Regional — national — supranational. How the German press covers election campaigns on different levels of the political system1

Regional — national — supranational. How the German press covers election campaigns on different levels of the political system1

Author(s): Jürgen Wilke,Melanie Leidecker / Language(s): English / Issue: 10/2013

Keywords: Germany; election campaigns; election coverage; political system; political communication; quantitative content analysis

Th e analysis of election campaigns is a long-standing tradition in communication science. Since the classic Erie County study (1944) there have been multiple studies on how the mass media cover parliamentary and presidential elections. But the studies primarily focused on elections at the national level and a growing number also at an international level. Th e role of the mass media in regional elections has been analysed considerably less oft en. One fi eld which has been neglected so far is to compare press coverage on the aforementioned three levels of the political system, namely the regional, the national, and the supranational level. Our quantitative content analyses of German newspapers (2009–2011) show if and how much election campaign coverage on these three levels diff ers. Because of these diff erences we propose to distinguish between fi rst-rate coverage (of national elections), second-rate coverage (of regional elections), and third-rate coverage (of European elections). Th e gap between these levels may result in diff erent perceptions of the campaigns by the public.

Can the Church use media communication channels? Inherent features of media communication channels relative to religious messages in the media

Can the Church use media communication channels? Inherent features of media communication channels relative to religious messages in the media

Author(s): Terézia Rončáková / Language(s): English / Issue: 10/2013

Keywords: media; religion; commerciality; agenda setting; formation

Th e present study is part of a complex research project dealing with the suitability of media language to spread religious messages. It deals with the nature of the communication channel of the mass-media. It is based on the qualitative research carried out especially by means of the methods of focus groups and Delphi Techniques. Starting with the key issue of the function of journalism, the study gradually investigates the attributes of the media communication channels according to their approach towards religious topics. Based on this criterion, the research divides media into two groups: secular and religious media. Th e study carefully investigates their internal motivation, commerciality, democratic nature and publicity, agenda setting and capacity to change people.

Editor's Introduction

Editor's Introduction

Author(s): Peter Gross / Language(s): English / Issue: 10/2013

Keywords: editors introduction

What can the history of communication studies tell us about its practical relevance in the future? The four “currencies” of academic success...

What can the history of communication studies tell us about its practical relevance in the future? The four “currencies” of academic success...

Author(s): Christian Schäfer / Language(s): English / Issue: 10/2013

Keywords: sociology of science; history of communication studies; Germany; chronolog;, reputation; practical relevance

In German-language communication studies, the long-running debate about the increasingly important practical relevance of the subject is currently being picked up once again. In this article a refl ection on the history of the subject since 1945 will be used to formulate a prediction for the possible development of the subject and the practice-related research being undertaken within it. Four basic “currencies” of academic success will be drawn upon to do this: reputation, public attention, funding, and evaluation results. Th ese assist in constructing an alternative chronology of the subject, which also demonstrates the social forces which aff ect the “currencies.” Th is leads to the conclusion that the current incentive structures for each individual scientist in communication studies could lead to a bisection of the subject. One group will orientate itself increasingly on the requirements of modern science-based society and predominantly solve practical problems, while the second group will remain more dedicated to the classic understanding of science.

STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS OF THE CROATIAN PARLIAMENT

Strukturna dinamika hrvatskog parlamenta

Author(s): Vlasta Ilišin / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: Parliament of Croatia; Croatian politics;

The article looks into the changes in the party and the social structure of the first House of the Croatian parliament (Sabor) in the transitional period. A total of twenty-six political parties have had seats in the Parliament; sixteen of them secured their place in it through a prior support of the electoral body, while ten of them secured their parliamentary status solely through individual lists. The author shows that the party fragmentation has occurred due to the process of parliamentary parties’ factioning and the transfer of delegates from the parliamentary into the non-parliamentary parties. The degree of the party fragmentation in the Sabor is considered moderate and not disruptive for the functioning of the Parliament. This is due to the continued and stupendous mandate dominance of the majority party and to the fact that the party fragmentation has primarily involved the opposition parties. An analysis of the social/demographic characteristics of the representatives has shown that the Sabor is dominated by male, college-educated, forty-eight years old Croats with a bit more than four years of parliamentary experience. The educational structure of the Sabor does not differ much from other European parliaments, but the number of senior representatives is somewhat higher than in other European countries, while the share of women is lamentably under all democratic standards. It has been suggested that the most effective strategy the Croatian parliamentary political parties could employ regarding the gender and age representation are internally determined quotas for women and young people on their candidates’ lists for elections. This would indirectly influence the social structure and the level of democracy of the Croatian parliament.

