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RVD. The same picture emerges from political parties. At party headquarters a team
leads the campaign, while strategic decisions are taken more and more by the party
leader together with a few trusted insiders; rapid response and one single voice are
paramount.

Both within and outside politics, its mediation has been criticised for threatening the
quality of Dutch democracy. There is little empirical evidence that interpretative
journalism is affecting the attitudes of large groups in society. The tone of political
reporting is hardly cynical, certainly not compared to the US. Moreover, there are no
indications of a causal relationship between changes in the style of political reporting –
towards commercially driven media logic – and the (minimal) increase in political
cynicism in the Netherlands in the last few years. In general, the level of trust in
institutions like parliament, political parties, the police, etc. is higher than in most other
comparable countries.

Media logic has influenced the behaviour of politicians, especially party politicians. It is
particularly they who are sensitive to incidents, disclosures and assumed scandals
highlighted by the media. It does contribute to politics’ racy image, but this is hardly a
threat to democracy.

NOTES
1. The authors are senior fellows at the Amsterdam School of Communications Research of the
University of Amsterdam. Kees Brants also holds the chair of Political Communication at From Accommodation to Professionalisation? The Changing Culture and Environment of Dutch Political Communication
Leiden University.
2. The most important were the catholic, protestant and socialist pillars, and a more loosely
structured liberal-conservative sphere.

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