Page 234 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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Christina Holtz-Bacha

identification is conceived as being a long-term and comparatively sta-
ble attitude. Because sociodemographic variables that are central to the
sociological approach, as introduced by Lazarsfeld and his colleagues
of the Columbia school, in some way crystalize in party identification,
one approach did not replace the other. However, the Michigan model
soon dominated research in the United States. It was also one of the
early objectives of the Michigan school to test the applicability of the
model in other countries (Miller 1994). In Europe, the sociological ap-
proach attained at least an equal place beside the Michigan model. It was
further supported by the macrosociological perspective of the cleavage
model introduced by Lipset and Rokkan (1967). The cleavage theory
traces the origins of the West European party structure back to cleav-
ages in the social structure of these countries and at the same time these
cleavages are thought to influence voter behavior. Although Anthony
Downs had already developed the rational choice model in 1957, this
approach has only recently come to compete with the Columbia and the
Michigan models. The media, however, are not given a place in any of
these models. If at all, only the rational approach conceives the media to
be an economical means to provide the information needed to make the
electoral choice.
Ever since The People’s Choice (1944) discussed the mass media as
a potential impact factor on voting behavior for the first time, media
effects research has been influenced strongly by electoral research. In
the interpretation of their findings however, Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and
Gaudet regarded the media – at that time only newspapers and radio –
as being of minor importance. Therefore the media did not find much
attention and were rather neglected in further research. It was only with
the presidential election in 1960 when the United States witnessed its
first television campaign that research turned to the media again. The
fact that the media were attributed the possibility of exerting influence
was also due to John F. Kennedy’s campaign, which was very much tai-
lored to television, and the legendary television debate between Kennedy
and Richard Nixon. As a consequence, communication research focused
more and more attention toward the question of the media’sinfluence
on the voting decision.
Withthegrowingimportanceoftelevisionduringthe1960sthemedia
also became the subject of research in Europe. In 1961, Joseph Trenaman
and Denis McQuail published Television and the Political Image, which
presented the findings of their study about the British parliamentary

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