Political Communication Cultures in Western Europe - A Comparative Study

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Barbara Pfetsch
• Subject Area: Communication Sciences
• Term: from 2007 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 34732204

The objective of the study is to analyze the attitudes, norms, and values that drive the relationship between political elites and the media and thereby detect the underlying patterns of political communication behaviors in 11 Western democracies. The orientations of actors in political communication are conceptualized as political communication culture which is seen as part of the general political culture of a country. While it is a general feature that political communication culture is to be understood as the orientations that guide the interaction between political actors and political journalists, we must note that it is related to country specific national contexts engrained in the political and media systems. It is the aim of our study to investigate the political communication culture in Germany by surveying the relevant actors. The study is part of an ESF Framework project in which in addition to Germany 10 other national political communication cultures (F, UK, NL, CH, AU, I, ES, DK, SWE, FIN) are investigated. Eventually, the aim of the study is to systematically map out the types of political communication cultures in Europe and detect similarities and differences across countries.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
• Participating Persons: Dr. Olivier Baisnée; Professor Dr. Juan Diez-Medrano; Professor Dr. Anders Esmark; Dr. Nicklas Hakanssom; Professor Dr. Otfried Jarren; Professor Dr. Gianpietro Mazzoleni; Professor Dr. Tom Moring; Professor Dr. Fritz Plasser; Professorin Dr. Katrin Voltmer; Professor Dr. Claes de Vreese