Television and politics in evolving European democracies

Book abstract:

Television has become an important part of the way in which political candidates and parties present their messages to voters during election campaigns. New and developing democracies in Eastern and Central Europe have been quick to see the significance of televised political programming for the building of coalitions and party strength. The research and analyses in this volume address many questions related to the growing role of television in these democratic systems. Included are discussions of: how the media systems of Eastern and Central European countries have been reorganised and reconfigured as a result of government reforms; how new political parties used television in elections since 1989/90; what types of electoral communications have been carried on television during these elections; and to what extent such electoral communications have been influenced by the media systems and formats of political communications from established Western democracies. Various chapters also consider what cultural and political system values have affected the impact of party uses of election media among the Eastern and Central European countries and how these new systems of political communication effected voters in the various countries discussed. In particular, the countries focused on are East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Russia, Turkey, Greece and the Czech Republic. The chapters in the volume embrace a combination of historical and legal analysis, content analysis, experimental studies and survey research. The scholars who participated in this project were members of a Research Planning Group, sponsored by the Council for European Studies at Columbia University and the Political Communication Center at the University of Oklahoma.