Media, Public Opinion Campaigns - Essay Example

? MEDIA PUBLIC OPINION CAMPAIGNS Submitted By What is public opinion? How they are formed and expressed? How do we know about public opinion regarding any issue, through media, surveys conducted or just through knowledge of opinions of our friends and acquaintances? Shall we give any importance to public opinion which is generally based on little facts that are known to them? What is the role of media in forming opinions? Does it play any significant role in electing governments? Or it is just the political parties that matter in electoral campaigns? These are the questions pertinent to all members of any civil society. We will try to find answer of all these questions with special emphasis on role of political parties in electoral campaigns. Is there any significant change in their importance or role in elections? A logical and convincing answer to this question is not possible without development of sound understanding of public opinion and its importance and the role of media, political parties, legislation regarding political parties and elections. Public opinion is a very comprehensive topic which is spread over many disciplines. Examination of Public opinion formation and change include as varied aspects as psychology, sociology, political science, communication and mass media which shape public opinion. Public opinion is considered a provocative starting point for assessing citizen moods, political participation and voting behavior. 1(Susan Herbst, Carroll J Glynn, 2004) Media and politics are strongly interrelated. To conduct a broad range analysis of the relationship between media and politics requires in depth survey of representation of politics in media, impact of media on politics, media regulation and the current and future or potential expected place of media in democratic societies. What we observe today is the emerging phenomena of mediatization of politics, growing role of E-Politics and governance. These days media is extensively used by governments, political parties and all other stake holders in forming opinion of the public. It includes traditional media as well as all the modern electronic forms such as twitters, websites, social networking channels etc. which we are currently observing in countries like Egypt, Jordan and Libya. 2(John Street, 2010) There is no denial that media play a significant role in forming opinions of the public. Ever since its inception media has been a powerful tool in shaping and molding people’s perception but with the current mushroom growth of mass media its importance has increased manifolds. The outburst of internet has fueled it further taking it to new heights. Every individual now has access to loads of information and that too is so easily available just .a click away. It has not only increased the role of media but also increased the importance of the opinion of the people. Now public opinion matters in almost all walks of life even in important policy decisions. Public opinion matters most in politics. This growth in mass media has made individuals very opinionated now we have opinions about almost everything and that too is an informed one. Now the question arises what is the role of media with special reference to politics. Does it in any way have undermined the role of political parties in electoral campaigns? Media is forming opinion about whom persons, policies, activities or political parties? What role political parties play in elections? Are they still important? Do individual personalities have no role to play in elections? If they are also important then what is more dominating political parties or individual personalities or other factors such as media etc? This research paper is based in finding answers to all these questions. 3(Walter Lipmann, 2007) The political parties and elections in the advanced democratic world which consist of mainly of industrialist countries actually provide a relative investigation of the ways through which these democracies standardize the actions of political parties in elections. These countries provide the best source because of their long history of democracy. An analysis of the actual electoral process in these countries revealed that yes political parties do play an important role and is a crucial actor in electoral process. But the extent to which political parties are recognized as important factor and the extent of regulation vary from country to country. Electoral laws play a significant role in determining the framework of electoral process. The relationship between law and politics actually regulate the actions of political parties as an outcome of broader normative vision how resultant democratic government ought to function. Electoral law alone cannot determine the complex relationship between political parties and elections. It needs to examine other ancillary laws as well such as money regulations, associations and corporation’s law and constitutional provision. 4(Anika Gauja, 2010) As discussed above funding regulations for political parties are very important for fair and transparent elections. Political parties need funding to carry out their core activities. With the changed trends and environment of elections political parties need sufficient funding to increase visibility and political support for their ideas. This trend is observed world over. The council of Europe decided that regulation mechanism should be tuned in such a way that it empowers political parties to get enough resources for their activities and functions. The rules defined for funding political parties for their electoral campaigns was based on these principles Reasonable equilibrium between public and private funding Fair criteria for distribution of state contributions to parties Strict rules regarding private donations Ceilings for parties expenditure on electoral campaigns Transparency in accounts Independent audit authority Meaningful sanctions for violating rules both for parties and person. The relationship between money and politics is rather controversial with valid concerns over improper influence of money on democratic political process. The shady aspect of financing includes illegitimate personal enrichment of politicians. But money is necessary and unavoidable cost of democracy. Hence it requires proper regulation. 5(Ingrid Van Beizen, Council of Europe, 2003) Any political system is made up of formal elements such as legislative process, elections etc. and informal elements such as political parties, political socialization and voter participation. A political party is in fact an organization whose task is to gain and hold legitimate control of government. A political party usually represents people who share similar attitudes, interests and socioeconomic status. The role of political party is To develop, design and articulate policy positions Educate voters about issues and provide simple choices Recruits candidates who agree with these policies and support them in winning elections who are then responsible for implementation of part policy positions. Political parties give a formal statement of the policy positions on various economic and political and social issues. Political party actually provides a platform. Hence the role of political party in the elections is very important in fact its role has increased recently. 