Political Communications and the Media

Slowly, but continuously topics of political communications and especially the mass media have entered the center stage of political science over the last two decades. Nowadays, it seems no longer conceivable to analyse the political process of European democracies without taking into account not only institutions of political intermediation like political parties, interest organizations, and social movements, but also the media of mass communication. As Walter Lippmann noted, the mass media are the sources of the 'pictures in our heads'. They provide citizens with maps of the political world, by influencing their conceptions of how it is structured, their understanding of the processes going on within this structure, and their evaluations of its elements (policies, processes, events and actors). Although the mass media are of core interest for most analyses of political communications, other subjects should not be neglected, however. Most notably, this concerns political actors which are the sources behind most of what becomes the news, and which more and more rely on techniques of strategic communication to influence how these news are designed. In producing the information about politics that becomes available to mass audiences through the press and the electronic media, political actors and media are interconnected in patterns of interaction that are characterized by both cooperation and conflict. 'New media' like the internet change these relationships and the character of political communications in various ways. While most of the literature on political communications has a clear focus on mediated communication, recent years have also seen an intensified interest in citizens' personal communication with each other, and its relevance for democratic governance. Clearly, cross-national differences are of high relevance for each of these aspects of political communications in modern democracies. The section has three major goals. Its first and foremost aim is to stimulate original new research and to take stock of new developments and trends with regard to both the theoretical and the empirical study of political communications and the mass media in Europe. Second, it is to contribute to closing evident gaps between the United States and Europe with regard to applications of some of the most advanced recent theories of political communications that are still awaiting thorough empirical testing in European contexts. Third, special emphasis should be laid on what is disctinct with regard to mass media and political communications in Europe. Comparative contributions, both between European countries and/or regions, and between European and non-European democracies, are of particular interest. Highly welcome are papers that inspect similarities and differences between established and new democracies in Europe. The section is to consist of eight panels on a variety of leading-edge topics of contemporary research into political communications and the media. Panel and paper proposals are especially encouraged that address the following core issues of political communications in Europe: The Future of Public Broadcasting in Europe. The Public Service Model of broadcasting is a distinctly European contribution to the world of broadcasting regimes. In recent decades it has come under pressure from various sides. A panel on this topic should take stock of the situation of public broadcasting in various European countries, on the trajectories its future development may take, and on the conditions that are relevant for these. Politicians and the Press: From Cooperation to an Adversary Relationship? Political actors and mass media actors are involved in a permanent struggle over the content of mediated political communications. Forms and outcomes of this struggle are to a large extent dependent on contextual conditions of countries (political cultures, institutional structures). Proposals are invited for contributions that inquire these specifities and their relevance. Papers focusing on new democracies or comparisons between old and new democracies are of particular interest. The Entertainization of Political Information. Increasingly, the distinction between political information and entertainment gets blurred in the media. Newspapers reveal trends of 'tabloidization', TV news and magazines move from a pure information towards an 'infotainment' orientation. Political actors increasingly seek to become visible to the audience not only through information programs but also through entertainment programs. A panel should explore this trend and its meaning for the quality and effects of political communications in various European countries. Political Advertising in Europe: A New Source of Influence? Many European countries are experiencing a trend towards deregulation of political advertising in the electronic media, in the direction of a more liberal, "Americanized" regime. This changes the opportunity structures for political actors with regard to persuasive communications. There a various aspects of this recent trend that should be explored in a panel, including developments of media policy on the one hand, and advertising effects and their perhaps increased importance for European campaigns, on the other. Media Effects on Public Opinion and Voting: Beyond Agenda-Setting. Recent theorizing that is well supported by empirical evidence from the United States attributes the mass media a considerable power not only to shape their audience's beliefs and cognitions, but also their attitudes, implying that their effects are not so 'minimal', after all. The panel is to stimulate new research into topics like 'priming', 'framing' and direct persuasive effects of political mass communications in Europe. Personal Communication and Its Role for Democracy: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Stimulated by recent theories and concepts of deliberative democracy, citizens' political discussions with each other have become an object of intensified scholarly interest in recent years. Several innovative studies have inquired into both the characteristics of people's personal communication about politics and its importance for political culture and democratic governance. However, so far this research originates almost exclusively from the United States. The panel is to stimulate European perspectives on this important new topic. The section is also open for proposals for both papers and panels on other topics that provide interesting new angles and promising perspectives for the study of political communications and the mass media in Europe.