The Professionalisation of Political Communication

Stylianos Papathanassopoulos, Holtz-Bacha Christina, Ralph Negrine

Description

Has the communication of politics become professionalised? Who are the ‘professionals’ and what part do they play in the political process? Can the process of professionalisation be observed in different political systems? These, and related questions, about the changing nature of practices in political communication are explored in this book that looks at developments across a number of different countries. The different ways in which the idea of the professionalisation of political communication has been commonly used is explored and the authors develop a framework for understanding changing practices in political communication and in different contexts, for example, in respect of political campaigns and elections in general, and in respect of communication by governments. It is also focuses on these same themes in specific countries: Germany, France, Britain, Greece, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Sweden.

Sujets

• Communication Studies
• Political Science
• General officer
• Politics
• Media studies
• Anthropology
• Propaganda
• General
• Cultural Studies

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books Ltd
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781841509624
• Langue: English

Extrait

The European Science Foundation (ESF) is the European association of 78 national research organisations in 30 countries devoted to scientific research.
The ESF provides a common platform for its Member Organisations in order to:
Advance European Research;
Explore new directions for research at the European level.
Through its activities, the ESF serves the needs of the European research community in a global context.
T HE P ROFESSIONALISATION OF P OLITICAL C OMMUNICATION
C HANGING M EDIA, C HANGING E UROPE V OLUME 3
E DITED BY R. N EGRINE, P. M ANCINI, C. H OLTZ-BACHA AND S. P APATHANASSOPOULOS
First published in the UK in 2007 by Intellect Books, PO Box 862, Bristol BS99 1DE, UK
First published in the USA in 2007 by Intellect Books, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright 2007 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover Design: Gabriel Solomons
Copy Editor: Heather Owen
Typesetting: Mac Style, Nafferton, E. Yorkshire
ISBN 978-1-84150-159-8 / Electronic ISBN 978-1-84150-962-4 ISSN 1742-9439
Printed and bound in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press
Foreword
This volume is the product of a major programme under the title Changing Media - Changing Europe supported by the European Science Foundation (ESF). The ESF is the European association of national organisations responsible for the support of scientific research. Established in 1974, the Foundation currently has seventy-six Member Organisations (research councils, academies and other national scientific institutions) from twenty-nine countries. This programme is the first to be sponsored by both the Social Sciences and the Humanities Standing Committees of the ESF, and this unique cross-disciplinary organization reflects the very broad and central concerns which have shaped the Programme s work. As co-chairpersons of the Programme it has been our great delight to bring together many of the very best scholars from across the continent, but also across the disciplinary divides which so often fragment our work, to enable stimulating, innovative, and profoundly important debates addressed to understanding some of the most fundamental and critical aspects of contemporary social and cultural life.
The study of the media in Europe forces us to try to understand the major institutions which foster understanding and participation in modern societies. At the same time we have to recognize that these societies themselves are undergoing vital changes, as political associations and alliances, demographic structures, the worlds of work, leisure, domestic life, mobility, education, politics and communications themselves are all undergoing important transformations. Part of that understanding, of course, requires us not to be too readily seduced by the magnitude and brilliance of technological changes into assuming that social changes must comprehensively follow. A study of the changing media in Europe, therefore, is indeed a study of changing Europe. Research on media is closely linked to questions of economic and technological growth and expansion, but also to questions of public policy and the state, and more broadly to social, economic and cultural issues.
To investigate these very large debates the Programme is organised around four key questions. The first deals with the tension between citizenship and consumerism, that is the relation between media, the public sphere and the market; the challenges facing the media, cultural policy and the public service media in Europe. The second area of work focuses on the dichotomy and relation between culture and commerce, and the conflict in media policy caught between cultural aspirations and commercial imperatives. The third question deals with the problems of convergence and fragmentation in relation to the development of media technology on a global and European level. This leads to questions about the concepts of the information society, the network society etc., and to a focus on new media such as the internet and multimedia, and the impact of these new media on society, culture, and our work, education and everyday life. The fourth field of inquiry is concerned with media and cultural identities and the relationship between processes of homogenization and diversity. This explores the role of media in everyday life, questions of gender, ethnicity, lifestyle, social differences, and cultural identities in relation to both media audiences and media content.
In each of the books arising from this exciting Programme we expect readers to learn something new, but above all to be provoked into fresh thinking, understanding and inquiry, about how the media and Europe are both changing in novel, profound, and far reaching ways that bring us to the heart of research and discussion about society and culture in the twenty-first century.
Ib Bondebjerg
Peter Golding
Contents

Foreword
Papathanassopoulos, Negrine, Mancini and Holtz-Bacha
Chapter 1: Political Communication in the Era of Professionalisation
Ralph Negrine
Chapter 2: The Professionalisation of Political Communication in Europe
Ralph Negrine
Chapter 3: Professionalisation in the British Electoral and Political Context
Christina Holtz-Bacha
Chapter 4: Professionalisation of Politics in Germany
Lars W. Nord
Chapter 5: The Swedish Model Becomes Less Swedish
Kees Brants and Philip van Praag
Chapter 6: From Accommodation to Professionalisation? The Changing Culture and Environment of Dutch Political Communication
Paolo Mancini
Chapter 7: Political Professionalism in Italy
Stylianos Papathanassopoulos
Chapter 8: Political Communication and Professionalisation in Greece
Philippe J. Maarek
Chapter 9: The Evolution of French Political Communication: Reaching the Limits of Professionalisation?
Ildiko Kov ts
Chapter 10: Political Transition and the Professionalisation of Political Communication
Cees Hamelink
Chapter 11: The Professionalisation of Political Communication: Democracy at Stake?
Index
1
P OLITICAL C OMMUNICATION IN THE E RA OF P ROFESSIONALISATION
Papathanassopoulos, Negrine, Mancini and Holtz-Bacha
I NTRODUCTION
The central argument in this book is that contemporary practices in the content and conduct of political communication can be best understood when looked at in both an historical and comparative context. Rather than focus on, or become excited by, the most recent development in the conduct of political communication, be it new techniques of polling, spin doctoring , targeting or marketing, we need to develop a broader understanding of what each of these developments - singly and collectively - signifies. Furthermore, we need to do this in such a way as to begin to outline some of the common themes that permit us to understand changes in the conduct of political communication that pull together what has been, at least in the past, a fairly loose set of ideas, subjects and areas of interest.
One way in which this could be done, and we would argue should be done, is to provide a common point of focus, a common way in which we can begin to explore similarities as well as differences. That way is through the elaboration of the idea of the professionalisation of political communication.
As an idea, professionalisation - and we are fully aware of the contested nature of this word, as well as of its variants of profession, professionalisation, professionalism, and professional - allows us to identify and link up many things that should really be linked together. For example, the use of polls, the use of political consultants, practices of news management, the creation of a war room , or the use of focus groups, are probably best understood as part and parcel of the modern election campaign, as part of the 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 effect, the idea of the professionalisation of political communication suggests a number of things:
It suggests the creation of a more rational and more streamlined orga