Importance of Political Communication - Essay Example

Importance of Political Communication This paper has reviewed various articles on communication with respect to political activities. The studies reviewed in this paper emphasize on the trends employed in disseminating political communication. The present essay explores the importance of communication in the political world by comparing the modern trend in technology specifically the internet to previous traditional communication. Although analysts have observed that communication techniques have changed, political influence impregnated into community tends to bear similar consequences observed in previous time. The study has indicated that political communication has contributed to institutionalisation of societal democracies. Reviews on political communication tend to drum the same idea. Introduction Politicians use communication as a tool to disseminate information to the society. Political critics believe argued that political communication whether external or internal acts as a nerve of the government. Those sentiments are observable through daily activities of politicians. Communication is the powerful tool that describes the landmark made in the political world. Reformists used political communication to move masses and advance the political ambitions. For instance, civil right movements have been able to woo civilians by creating powerful speeches that move emotions. Political debates usually draw politicians of various factions together. Patterns employed in communication may vary but the political information intends to give a particular influence to the audience (Dahlgren, 2005:166). This study investigates influence of political communication by analysing research articles in the same area. The aim of the research is to evaluate theories relating to political communication, their relevance in the political sphere, and the mode of communication dissemination. Theories developed about political communication focuses on mode of information dissemination. Some theorists have sought to explain how politicians settle in certain decisions. The prediction of the analysis suggested that dealing with small group would create a greater political impact as opposed to large groups. Studies in political communication have sought to investigate influence of politics with respect to psychology, speech communication, mass communication, journalism, broadcasting, and political science. The revelation of the study answers the question on how political communication influences the reputation of a country. The study mode reviews the existing literature on the same topic with a view or relating aspect of public relation and political communication. Findings and Results Political communication has changed in response to changes in technology. The reviewed literature on political communication with respect to the changing technology has confirmed the above finding. This finding tends to explain the reason by various technological approaches used by the politician in disseminating their communication. Politician’s concern is to influence a voter or a prospective voter to take side within a given political inclination. Pattern of information processing is the basis of voter decision. Zeter (2008:236) observed that voters decision occur the same way as personal decisions made when choosing a friend. People consider attributes, which would create a friendly relationship between the politician candidate and the community. The process seems to use identification of personal qualities as the most viable way of choosing political candidate. It means that human desirable characteristics should characterise the political campaign alongside other issues (Stanyer, 2007:212). Political bangles contain photo portraits, personal achievement among other desirable attributes that would persuade the voter to accept a particular candidate for a political position. Voting system takes similar approaches because the argument tends to look at the long-term benefit that the policy would create to the society. Structures in political communication differ depending on position that the aspirant is seeking. The survey on political communication methods has revealed the above trend. For instance, aspirants seeking mayoral positions will design their communication to cover concerns affecting the voters within his or constituency. The communication directed to college student is not the same information that the campaign team would direct to a community deprived of social needs. The essence of such techniques is to influence the voters to accept the political communication, which aim at delivering a given political agenda. The challenger would project his or her communication to cover factors that the incumbent did not offer. The choice has proved worthy in many political developments because many societies weigh the kind of change that they wish to embrace. Some changes are detrimental because the reverse societal advancement to democracy to plutocracy. Many political communications resist change through creating remarks that influence community psychology to retrogress their advances. The fear installed in the voters mind would influence the choice of voter. The above tactic tends to explain reasons for observed political choices. The relevance of political communication defines the approach taken in disseminating political information. Campaign managers of various political systems integrate their voters according to their cognitive abilities (Umland, 1999:157). Democracy is an indication of effective political communication in a country. The freedom that the society gets from democracy contributes to societal contribution in the governance of the country. The modern system has various contributed to change in political communication tactics (Green-Pedersen and Stubager, 2010: 665) because some system offers instant information to the audience. For example, internet provides an opportunity to the audience to