancing their objectives, attempting to

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