Page 100 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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Hans J. Kleinsteuber

government institution responsible for communication was founded in
the United States in 1934. Today there is (at least) one in almost every
developed political system. The fact that problems have similar origins
in many countries motivates us to study the experiences of others or
also (e.g., on regulating the Internet) work together on common appli-
cable solutions; temperance and performance accompany international
regulation research.

Public Service and Commercial Broadcasting
Twotypes of organization are known in the international develop-
ment of broadcasting: the original European public service and the pri-
vate commercial broadcasting, which had its beginnings in the United
States. When they coexist, we speak of a dual system. The complete field
of research is characterized by processes that can be described with com-
parative methods, as the European commercial suppliers applied many
concepts and specialist terminology from the United States (soap opera,
format radio, etc.). The term dual system came into existence in the
United Kingdom. Diffusion, temperance, and performance are related
catchwords.
Public service is a generic concept and is such as a result of compara-
tive processes. It describes systems in which broadcasting is produced in
¨
a kind of public trusteeship. The German Offentlich-Rechtliche Anstalten
(literally public institutions governed by law)appear to be a subcategory –
in some ways a very special one. The legal construction is only referred
to in Germany and the form of organization, Anstalt (institution), is
unique – and defies any meaningful translation. Public service first be-
came a scientific object in the United Kingdom (the first attempt at a
definition was by the Broadcasting Research Unit in 1985). Comparative
analyses show that the public service should not just be seen as a descrip-
tive concept, it always has a normative element to it in the countries
concerned (e.g., as far as the strengthening of public discourse through
public institutions is concerned) (Raboy 1996).
Dual systems can also be the object of comparative analysis. In a study
of the Bertelsmann Foundation, dual systems came under scrutiny. In
order to attain any comparability at all in this study of six countries (the
United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and
Germany),so-calledpublicinterestprogramsweredefinedasthestarting
point. In the United States public broadcasting was included, although
it only resembles public service in name (there is no public sector in
the United States). In fact, public in the United States means something

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