Political advocacy is not journalists’ main concern. They are chiefly in the business of gathering and disseminating the daily news, and they define themselves more by their professionalism than by their partisanship. According to McQuail (1994, 145), “The height of [journalists’] professional skill is the exercise of a practical craft, which delivers the required institutional
Deliberativeness denotes a specific quality of political communication that centers around argumentative exchange in a climate of mutual respect and civility. Empirically, deliberativeness is a variable feature of political debate or discussion. From a normative point of view, the standard of deliberativeness can be used to evaluate political communication processes and settings, and to suggest
Political economy is the study of the social relations, particularly the power relations, that mutually constitute the production, distribution, and consumption of resources, including communication resources. This formulation has a certain practical value because it calls attention to how the communication business operates, for example, how communications products move through a chain of producers such
The field of political economy is defined by a set of questions surrounding economic modes of production and their subsequent interactions with both the social and political realm. As such, its research mandate is among the broadest in the social sciences. It impacts questions not just in the disciplines of economics and political science, but
In its most basic form, political science can be defined as the study of both the institutions that form states and governments, and the political processes that animate them. The project of systematically examining both normative and positive theories of government and social relationships is an ancient one, dating back at least 3,000 years. Plato
Political scientists have delineated five “crises” that nations seem to undergo, in sequence, in their political development. Identity: People develop a national identity over and above their tribal, regional, or local identities. Bretons came to think of themselves as French and Bavarians as Germans. We see now that Uzbeks and Latvians never considered themselves “Soviets,”
The major thesis of political anthropology is that politics cannot be isolated from other subsystems of a society. Political anthropology has defined its interest in how power is put to use in a social and cultural environment. Power is defined as political influence to accomplish certain aims. Through cultural interpretation, the political culture defines certain
Political journalists, viewed through the lens of the editorial organization, are those who report on political affairs or work on the political desk. This perspective foregrounds organizational factors in news production, particularly the division of labor in the editorial process. Typical Anglo-American newsrooms make a functional distinction between news gatherers (reporters) and news processors (editors)
Political journalists, viewed through the lens of the editorial organization, are those who report on political affairs or work on the political desk. This perspective foregrounds organizational factors in news production, particularly the division of labor in the editorial process. Typical Anglo-American newsrooms make a functional distinction between news gatherers (reporters) and news processors (editors)
Political reporters gather and analyze information about current events in government and politics and broadcast their reports on radio and television stations. Newspapers and magazines also employ political reporters. For more information on careers in print journalism, see Political Columnists and Writers. Radio and television reporters, news analysts, and correspondents hold approximately 16,350 jobs in
Political scientists study the structure and theory of government, usually as part of an academic faculty. They are constantly seeking both theoretical and practical solutions to political problems. They divide their responsibilities between teaching and researching. After compiling facts, statistics, and other research, they present their analyses in reports, lectures, and journal articles. Political science
Political columnists write opinion pieces about politics and government for publication in newspapers and magazines. Some columnists work for syndicates, which are organizations that sell articles to many media at once. Political writers express, edit, promote, and interpret ideas and facts about politics and government in written form for newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and
Political speechwriters prepare speeches for individuals in the political arena. They write for politicians in all branches of government, from the local and state level to the national level, including the president of the United States. History is filled with politicians who were renowned as great orators. But what about those who helped them write
Science has never been at the forefront of political economy and usually only appears as an ”exogenous shock,” or is suppressed by an assumption within the theory of the firm of a given stock of scientific and/or technological knowledge from which firms make their choices and then employ them in producing a given volume of
One of sociology’s original and most fundamental questions is: how does the city shape social life? The answer provided by urban political economy is: as a mechanism in the accumulation of wealth, with all the power and inequality that results. ‘‘Political economy’’ generally refers to the scholarly paradigm that examines how material processes of production
To take part in the democratic process, citizens should be well informed about politics, which implies they should keep up with current affairs through the news media. Given this essential role of the media for democracy, it seems important to know to what extent and why citizens actually use political media content. While comparatively few
Political news was published in leaflets and early newspapers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, shortly after the advent of printing. However, only the cheap, mass circulation press in the nineteenth century and, most notably, radio and television about a century later made political news available to a general audience. Today, regular newscasts on many
With the advent of television, the public appearance of political processes has changed fundamentally. Television makes visual impressions of political events easily available and provides politicians with the opportunity to project an image of themselves to the general public. This is assumed to have been contributing to a personalization of politics in general, and particularly
