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8 | THE PROFESSIONALISM OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

understood as part and parcel of the modern election campaign, as part of the
‘professionalised paradigm’.As Holtz-Bacha argues in this book:.
‘professionalised Paradigm’. As Holtz-Bacha argues in this book
professionalisation of political communication is a process of adaptation to, and as
such a necessary consequence of,changes in the political system on the one side and
the media system on the other and in the relationship of the two systems. These
changes follow from the modernisation of society, which is a development that is still
going on and will take place in similar political systems sooner or later.
Professionalisation in this sense is a general and not culture-bound concept. Its
actual appearance and the degree of professionalisation in a given country are
however dependent on a country’s specific social and political structures and
processes.

More generally, professionalisation can also be treated as an idea that permits us to
examine issues that go beyond the immediate concern with political communication
during elections. It can, for instance, provide a prism through which one can begin to
explore the centralisation of governmental communication, the communication
strategies of governments and interest groups (Davies, 2002; Schlesinger & Tumber,
1994) and the developing relationship between all political actors, including political
parties, candidates and social movements and the media. Nevertheless, the main focus
in this book is on political parties,candidates for political office,and governments.

Professionalisation, as understood in this book, thus refers to a process of change, in the
field of politics and communication as elsewhere, that, either explicitly or implicitly,
brings about a better and more efficient – and more studied – organisation of
resources and skills in order to achieve desired objectives, whatever they might be. In
The Professionalisation of Political Communication
effect, the idea of the professionalisation of political communication suggests a
number of things:
n It suggests the creation of a more ‘rational’ and more streamlined organisational
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structure or a more ‘appropriate’ set of practices. This could be taking place in
relation to the operation of communication facilities (a more skilful use of television,
for example), campaigning techniques (better use of polling data or better targeting
of voters, for example), the re-organisation of political parties themselves (as in
centralisation),the re-organisation of government communication systems (as in the
creation of a centralised communication directorate to co-ordinate publicity) and
even in respect of media-politics relations (as in news management techniques).This
use of the word parallels the idea, proposed by Leon Mayhew, that what we are
currently experiencing is a ‘rationalisation of persuasion’ and that the intent behind
this process is to find and utilise ‘effective means of persuasion based on research on
audiences and the organisation of systematic campaigns’(1997,p.190).
n It suggests that the process of professionalisation is ongoing and takes place within
societies that are themselves undergoing a process of modernisation. The word
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