Page 206 - Comparing Media Systems THREE MODELS OF MEDIA AND POLITICS

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The Three Models

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organized later. These parties built strong structures that penetrated to
the base of society, with networks of institutions that served to link them
with their members. They had strong links in many cases to other kinds
of social organizations, including trade unions, business associations,
and religious communities. They were closely tied to the major divisions
of interest and cultural identity in society – class, religion, language, and
others – and members often had strong allegiances to them. Their con-
stituencies were in important ways separate subcultures in society – in
keeping with the pattern Lorwin (1971) called segmented pluralism.
The centrality of organized social groups and political parties is re-
flected in the media systems in a number of ways. It can be seen clearly, of
course, in the role that political parties and “socially relevant groups” of-
ten play in the organization of public broadcasting and media regulation
systems. It is also manifested in the strength of journalists’ unions and
associations, which in their high membership levels and strong organi-
zation are similar to other peak associations in Democratic Corporatist
countries, and like these organizations often are incorporated into the
process of forming media policy, as well as being represented on broad-
casting councils and similar bodies. Most importantly, the centrality
of social organizations in Democratic Corporatist countries is related
to the high degree of political parallelism that has persisted through
most of the twentieth century. Newspapers, in particular, have played
important roles both internal to political subcommunities, linking the
party or the leadership of a “pillar” with its members, and external to
them, as newspapers have expressed the views of the various political
forces in the public sphere and participated in the process of bargaining
among parties and social groups that is so central to democratic cor-
poratism and to consensus government. A traditionally high prevalence
of debate, commentary, and interpretation is connected with a political
culture based on negotiation and discussion. Note here that the press
has traditionally played a role both in expressing the differences among
parties and groups and mobilizing their constituents around their sepa-
rate identities, and in facilitating the bargaining process through which
the governing process works. Concluding her comparative research on
the relationship between mass media and politics in Germany and the
United States, Pfetsch (2001: 64; see also Keman 1996) states: “political

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The oldest Socialist Party is the German (established in the 1860s). The Danish fol-
lowed in 1871. The Finnish is the youngest. As for the conservative parties the oldest
is the Finnish (established in 1907); but most appeared at the end of World War I.

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