FIFTY YEARS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Pola stoljeća Narodne Republike Kine

Author(s): Ksenija Jurišić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: China's place in today’s world; China;

Taking into consideration all the benefits and pitfalls of its political, economic, military, and cultural legacies, the People’s Republic of China has adopted a policy of reliance on rapid economic growth and improvement of the standard of living, conducive to political and social stability of Chinese society and state. This goal has been accomplished only temporarily and partially, while the final result primarily depends on the ability of the Chinese leadership to find the golden mean between the two opposites: the closed political system and the need to maintain an open economy. In its search for a place in today’s world, the People’s Republic of China is faced with the central choice of the equitable participation in global community: full acceptance of its mechanisms and principles (beginning with the United Nations) and international trade norms, the protection of human rights, armament control, environmental protection and so on. However, the Chinese see in this a threat of the erosion of Chinese independence and the possibility of choice and political independence of the Chinese state.

SCEPTICAL GENERATION IN COUNTER-MODERNIZING CONTEXT

Skeptična generacija u protumodernizacijskom kontekstu

Author(s): Inga Tomić-Koludrović / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

The context of the development of the Croatian society after the decay of the socialist structures is burdened not only by the processes specific for all postsocialist countries such as the loss of the traditional securities or the renaissance of the “desintegrating capitalism” (Beck, 1994, 479), but with the specific post war processes. Since it results with the complex mediation between the individual and collective behaviours the young people of the nineties in Croatia have found themselves in an ambivalent situation. Finding themselves in the gap between the wish for security and the possibilities for development they can hardly develop self functioning ways of achieving the material, cultural and biographical resources. Sceptical towards their own future they primarily tend to provide for their everyday basic needs and declare themselves as nonpolitical, interested only in themselves, their private space and free time.

POLITICAL SUPPORT FOR POLITICAL SYSTEM

Politička kultura: politička potpora (legitimacija, povjerenje, identitet)

Author(s): Vladimir Vujčić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

The author analyzes the types of support for political system. His analysis shows that there are three basic types of political support (to the national identity and pride, to the legitimation and to confidence) which correspond to the three basic units of political system (political community, political government/regime, and authorities). Each form of support serves to maintain the political regime on the whole, but each is independent of the others – or the influence solely goes one way: from the lower to the higher forms of support (from confidence via legitimation and to political identity). While the higher forms of support are primarily abstract, normative and affective in their nature, the lower forms are mostly empirical, instrumental, and cognitive in their definition. In the future, citizens are going to increasingly appraise political systems on the whole according to the totality of their performances i.e. according to their evaluation of how and how much a system meets their needs, demands, and expectations. This will broaden the meaning of legitimation; it will no longer refer to the validity of a system (its procedurality) but to its efficacy as well. This will make life more difficult and complex for those in the position of power. These types of confidence warrant empirical research in order to determine their level, etiology, and functionality.

EU’S AGRARIAN POLICY ON THE EVE OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM

Agrarna politika Europske unije na pragu trećeg tisućljeća

Author(s): Pavle Mihalj / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: EU agrarian policy; agriculture and subsidies;