disseminate information within a short duration. However, the political speech read to the audience tends to create body feelings, which has greater impact to the community as opposed to other methods of information relay (Dahlgren, 2005:156). Political communication is an essential element that defines stability of the nation or the world. The relationship between the government (power) and the civil world depend on political structures (Umland, 1999:153). These structures depend of the sentiments that politicians make. The revelation of the study relates various factors, which can contribute to or control political unrest. Political communication intends to influence psychology of the audience. This view has contributed to political success as well as political downfall. The sole motive of the communication is to persuade the audience to accept the perception of the politicians. Some politicians employ propaganda or false ideas to move the psychology of their audience. Scientifically, human psychologists attribute aggressive reaction to social and intrinsic factors. Political communication employs the same analogy to create a social environment, which makes the political speech viable. The recent depression that created political unrest was a blessing to some politicians who were quick to develop speeches touching on economic development (Stanyer, 2007:156). The psychology of the audience demanded solution to economic problem that is the viable information to the ears of the audience. Public speaking is a vital element of political communication. Editors of various newsrooms tend to pick elements of public speeches that move the crowd (McNamara, 2010:168). In their work, they create bold remarks when the political information contains the moving phrase. For example, television coverage would give a glimpse of the political information that the editor feels is worth to project the intended information. Pattern employed by politicians and recipients of political information tend to change with media. Public oratory skills are a vital element that has changed political career of various political figures (Stanyer, 2007:213). During the public speech, the politicians would display desirable attributes by addressing the audience in relation to the pressing issues. In most cases, the audience would respond to the speech by reacting to the statement instantly or later. Stanyer, (2007:214) observes that the body language as applied in normal communication applies in the political communication. The support position that the society adopts reflects on the perception developed by the society about the speech. The public concern tends to evaluate debates based on content of the speeches. Scholars of politics peg political remarks to ethical concern. The findings of the research have suggested various methods used by politicians to develop ideas. First, the politicians must identify the reception or the mood of the audience. The mood that the audience display during communication would project the future prospect of the politicians. The finding on Media and political candidature in relation to political communication has indicated that presidential communication is the centrepiece of political communication and activities. This finding indicated that consideration in presidential communication includes how often the president speaks, and what particular audience the candidate is addressing. It emerged from the study that people demonstrate satisfaction whenever the president speaks (Umland, 1999:184). The finding suggest that citizens bestow trust in their political leaders especially the president because of the constitutional powers that he or she posses. Media treatment to presidential speech is unique because a presidential speech acts in the capacity of an action taken (Umland, 1999:203). The speech made by the president is the base of his or her leadership. The media treat communication from presidential office with value because of the influence carried by these speeches to the society. The finding on media activities with a focus on presidential activities have indicated that the transition political communication during transition period tend to treat the incumbent president as an old dirge while the incoming candidate as the news to the country. The above observation suggests that change of political policy depend on the presidential position. The campaign of most presidential candidates usually calls for changes in political routines or call for particular social changes (Zeter, 2008:119). The audience of the presidential candidate would thus project their hope on the new leader as opposed to the outgoing leader. The projection of the current political leadership seems to take similar trend. The influence of the incoming candidate seems to rock the society. The president represents the country in the international politics, which explains citizens focus on the presidential candidates. For example, a debate on foreign policies and trade is a political tool used by the presidential candidates to influence their voters. Politics of developed nations such as America and UK concentrate on foreign policies (McNamara, 2010:179). Audience of presidential campaign contribute to the success of the political information because of their role in dissemination of information. For instance, President Barrack Obama campaign used modern technology, thereby suggesting that education of the audience is a factor that contributes to political communication (McNamara, 2010:186). It is arguable from the finding that the choice of information presented in the public domain would influence the society. This means that political communication should have an objective. Largely, the relationship between media activities and politics is evident through approaches taken by media in reporting political communication to the society. Most media editors will select information, which addresses the concern of the public. Another important finding is that media