Lecture on Political Communication

1. Political
Communication
Lesson 1: The Study of Political
Communication
Dr. Racidon P. Bernarte

2. Agenda
• Politics
• Political Communication
• Elements of PC
• Process of PC
• Functions of PC
• Channels of PC
• Key Players of PC
• Central themes in research on
political communication

3. Politics
• Is a process whereby a group of people,
whose opinions or interests are initially
divergent, reach collective decisions which
are generally regarded as binding on the
group, enforced as common policy (Miller,
1987)
• Politics (from Greek: Πολιτικά, politiká,
'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities
that are associated with making decisions
in groups, or other forms of power
relations among individuals, such as the
distribution of resources or status.
• The process by which people make
decision

4. Politics

5. Political
Communication
• An interactive process concerning the transmission of information among politicians, the news
media, and the public.
• Uses a combination of speeches, debates, and interviews to spread information about policies
and the government’s actions.
• Studies how political campaigns and policies are presented to citizens. It focuses on how
politicians, supporters, and other stakeholders use communication techniques to persuade others
about their points of view.
• Is a type of communication used to influence public opinion. This could be by the government,
politicians, political parties, or interest groups to reach larger audiences and persuade them to
take specific actions.

6. Political
Communication
• The creation, shaping, dissemination, processing and
effects of information within the political system—both
domestic and international—whether by governments,
other institutions, groups or individuals (American
Political Science Association).
• The interplay of communication and politics, including
the transactions that occur among citizens, between
citizens and their governments, and among officials
within governments (International Communication
Association).
• The communicative activity of citizens, individual
political figures, public and governmental institutions,
the media, political campaigns, advocacy groups and
social movements (National Communication
Association).

7. Elements of
Political
Communication

8. Political
Communication

9. Political
Communication
Process

10. Key Players in
Political
Communication
Leaders
Media
Public

11. Functions of
Political
Communication
Provides information to the public what's going on around him
Educate the public against the meaning and significant facts
Provides a platform to accommodate political issues so it can
become the discourse in shaping public opinion, and returns the
results of that opinion to the community
Create the publications addressed to Government and political
institutions
Serves as a channel so that the policies and programs of the
political institutions can be distributed to the news media.

12. Political
Communication
Channels
Mass Media
Interpersonal
Channels
Communication
Organization
Digital
Communication
and Social
Media

13. Political
Communication
Theories
• Theories of Media Effects
• Agenda-Setting Theory. Postulates a relationship
between the most often covered issues in the media
and what the audience will consider important.
• Priming Theory. Holds that when an issue tops media
agendas, voters will be encouraged to evaluate
competing parties and politicians in terms of their past
performance records or present positions on the
issues concerned.
• Framing Theory. Maintains that news interpretations
of issues—why and how they have arisen, why they
are important, and appropriate ways of dealing with
them—are capable of influencing audience members’
understandings of political reality.

14. Political
Communication
Theories
• Freshly Minted PC Theories in the Digital Era
• Theories of Voice
• Theories of Actors’ Roles,
• Holistic Perspectives
• Normative Perspectives

15. Some central
themes in
research on
political
communication
• The media coverage of politics and election campaigns: who sets the agenda, is there any
biases in the media coverage of politics, and what is the quality of political news.
• Political conversations and political language in the media
• Party campaign strategies, political ads and political rhetoric from a contemporary and
historical perspective
• The interaction between journalists, politicians, and citizens in debate programs,
interviews, and social media
• Different actors’ opinions on political communication and the democratic role of journalism
• People’s media use and the media’s influence on citizens’ beliefs, knowledge and
participation
• Media effects on public opinion and the political agenda
• The mediatization of politics and the media’s indirect and long-term influence on political
and democratic processes.
• How different social institutions adapt to the media and the logic of media
• How politics is defined and the media’s role in processes of politicization and de-
politicization
• The significance of the media in political socialization and young people’s citizenship and
social commitment