EU’s agrarian policy has always been – and remains – a complex issue of the Union’s overall economic policy. Although agrarian policy was at first central for the Union and served as a cohesive and integrating factor, in time it became a bone of contention, a source of conflicts and feuding within the Union. Solving the problem of agrarian policy on the eve of the third millennium is one of the Union’s priorities. The problems of agricultural subsidies in the Union, its eastern expansion and the demands of the WTO, are far from being easy tasks. Besides, agrarian policy is not solely an economic matter, but also a social (particularly rural), ecological, cultural, and political problem. The problem of agriculture has always been considered a political problem and resolved as such. Agrarna politika Europske unije izrazito je složen problem, kako jucer i danas tako i ukupne gospodarske politike Unije. I koliko god je agrarna politika u pocetku funkcioniranja Zajednice zauzimala stožerno mjesto i bila jedan od kohezionih cinitelja integracije, s vremenom je postala kamenom spoticanja, izvorom sukobljavanja i sporenja unutar Zajednice/Unije. Rješenje problema agrarne politike na pragu treceg tisucljeca izazov je Uniji na koji ona mora naci zadovoljavajuci odgovor. Problemi daljnjeg subvencioniranja poljoprivrede u Uniji, širenje na istok i zahtjevi koje postavlja Svjetska trgovinska organizacija, daleko su od toga da budu relativno lako rješivi. Osim toga, agrarna politika nije više samo gospodarski problem. Ona je ništa manje socijalni, osobito ruralni, ekološki, kulturološki i, dakako, politicki problem. Jer, problem poljoprivrede uvijek se i rješavao kao politicki problem.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Author(s): Lidija Čehulić,Tvrtko Kulenović,Lidija Kos-Stanišić,Vlasta Ilišin / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: Mirjana Kasapovic; Ivan Šiber; Nenad Zakošek; Vladimir Tismaneanu; Frane Petric; Stanko Nick;

Mirjana Kasapovic – Ivan Šiber – Nenad Zakošek, Biraci i demokracija. Utjecaj ideoloških rascjepa na politicki život, Alinea, Zagreb, 1998 Stanko Nick, Diplomatski leksikon, Barbat, Zagreb, 1999 Hough Poulton – Suha Taji Farouki, Muslim Identity and the Balkan State, London: Hurst & Company. 1997 Vladimir Tismaneanu (ur.), The revolutions of 1989, Routledge; London & New York 1999 Frane Petric, Izabrani politicki spisi, Golden marketing i Narodne novine, Zagreb, 1998

THEORIES OF TRANSFORMATION: DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION OF POST-AUTHORITARIAN SOCIETIES

Teorije transformacije: demokratska konsolidacija postautoritarnih društava

Author(s): Wolfgang Merkel / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: Democratic consolidation; post-authoritarian societies; post-totalitarian societies;

Democratic consolidation of post-authoritarian and post-totalitarian societies is looked into at the levels of (1) basic political institutions; (2) chief proponents of representative democracy (political parties and interest associations); (3) behaviour of powerful informal political actors (army, church, entrepreneurs, etc); and (4) civic culture. Democracy is stable only after it has been consolidated on all four levels. This “maximalist concept” of democratic consolidation excludes the explanation of a breakdown of democratic systems by voluntaristic and nonconceptualized descriptions of “deconsolidation”.

“WORLD GOVERNMENT” AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOLLOWING THE DEMISE OF THE INHERITED “NATIONAL STATE”

“Svjetska državnost” i ljudska prava nakon kraja naslijeđene “nacionalne države”

Author(s): Matthias Lutz-Bachmann / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: Jean-Marie Guéhenno; Helmut Willke; national state and globalisation;

The author analyzes the interpretations by Jean-Marie Guéhenno and Helmut Willke of the end of the national state within the context of contemporary debates on globalisation. The author thinks that in their analyses both authors have come up with similar insights, particularly those regarding the assessment of the functional role which may be analytically attributed to the national state in the present and the future. Although their observations coincide with the debates on globalisation going on in political economy and political science, their conclusions are not in line with the special structure of political activity. Unlike their state/theoretical “hegelianism” (Guéhenno) and system theory functional definition of government activity (Willke), the author looks into the contemporary operation of the state from the legal/philosophical perspective.

POLITICAL ECONOMY OF COLLECTIVE DECISION-MAKING: BUCHANAN’S AND TULLOCK’S CONTRIBUTION

Politička ekonomija kolektivnog odlučivanja: doprinos Buchanana i Tullocka

Author(s): Zdravko Petak / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: James Buchanan; Gordon Tullock;

The author looks into the methodological features of public choice theory. On the example of James Buchanan’s contribution, he demonstrates the differences between that kind of approach (often dubbed political economy) versus welfare economics and mainstream economics. Unlike welfare economics, which tries to work out the optimal state of allocation and distribution of economic resources by using certain logical rules based on Pareto’s principles, or mainstream economics, which tries to identify the improvements in observable economic categories (such as national income or investment consumption), political economy encompasses the process of collective decision-making i.e. politics. In this, the efficacy criterion is the extent of consent (consensus) in collective decision-making. On the example of Buchanan’s and Tullock’s joint contribution in the book The Calculus of Consent, the author concludes that this paved the way for introducing a legitimate categorial mechanism for investigating the costs of political decision-making into political science.