Persuasion is an integral part of politics and a necessary component of the pursuit and exercise of power. Political persuasion is a process in which communicators try to convince other people to change their attitudes or behavior regarding a political issue through messages, in an atmosphere of free choice (Perloff 2003, 34). As the field
There is a great deal of controversy concerning the effects of mass communication on political socialization, in terms of both its size and direction. Political socialization can be understood as the processes through which democratic societies instill the proper norms among their members to maintain social institutions and practices. Most research on this topic focuses
Political symbols are entities that stand for things other than themselves, elicit responses, and assume meaning in relation to the objects, beliefs, values, or attitudes to which they refer. In the field of political science, symbols have been studied from two key approaches. Behavioralist scholars have examined the functions of symbols, tracked their appearance across
Communication is considered to be political if it relates to the exchange of messages among political actors. For example, most of what politicians do is political communication. Likewise, citizens communicate politics when they discuss political issues with friends or family members, phone in to political radio talks shows, or participate in political chats on the
Looking at political communication phenomena in a systems framework is a common approach in this field of study. The term “system,” in its general meaning, denotes a multitude of component parts, depending on each other, and functioning as a whole. The nature of the political communication system is thought of as a structure of producing
A political consultant is a paid, outside advisor to candidates, political parties, or interest groups. The rise of political consultants started in the United States when Whitaker and Baxter formed Campaign Inc. in the mid-1930s, which is considered the first political consulting firm. But while in the late 1950s only roughly thirty or forty individuals
Political cynicism is recognized as an important political sentiment. However, there is little agreement about the nature, measurement, and consequences of political cynicism. Webster’s Dictionary defines a cynic as “one who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly by self-interest. A person who expects nothing but the worst of human conduct and motives.” Cappella and
In general usage, political discourse comprises all forms of communication in and by political institutions or actors and all communication with reference to political matters. Thus, political public relations, both internal and external, news, commentary, film, talk shows, citizens’ everyday talk about politics etc. are all sites of political discourse. Different sites follow different rules
A multidimensional concept that links political cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors, political efficacy refers generally to citizens’ beliefs in their ability to influence the political system. In the half-century since its emergence, research on political efficacy has focused much on its conceptualization and operationalization. In communication research, however, scholarship has emphasized defining its antecedents and outcomes.
One of the foundational assumptions of democratic theory is that the public must be sufficiently informed about public matters in order to be capable of fulfilling their roles in making collective decisions. The centrality of an informed public in democratic theory has made the study of political knowledge integral to the study of political communication.
Political language has been studied by sociolinguists, communication scholars, political scientists, historians, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and marketing professionals. Shared assumptions across these fields are that (1) citizens come to know their political worlds through messages and symbols, and (2) political words do not have meaning in themselves; rather their meanings are a function of contexts
Political marketing arose when, in the middle of the twentieth century, the methods developed by commercial marketing specialists were adopted for political campaigning. Political marketing replaced unilateral propaganda exactly as commercial advertising has become a plain subsidiary of commercial marketing. Political marketing is considered as one of the most demanding applications of political communication research.
Political communication relates to the exchange of messages among political actors. For example, most of what politicians do is political communication. Likewise, citizens communicate politics when they discuss political issues with friends or family members, phone in to political radio talks shows, or participate in political chats on the Internet. Demonstrations and other forms of
Political parties are groups that organize to gain political office, control the governing process, mobilize majorities, organize dissent and opposition, and socialize voters. In democratic political systems parties have emerged as the natural evolution of like-minded interests organizing for political influence. Election campaigns are one major battleground on which political parties compete for influence through
Political advertising is a form of political communication that uses the mass media to promote political candidates, parties, policy issues, and/or ideas. Advertising messages are generally controlled messages allowing for direct communication with the public and voters without interpretation or filtering by news media or other sources. In the United States, where political advertising is
“Political cognitions” refers to the ability of human beings to acquire and possess political knowledge through perception, reasoning, or intuition. Citizens’ cognitions about politics come mainly from information supplied by the mass media – television, newspapers, magazines, or the Internet – because most political happenings are beyond the day-to-day experiences of citizens. Dependence on mass
Political sociology analyzes the operation of power in social life, examining the distribution and machination of power at all levels: individual, organizational, communal, national, and international. Defined thus, political science becomes a subfield of sociology. Parsons (1951), for example, treated the political as one of the four principal domains of sociological analysis. In practice, however
A little more than a decade after the demands for Black, Latino/a, and women studies on college campuses across the nation in the late 1960s, universities witnessed a new articulation of inclusion. With the rise of hate speech and racially motivated incidents on campuses in the 1980s and 1990s, universities began to find ways to