Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics (Communication, Society and Politics)

Proposing a framework for comparative analysis of the relationship between the media and the political system, this book surveys media institutions in eighteen West European and North American democracies. It identifies the principal dimensions of variation in media systems and the political variables which have shaped their evolution. It then pinpoints three major models of media systems development (the Polarized Pluralist, Democratic Corporatist and Liberal models) and explains why the media play a different role in politics in each of these systems. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 5 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Contents......Page 9 TABLES......Page 10 List of Acronyms......Page 13 Preface......Page 15 ONE Introduction......Page 19 WHY COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS?......Page 20 SCOPE OF THE STUDY......Page 24 THE LEGACY OF FOUR THEORIES OF THE PRESS......Page 25 MEDIA SYSTEM MODELS......Page 28 DO WE NEED NORMATIVE THEORIES OF THE MEDIA?......Page 31 LIMITATIONS OF DATA......Page 33 PLAN OF THE BOOK......Page 35 PART I Concepts and Models......Page 37 TWO Comparing Media Systems......Page 39 THE STRUCTURE OF MEDIA MARKETS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MASS PRESS......Page 40 POLITICAL PARALLELISM......Page 44 POLITICAL PARALLELISM IN BROADCAST GOVERNANCE AND REGULATION......Page 48 PROFESSIONALIZATION......Page 51 THE ROLE OF THE STATE......Page 59 CONCLUSION......Page 62 THREE The Political Context of Media Systems......Page 64 INTERACTION WITH ECONOMIC VARIABLES......Page 65 THE ROLE OF THE STATE......Page 67 CONSENSUS VS. MAJORITARIAN DEMOCRACY......Page 68 INDIVIDUAL VS. ORGANIZED PLURALISM; LIBERALISM VS. CORPORATISM......Page 71 RATIONAL-LEGAL AUTHORITY AND CLIENTELISM......Page 73 MODERATE VS. POLARIZED PLURALISM......Page 77 HISTORICAL ROOTS......Page 80 CONCLUSION......Page 81 THE THREE MODELS INTRODUCED......Page 84 DIFFERENTIATION AND DE-DIFFERENTIATION......Page 94 CONCLUSIONS......Page 103 PART II The Three Models......Page 105 FIVE The Mediterranean or Polarized Pluralist Model......Page 107 THE POLITICAL AND LITERARY ROOTS OF JOURNALISM......Page 108 POLITICAL PARALLELISM......Page 116 POLITICAL PARALELLISM IN PUBLIC BROADCASTING......Page 124 PROFESSIONALIZATION......Page 128 JOURNALISTIC AUTONOMY VS. INSTRUMENTALIZATION......Page 131 THE MEDIA AND THE STATE......Page 137 “SAVAGE DEREGULATION”......Page 142 POLITICAL HISTORY, STRUCTURE, AND CULTURE......Page 145 POLARIZED PLURALISM......Page 147 THE ROLE OF THE STATE......Page 151 CLIENTELISM AND RATIONAL-LEGAL AUTHORITY......Page 153 CONCLUSION......Page 156 SIX The North/Central European or Democratic Corporatist Model......Page 161 THE EARLY ROOTS OF THE PRINT PRESS......Page 164 BETWEEN MARKET AND PARTISANSHIP......Page 168 THE STATE AND THE MEDIA......Page 178 GOVERNANCE OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING......Page 183 PROFESSIONALIZATION......Page 188 THE DECLINE – AND PERSISTENCE – OF POLITICAL PARALLELISM......Page 196 POLITICAL HISTORY, STRUCTURE, AND CULTURE......Page 201 CONCLUSION......Page 213 SEVEN The North Atlantic or Liberal Model......Page 216 LIBERALISM AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMMERCIAL MASS-CIRCULATION PRESS......Page 217 POLITICAL PARALLELISM......Page 225 PROFESSIONALIZATION......Page 235 THE ROLE OF THE STATE......Page 246 GOVERNANCE OF BROADCASTING......Page 253 POLITICAL HISTORY, STRUCTURE, AND CULTURE......Page 255 MODERATE PLURALISM......Page 256 INDIVIDUALIZED PLURALISM......Page 259 MAJORITARIANISM......Page 260 RATIONAL-LEGAL AUTHORITY......Page 261 CONCLUSION......Page 264 PART III The Future of the Three Models......Page 267 THE TRIUMPH OF THE LIBERAL MODEL......Page 269 EXOGENOUS FORCES OF HOMOGENIZATION: AMERICANIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GLOBAL CULTURE OF JOURNALISM......Page 272 THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY......Page 277 ENDOGENOUS FORCES OF CHANGE: “MODERNIZATION,” SECULARIZATION, AND COMMERCIALIZATION......Page 279 MASS MEDIA AND SECULARIZATION......Page 281 MEDIA SYSTEM CHANGE: CAUSE OR EFFECT......Page 285 TELEVISION AS COMMON GROUND......Page 288 “CRITICAL EXPERTISE” IN JOURNALISM......Page 289 COMMERCIALIZATION......Page 291 THE CONSEQUENCES OF COMMERCIALIZATION......Page 295 LIMITS AND COUNTERTENDENCIES OF THE HOMOGENIZATION PROCESS......Page 300 DIFFERENTIATION AND DE-DIFFERENTIATION......Page 305 DIFFERENTIATION AND THE MARKET......Page 306 DIFFERENTIATION AND THE STATE......Page 309 DIFFERENTIATION AND POWER......Page 310 CONCLUSION......Page 312 NINE Conclusion......Page 314 Bibliography......Page 325 Index......Page 347 "This book proposes a framework for comparative analysis of the relation between the media and the political system. Building on a survey of media institutions in eighteen West European and North American democracies, Hallin and Mancini identify the principal dimensions of variation in media systems and the political variables that have shaped their evolution. They go on to identify three major models of media system development, the Polarized Pluralist, Democratic Corporatist, and Liberal models; to explain why the media have played a different role in politics in each of these systems; and to explore the force of change that are currently transforming them. It provides a key theoretical statement about the relation between media and political systems, a key statement about the methodology of comparative analysis in political communication, and a clear overview of the variety of media institutions that have developed in the West, understood within their political and historical context."--Jacket Building on a survey of media institutions in eighteen West European and North American democracies, Hallin and Mancini identify the principal dimensions of variation in media systems and the political variables which have shaped their evolution. They go on to identify three major models of media system development (the Polarized Pluralist, Democratic Corporatist and Liberal models) to explain why the media have played a different role in politics in each of these systems, and to explore the forces of change that are currently transforming them. It provides a key theoretical statement about the relation between media and political systems, a key statement about the methodology of comparative analysis in political communication and a clear overview of the variety of media institutions that have developed in the West, understood within their political and historical context. An answer to the question first raised in the classic, 'Why is the press as it is?', examining the development of media systems in eighteen Western countries, and explaining why media systems evolved differently, and how their evolution can be understood within their political and historical context.