THE BALTIC STATES: ON THE THRESHOLD OF EURO-ATLANTIC INTEGRATIONS

Približavanje baltičkih zemalja euroatlantskim integracijama

Author(s): Lidija Čehulić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: Baltics between Russia and EU;

Due to their strategic position, the Baltic peoples throughout their history have always been a kind of a buffer-zone, which has to a large extent affected their development. In the new European environment, the Baltic region is today somewhat marginalized, but because of its proximity to Russia it has an important strategic position. They want to join NATO and the EU because the Baltic states in this see a guarantee of their security and stability. This may also be an opportunity for solving the very delicate relationship with Russia, still an important actor influencing the Baltic states.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNICOLOGY AND JOURNALISM

Odnos komunikologije i novinarstva

Author(s): Marko Sapunar / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: philosophy of communication; media theory;

This article deals with an analysis of the relations among communicology, novitology, and journalism as the practice of public communication. Communicology is defined as a general science on public communication (philosophy of communication), novitology as a specific science dealing with all the singularities of mass communication by means of the mass media (radio, newspapers, television, and the new media), while journalism as practice is defined by means of the methodology of direct journalistic activities. This leads to the introduction of epistemiological order into a number of sciences. Also, misunderstandings and overlappings are avoided, as well as totally erroneous attitudes pernicious for the theory of public communication and journalism as the practice of public polylogue in the media.

METHODOLOGICAL BASIS, STRUCTURE AND LONGEVITY OF FAYOL’S ADMINISTRATIVE THOUGHT

Metodička osnova, ustroj i trajnost upravljačke misli H. Fayola

Author(s): Mijo Biličić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

Keywords: theory of administration; Henri Fayol; Max Weber;

The author analyses Fayola’s work in the light of recent achievements of the theory of administration. He looks into Fayola’s organic approach and the immanent division of the content of his work into the constitutive and the functional aspects. Fayol’s concepts are built into the foundations of the science of administration since they are used as the criteria for the classification of the subjectmatter and for defining management. Also, his concepts are so well-defined that only an occasional new concept is added to them. The shortcomings of Fayol’s thinking are the product of the limitations of his time and his internal organic approach as well as of the basically static structure of organization and administration.

VOTERS, POLITICIANS, AND BUREAUCRACY AND THE THEORY OF PUBLIC CHOICE

Birači, političari i birokracija u svjetlu teorije javnog izbora

Author(s): Zagorka Brunsko / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/1999

The theory of public choice is a major link between political science and economic science. It includes economic research into the issue of non-market decision-making i.e. the application of economic analysis to political decisionmaking. The champions of the theory of public choice have most confidence in the market and the market institutions. They try to explain political decisionmaking by means of the standards operating on the market. The public choice theory approach is based on the concept of methodological individualism and homo oeconomicus, since individuals try to promote their own interests both on the market and in politics. Theoreticians of public choice investigate voters’ behaviour, the roles of politicians, political parties, and interest groups in complex democratic societies. Central for their research is the political process in which voters behave as buyers, politicians as entrepreneurs, while bureaucrats are prone to self-aggrandisement and their ambition is to boost the significance of their office. The theory of public choice emphasises the category of exchange (political exchange) and the catalectic approach to economy.

The Nationalization of the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

НАЦИОНАЛИЗАЦИЈА НАРОДНЕ БАНКЕ КРАЉЕВИНЕ ЈУГОСЛАВИЈЕ

Author(s): Boris Kršev / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 3-4/2008

Keywords: The National Bank of Yugoslavia; credit policy; monetary policy; stocks of the National Bank; nationalization; infl ation