may propagate criticism of past presidential regime forms part of the agenda of the incoming regime (Green-Pedersen and Stubager, 2010:668). Transition media captures suggested that media focus on the incoming presidential candidate would project failures of past regime while generating hope to the country that the test a head is in the hands of the coming regime. Social networks and other media of communication tend to echo the same information a cross the globe. Some uniformity occurs in media focus about change of regime. President as the head would steer the change or condemn the society to similar challenges it faced. Collapsed political states have failed to demonstrate influence to the audience that the incumbent government is capable of delivering its policies. Voting in democratic countries tend to evaluate the dream of the leader. Some studies on presidential candidature popularity and influence demonstrate that voters display concern about the politician ability to handle tough issues (Green-Pedersen and Stubager, 2010:668). Ideally, the communication language used to solve a problem would define the acceptability of the information. The same applies in political communication. Political communication has advanced democratic processes of the world. The current trends developed in the communication sector have proved vital in the quest for greater democracy. The political parties are the political vehicles, which politicians use to sell their policies. Increase in political parties in a demonstration of diversification of views, which occurs in democratic communities. Politics seems to borrow business analogies in almost every angle (Stanyer, 2007:136). A market with substitute goods will create variety of choices to the consumers as well as decline in exploitation because of competition. The same applies to politics of single parties and multiparty states. The later seem to be people’s power while the other seems to horde a lot of power, which promote activities that undermine societal rights (Stanyer, 2007:153). People in a democratic society would advance their opportunities while people in autocratic states would suffer from retrogressive policies. A common identity for monopolistic society is bureaucracy involved in almost every sector (Green-Pedersen and Stubager, 2010:667). The observation suggested ideals, which protect power within the ruling elites. Limited policies development is a characteristic of such societies. The ideals that advances human dignity, as promoted by the civil rights activists, is evident in societies where communication freedom exists. The freedom would let the society think of better ways of challenging the existing conditions. Inventions of better ways of governance have stem from the need to exercise freedom. Political communication seems to change with the technological advances in the society. Social theorists have demonstrated through studies, which sought to identity campaign techniques of various political parties in the United States. It was evident from the study that United States and other countries that have embraced the internet technology have devised modern campaign technique, which aims at influencing the voters. Relating this finding to the topic of study it is evident that communication theories relating psychological influences to mode of communication are applicable in the political communication. Political information is like business information, which intends to create a desired influence to audience (Zetter, 2008:119). The solution Bahrain crisis lies in the same communication influences projected in the study. The idea is to present to the audience the most viable information i.e. the pressing need to the society. Such information would influence the audience to relate positively with the government. The probable consideration that politician should take while designing a political communication is to evaluate the effectiveness of means used to communicate the information. Some mode of passing information would reduce the importance of the information because they fail to offer stress, which occurs whenever an individual passes the information orally. This means that the consideration must evaluate the impact of the anticipated influence. The finding on media activities with respect political communication has demonstrated that development in political sphere depends on the ability of information to move from one point to the next. This finding demonstrates that media is a tool that can change the political landmark of the world (Stanyer, 2007:123). Study of media autonomy in relation to political communication observed that newspaper coverage or media coverage could dictate political policies. Critics of political regimes direct their comments through media channels (Stanyer, 2007:78), which regulate the air hole given for a particular remark. Dictatorial political regimes control media activities because of the fear they harbour about political coup’. The conception of such ideas tends to root for minimum the amount of information that the public should hear. Dahlgren (2005:126) posits that the above attribute is a threat to democracy. The public sphere has values that it project in the political world. The aim of the projection is to decentralise information with the aim of bringing the greater good in the society. Political products reach the society through media activities. In business, media promotion influence buyers or intended consumers to make informed opinion about a given product. The same analogy applies in the political sphere. The politician would hire campaign manager, journalists, communication expert, and finance expert among other individuals to work out strategies that would lead to political success (Stanyer, 2007:133). The team would develop methods, which limits political damage to the aspirant. The idea behind the strategy is to protect the sale of the political idea. Media is the most instrumental tool that politicians have used to