Page 35 - Comparing Media Systems THREE MODELS OF MEDIA AND POLITICS

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Introduction

PLAN OF THE BOOK
The remainder of the book is divided into three parts. Part I introduces
the theoretical framework. In Chapter 2 we propose a set of dimensions
for comparing media systems and address a number conceptual issues
that arise in relation to those dimensions. In Chapter 3 we focus on
characteristics of the political system and of sociopolitical history that
we believe are important to understanding the development of media
systems, and propose a number of hypotheses about links between po-
litical and media system characteristics. In Chapter 4 we introduce the
three models, then go on to discuss the relation of these models to more
general perspectives in social theory, particularly differentiation theory,
which – we will argue – is implicit in much communication theory that
assumestheLiberalModelasanorm,andcriticsofdifferentiationtheory,
particularly Habermas and Bourdieu.
Part II discusses the three models in detail: the Mediterranean or
Polarized Pluralist Model in Chapter 5; the North/Central European or
Democratic Corporatist Model in Chapter 6; and the North Atlantic or
Liberal Model in Chapter 7. Here we examine the historical development
and the structural and cultural logic of each system, consider how partic-
ular cases fit the general model, and attempt to establish the plausibility
of the framework we propose in Part I.
Part III concludes our study by focusing on the transformations
currently under way in media systems in Western Europe and North
America. Chapter 8 focuses on homogenization or convergence of media
systems, addressing the forces of change that are eroding the differences
among three media systems we explore here – and generally pushing
them in the direction of the Liberal Model – as well as the limits of
these forces. Chapter 8 also returns to the theoretical debate over differ-
entiation, to consider to what extent the language of “modernization”
connected to differentiation theory can serve as a framework for under-
standing media system convergence. In the concluding chapter we assess
what we have learned from this study, and what we propose for the future
of comparative analysis of media and political systems.

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