The National Bank of Yugoslavia was the legal successor to the Privileged National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbia (as a corporation) – although al ready at the founding of the new state one wondered if one should turn the Serbian emission-bank into the Yugoslav one, or if one should liquidate it fi rst and set up a new central fi nancial institution afterwards. From the very beginning the National Bank was criticized for its unprincipled monetary policy, selective credit policy, for keeping the interest rates unchanged under rather changeable circumstances on the market, for allowing „over-indebtedness“ – fi rst of the State itself, and then of other economic players, as well as for having in mind primarily interests of its stock holders. These accusations were directly connected with ethnic and ownership make-up of the stocks of the Bank, which were over 90% in „Serbian hands“. Under conditions of the incipient federalization of the country (after the Cvetković–Maček agreement) and the war in Europe in late summer 1940, the issue of its survival as a corporation was raised. The initiative to nationalize the central fi nancial institution originated with Croat economists (R. Bićanić, J. Šutej, A. Malbaša, A Košutić etc.). However, the nationalization didn’t bring about the desired results – quite the contrary. Although it was considered „only the fi rst step in the process of reorganization of the whole economic system“ it made possible the more uncontrolled indebtedness of the state apparatus and the emergence of hyper-infl ation.

Yugoslav Impressions of the Echo of Stalin’s Death in Bulgaria and Romania

ЈУГОСЛОВЕНСКИ УТИСЦИ О ОДЈЕКУ СТАЉИНОВЕ СМРТИ У БУГАРСКОЈ И РУМУНИЈИ

Author(s): Vladimir Cvetković / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 3-4/2008

Keywords: Yugoslavia; Bulgaria; Romania; J. V. Stalin; East-European countries; Yugoslav-Bulgarian relations; Yugoslav-Romanian relations

Although Bulgaria and Romania were Yugoslavia’s neighbors, judging by the state of their bilateral relations with it, several years before Stalin’s death they could have been on another continent. The reason was a sharp ideological, and then inter-state confl ict between the USSR and Yugoslavia which fl ared up in 1948 and which engulfed all „people’s democracies“ of the Soviet block. Yugoslavia’s relations with Bulgaria and Romania were completely spoiled, and in the case of Bulgaria they were additionally encumbered with the unfortunate legacy of the past. The situation on the borders verged on the state of war. Observing the echo of Stalin’s death in Bulgaria and Romania during the spring of 1953, Yugoslav diplomats on the spot noticed bigger or smaller signs of change in these two countries. That echo in leaderships of these countries, in their ruling parties, armies, diplomatic corps and citizenry served later on as basis for Yugoslav estimates of general trends and possibilities of eventual changes in Bulgaria and Romania, and concomitantly, the possibility for normalization of Yugoslavia’s relations these with neighboring countries. The impression the echo of Stalin’s death left on Yugoslav diplomats in Sofi a, Bucharest and Belgrade testify to their good knowledge of the essence of the then societies in Bulgaria and Romania. As an occasion to summarize impressions, Stalin’s death showed that all contradictions in the neighboring countries, which then became more accentuated, were well known in Yugoslavia. The events that followed showed that there was an „outside“ and a „real“ picture of relations toward the authorities and the ruling ideology in societies there. They also showed how dependent of the attitude and the will of the Soviet Union were the ruling elites, incarnated in the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Workers’ Party of Romania.

The Military Factor and the Development of the Car Factory in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

ВОЈНИ ФАКТОР И ИЗГРАДЊА ФАБРИКЕ АУТОМОБИЛА У КРАЉЕВИНИ ЈУГОСЛАВИЈИ

Author(s): Dalibor Denda / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 3-4/2008

Keywords: Kingdom of Yugoslavia; Yugoslav Army; Motor Industry

The idea of a need to build a car factory in the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia stemmed from persons engaged in the work of the Council of National Defense, but the fi rst serious initiative to resolve this issue through cooperation with the Ford Company originated with the Arch-Bishop of Bar, Dr. Nikola Dobrečić in mid-1920s. It failed because the military authorities, for strategic reasons, refused that the factory be built on Montenegrin coast. Offers of other car-makers were refused because of their demands for monopoly in supplying the State and the Military, which was deemed nefarious to the State. It was only with the start of the preparations, fi rst of totalitarian, but soon also of democratic powers for a future war in which motorization was to play a major part, that the Yugoslav military leadership started championing the development of the domestic car-industry. With the new policy of state interventions in the economy espoused by the government of Milan Stojadinović, the initiative to build the factory was taken over by the State itself. Thus the building of the car-factory within the nationalized Motor Industry inc. in Rakovica was the corollary of the interests of national defense and was part of Yugoslav economic preparations for the impending war. Thus the role of the military factor was decisive in the development of this branch of industry in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.