The citizenvoter Gianpietro Mazzoleni La comunicazione politica Chapter
- Slides: 9
The citizen-voter Gianpietro Mazzoleni La comunicazione politica Chapter 9
What is public opinion? • Public opinion is based on citizenship • An opinion is a changeable predisposition due to – Schemata – Values – Group identifications
Different kinds of public opinion • General public, generally not very informed • Qualified public, a minority of well informed citizens • Active public, informed and involved • Public of voters, involved and sharing a vote intention • Latent public opinion, unclear but deep-rooted • Perceived majority, generated by the political debate
Public opinion and media 1 Media as sources of knowledge • As a starter • As an intervener • As reinforcement or distortion
Public opinion and media 2 Media as deliverers of frames
Public opinion and media 3 Media as tools for persuading • Source – Credibility – Attractiveness • Message – – – Saliency Intensity Repetitiveness Differentiation One-sidedness Ranking
Public opinion and interpersonal communication • Diadic influence: from an opinion leader to an individual • Group influence: from an opinion leader to a group • Spiral of silence: from the public opinion to an individual
The effects of political communication: first theories • Mass society and behaviorism: people can be easily manipulated • Columbia approach: theory of minimal effects • Michigan approach: party identification as a key concept
The effects of political communication: recent theories • • • Active public Dependency from the media Information processing Affective intelligence Social constructivism – Agenda setting – Framing – Priming
