Core Theories of Political Communication: Foundational and Freshly Minted

Abstract

This article presents and evaluates the essential tenets of a selection of core theories of political communication that leading scholars produced before and after the advent of media abundance, digital communication, and the Internet. From the earlier Foundational Legacy period, a number of theories of media effects, conceptualizations of the politics‐media axis, and typologies for comparative analysis of political communication systems are discussed. From the digital era, a number of more freshly minted theories of voice, actors' roles, and holistic and normative perspectives are then considered. In conclusion, the article paints a largely positive picture of the state of political communication theory but also specifies certain needs for further theory development in this highly productive area of communication scholarship.

Influencia de los medios de comunicación en la conversación política en Twitter

“…All this because of the mainstream media's ability to combine online and offline presence, establishing an interrelation of a hybrid nature between these two domains (Chadwick, 2017). Social media moves traffic between conventional media and politics, news no longer travels just one-way, but instead responds to a multiplicity of roads based on reciprocal interactions (Blumler, 2015;Casero-Ripollés, Feenstra & Tormey, 2016). This whole landscape leads to the need to rethink the dynamics of media influence in the digital scenario, both in the field of political communication and within the media system itself.…”

Istraživanja uloge medija za političku participaciju

“…Politička komunikacija kao poddisciplina političke i komunikacijske znanosti bavi se višedimenzionalnim i višerazinskim procesima -odnosom političkih i medijskih sustava i političkih i medijskih institucija, odnosom politike i medijskih organizacija, strategijom, retorikom i načinom komunikacije različitih političkih aktera, odnosom novinarske profesije i politike, te na kraju medijskog posredovanja politike građanima, učincima tog posredovanja na građane, ali i medijske i političke prakse, uključujući informiranje i praćenje vijesti (Blumler 2015;Peruško, 2013). u ovoj posljednjoj karici političke komunikacije razvijena je snažna tradicija empirijskih istraživanja odnosa korištenja medija i političke participacije, političkog znanja, djelotvornosti, stavova, interesa ili povjerenja.…”

Who Is Talking? Some Remarks on Nonhuman Agency in Communication

“…Broadly speaking, the proposed approach would not align with either of the main theories in political communication (Blumler, 2015), as neither question of media effects in categories are more or less persuasive, nor the question of whether journalists or politicians "lead in this tango" (Blumler, 2015, p. 429) or whether a voice is secured, would be asked from the proposed approach.…”