Page 216 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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Hanspeter Kriesi

mobilization is presumably undertaken by alternative or avant-gardist
media, which fulfill the function of communication forums for so-
cial movements and which at the same time provide a link between
these movements and the established media (Pfetsch 1986; Schmitt-Beck
1990). Under certain conditions, however, even established media can
call upon their audience to take action. An example of this is the Belgian
White March in October 1996. Based on this example, Walgrave und
Manssens (2000, 235–7) generalize the necessary conditions for such
events to occur. These conditions include a crisis situation with regard
to arelatively simple, politically neutral, highly emotional issue about
which the population’s opinion is homogeneous; a deep general distrust
of the political elite and great trust in the media.

Challengers Bottom-Up Strategies
The bottom-up strategies closely resemble the media-centered strate-
gies. The only difference is that the initiative for this kind of action does
not come from the media, but from challengers, in other words from
actors who do not have routine access to the decision-making arena or
to the established media. In order to gain access to these sites, outside
challengers may choose between two basic strategies: protest politics
and information politics: protest politics concerns the mobilization for
protest events; information politics refers to the collection of credi-
ble information and to its introduction at strategically selected points
(Keck and Sikkink 1998, 228). Early on, protest politics, that is, the stag-
ing of protest events, is likely to constitute the dominant strategy for
challengers, because they first need to attract attention to their concerns.
One should note that the distinction between challengers and decision
makers (insiders) is not a hard and fast one in everyday politics. As has
been pointed out by McCarthy, Smith, and Zald (1996, 305) and Gais
and Walker (1991), organizational resources constitute a crucial factor
in this context: The more such resources a social movement organization
has at its disposal, the more it will rely on insider tactics (such as lob-
bying, litigating, or electioneering). Nevertheless, it is still possible that
even established collective actors take the initiative to organize protest
events.
Sometimes, for example in a strike, the actions of outsiders are im-
mediately directed against their adversaries and do not take the detour
through the media. Very often, however, they try to attract the media’s
attention for a specific issue. The reports in the media about the protest
eventsshouldunleashapublicdebateandstrengthentheminorityactors’

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