6(Diana Kendall, 2010) Great Britain has defined an act to comprehensively cover all aspects of political parties and elections. Political parties and election act 2009 makes provision in connection with the Electoral Commission. It provides details regarding political donations, loans and related transactions, political expenditures and provisions about elections and electoral registration. Detailed study of this act is beyond the scope of this paper but it serves our purpose of highlighting the role of political parties and how democracies has tackled related issues with legislation about it. 7(Great Britain, 2009) The central notions of modern democracy in UK are Popular sovereignty Political equality Moderated majoritarianism All this has collectively led to Political representation This in turn led into the practice of voting for elections. It is observed that in UK political parties themselves seem to be in decline. In 1964 there were three main British political parties and the members of these parties were around 3.26 million. This following reduced to 0.88 million in 1992. It is currently believed to be reduced to around 0.7 million. The electoral commission audit revealed that only 5% of its respondents attended political party meeting donated money or paid membership fee of the political parties. All it shows the lack of interest but there are other factors as well which has reduced physical presence such as electronic democracy. Although electoral participation has declined but interest in political activities was expressed through an increase in non electoral participation such as demonstrations, signing petitions and writing to an MP. But this increase cannot be regarded as the cause of decline in turnout. So the participation problem in Britain is only confined to ballot box. It cannot be attributed to be part of a general decline in willingness to participate in political activities. 8(Bob Watt, 2006) So the political awareness can now be better measured or gauged by means of broadcast and print media visibility of political issues. The graph shows subsequent lesser participation by voters. The amount of serious political coverage in the press has also declined. Press reports stress on potentially significant events and politically significant personalities e.g. president. They stress the personal or human interest story and not on the political or public interest story. All this has resulted in undermining the role of political parties. Despite this downfall in the role of political parties democracy is still unthinkable without political parties. There is enough empirical evidence that suggests with increased educational levels citizens are now more independent in their views. Their improved political and cognitive resource is reflected in the increased level of interest in public affairs. The current educated and more informed electorate and the growth of mass media has its influence on the informational role of political parties. This has diminished the role of political parties in democratic process. This has led to institutional changes in party themselves who now focus more on leaders for running campaigns than reliance on party members. Leaders are now the focus of attention instead of the parties they lead. 9(Kurt Richard Luther, Ferdinand Muller- Rommel, 2005) In the US political parties still play an important role because it is the tool used by them for policy changes in the government. The role that political parties have traditionally played is to structure the contest for office to enable elections perform their role most effectively. One of the key question regarding American policy is how effectively the political parties have played their role. How much Republican and Democratic parties differ from each other in major policy issues. The link among various party platforms, elections and subsequent public policy is less clear in American system as compared to other parliamentary democracies. In order to understand the importance of political parties in elections we need to understand the role of party in electorate i.e. the extent to which party determines how citizens vote, party organization or party structure and the governmental context. Citizens elect members of parliament in their own districts and expect independence from their elected members but these members have to take into consideration party position before voting in the office. Party unity score are published on yearly basis by congressional quarterly. A party unity vote is one in which majority votes of one party are weighed against majority vote of the other party. Party unity vote of all members are also tracked by the no of times he/she votes with her/his party. Eras of Clinton and Bush displayed more than 80% of party unity score. This makes clear that party affiliation is of extreme importance. It is a linkage between citizens as they cast their votes and the actual implementation of policy. 10(Louis Sandy Maisel, Mark D Brewer, 2008) Conclusion We have enough evidence to recognize the role of media in opinion making and hence impact on political and social life. Mass media has transformed the role of political parties making it much more accountable in their policies, legislation and funding. The role of political parties in election is although still important but the extent of it varies from country to country. In some countries political awareness has increased but they are expressed more in non electoral activities resulting in lower electoral participation. Education and mass media has diverted attention to personalities and leaders and the political parties are not in the limelight nevertheless political parties still remain important. References 1(Susan Herbst, Carroll J Glynn, 2004, Public Opinion, USA, West View Press) 2(John Street, 2010, Mass Media, Politics and Democracy, USA, Palgrave MacMillan) 3(Walter Lipmann, 2007, Public Opinion, USA, Filiquarian publishing) 4(Anika Gauja, 2010, Political Parties and Elections: Legislating for Representative Democracy, UK, Ashgate publications) 5(Ingrid Van Beizen, Council of Europe, 2003, Financing Political Parties and Election Campaigns: Guidelines, Germany, Council of Europe Publishing) 6(Diana Kendall, 2010, Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials, USA, Wadsworth Cengage Learning) 7(Great Britain, 2009, Political Parties and Elections Act 2009, Part 12, Great Britain, TSO) 8(Bob Watt, 2006, UK elections Law: a critical examination, UK, Glass House Press) 9( Kurt Richard Luther, Ferdinand Muller- Rommel, 2005, political parties in the new Europe: Political and Analytical Challenges, UK, Oxford University Press) 10(Louis sandy Maisel, Mark D Brewer, 2008, Parties and Elections in America: The electoral process, USA, Rowman & Littkefield) Read More