market their ideologies. It is probable from the above finding that communication and convincing techniques applied in daily situations are relevant in the political sphere. The finding has also noted that a change in political communication trends following emergence of internet communication. This development tends to suggest that political communication have adopted new tactics. Unfortunately, this development is observable in countries that support media freedom. Some countries monitor information in the social sites thus dictating the content of information that the society should receive. However, power of the communication with respect to policies in the society defines the extent on need, which the society seeks to change in the political landscape. Media coverage allows the society to make comparison between various political systems (Stanyer, 2007:187). The research has noted that enlightening of the modern society and development of democracy has emanated from freedom exercised through information exchanges. Democratic advancement in the world is a revelation of media practices, which offer ideas to people. Quest for change would be far if nothing instigates change of ideology. Homogeneity of political communication protects incumbent political regimes. Dahlgren, (2005:216), observed that regulation of political communication undermines any process that seeks to transform political landscape of that particular world. Selling political ideologies involves campaigning in public as well as using other methods of information relay to pass the information (Stanyer, 2007:189). The effectiveness of the process would define the societal democratic standard. Internet services do not prove to offer the voter explicit information about the character of the candidate. The information presented in the internet might be worth the ideals of the candidate, but may not prove to be so when the candidate speaks. Political debates offer great opportunities for the citizens or the voters to learn of the candidates (McNamara, 2010:210). Differentiation of hypothetical ideologies and principles is evident during debates. The platform for political debates subjects candidates to support what they intend to offer to the society. However, the changes in communication system have exposed the society to a variety of choices. The content of political message tends to vary with the level of election. The process of influencing voters is quite technical because voters respond to political communication. It is not surprise that at some moment the voters may approve or reject political communication. Whatever side a voter takes, the important concept of the political communication is the priorities or the ideals presented by the candidate. Voters learn from what they observe through political speeches. Conclusion and recommendation In conclusion, theorists have demonstrated in their article that political communication is a vital element that steers the society towards achieving social ideals such as democracy. Initiators of societal reforms bank on psychological abilities of the intended audience in devising communication method intended for a given audience. Political communication integrates and cluster audiences according to their cognitive abilities. Campaign message directed towards illustrate audience differs from campaign message intended for socially advanced society. The trend tends to borrow psychological application of communication methods. Information will move the emotions of the intended audience when it handles the items, which are worth in the audience view. The presidential elections and campaign attracts large audience and draws large criticism because of the roles the position dictates. Media activities and coverage define project the political aspirants differently according to the level of democracy in that society. This research recommends the use of oral speech because it seems to satisfy the audience more than other forms of communication. Response of political situation by the presidential office creates confidence to the audience. However, the communication would be satisfactory when it addresses the challenge, which the society faces. In addition, the research should base the arguments on theoretical findings. Politicians develop their speeches by identifying voter behaviour because it influences the reception of the information. The decision made by the voters will always apply social attributes of choosing friends. Political speeches offer an opportunity for the audience to study the character of the aspiring politicians. The use of theories of communication is essential in creating a politically effective communication. Though research has been carried extensively on this matter, it can be asserted that more research. With the two main fields of the study, (Election campaigns and Government operations), the later should be thoroughly to give a clear picture of the symbolical construction of politics. Bibliography Blumler, J.G and Gurevitch, M. 1995. The Crisis of Public Communication. New York; Routeledge. Dahlgren, P. 2005. The Internet, Public Spheres, and Political Communication: Dispersion and Deliberation. Political Communication: 22(2), p. 1478 – 162 Green-Pedersen, C. and Stubager, R. 2010. The Political Conditionality of Mass Media Influence: When Do Parties Follow Mass Media Attention? British Journal of Political Science. 40, p. 663-677 Grunig, J. and Hunt, T. 1984. Managing Public Relations. New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston McNamara, J. 2010. The 21st Century Media (R) evolution: Emergent Communication Practice. New York: Peter Lang Stanyer, J. 2007. Modern Political Communication: Mediated Politics in Uncertain Times. USA: Polity Press Umland, A. 1999. Review Article: Grass-Roots of Russia’s Second Revolution. Journal of Government Studies and Transition Politics: 15(3), p. 114 – 120 Zetter, L. 2008. Lobbying: The Art of Political Persuasion. Britain: Harriman House Ltd Read More