Page 225 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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StrategicPolitical Communication

Mancini (2000, 321–2), the experience is a mixed one: political reporting
and the traditional political partisanship of the media have not declined,
but political sensationalism, and the dramatization and personalization
of politics have definitely increased. A neutral distance of journalists to
political events is completely lacking. The dramatization of politics by
television, which sets the agenda of the press, implies a simplification
and exaggeration of political conflict. The effect on the citizens, how-
ever, is all but clear: it remains to be seen whether this kind of reporting
politicizes the citizens or rather incites them to withdraw from politics
altogether.

THE TRANSLATION OF THE PROBL ´ EMATIQUE
INTO A RESEARCH DESIGN

Against the background of the general trend toward an audience democ-
racy, the question of the public sphere’s role in the democratic decision-
making process is a crucial one in all liberal democracies: Under which
conditions and with what kind of success do decision makers, the media,
and challengers mobilize public opinion in order to promote their point
of view in the political process? And how are the public strategies of
the various actors related to the structural contexts of the political sys-
tems (including the media system and the party system)? It has been the
purpose of this chapter to propose a conceptual framework that may
serve as the theoretical starting point for the analysis of questions such
as these. This heuristic framework should be translated into a research
design that can constitute the basis for an internationally comparative
project.
The typology of national context that I have presented in Figure 8.3
suggests that a comparative project should include at least four coun-
tries – one representing each of the four ideal combinations of type
of democracy and accessibility of state actors (e.g., France, Italy, a
Scandinavian country, and Switzerland). Germany, as the typical in-
termediary case would be an interesting complement. One might also
think about extending the study to the new democracies of Central and
EasternEurope.Giventhatthepoliticalprocessproceedsinissue-specific
subdomains, the project design should also carefully select types of is-
sues that allow for a maximum of variation with regard to the choice
of public strategies. I would like to suggest that the distinction between
issues with an “incremental” and issues with an “eruptive” problem
structure may be a particularly promising one in the present context.

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