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The Role of Social Media in Election Campaigns
The Role of Social Media inElection Campaigns
Author: Alexandru MoldovanFrst Franz osef Strasse !"# $%$
'aduz
&&%&"()*(*)++alexandru,moldovan-uni,li
FS!(&&"$
Seminar paper
.niversit/ of 0iechtenstein1raduate School
2rogramme: 3,T, and 4usiness 2rocess ManagementCourse: Topics in
3S Research
Assessor: Stefan Seidel
5or6ing period: ),&&$,(&!7 to !(,!(,(&!78ate of
su9mission:
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The Role of Social Media in Election Campaigns
Table of Contents
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. The liberal perspective (The positivist
perspective)...................................................................3
2.1.
Behaviorism..................................................
.................................. .............................
...... ....... ..4
2.2. tructural functionalism
school................................................................................................!
". Conclusion
#eference list
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Abstract
4/ stud/ing the statics of the presence of the electorate at the
voting sections it 9ecame
o9vious for politicians that less and less people are illing to
express their vote, As aconse;uence# ne measures are needed to 9e
ta6en in order to enlarge the distri9ution of the political message
and to convince people to vote, The purpose of this stud/ as to
investigatethe changes that a ne political instrument# social
media# 9rings into the d/namics of the political game,The starting
point of the anal/sis is represented 9/ the understanding of the
concepts of political communication and pu9lic opinion 9/ means of
stud/ing ade;uate scientific
literature, 4/ identif/ing pu9lic opinion as a 6e/ concept# the
next step as ta6en inexplaining ho this is formed and evolves over
time under the influences of factors li6emedia and societ/,After
understanding the inner d/namics of pu9lic opinion 9/ the means of
three ell 6no ntheoretical models# the factor ne media as
introduced into the anal/sis of these models,4enefits and
limitations of using social media are identified after stud/ing
those extendedmodels,
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1. Introduction
2olitical communication is defined as 2ippa# n,d,# !?According
to S anson and @immo# the field of political communication is a
complexinterdisciplinar/ field, Since the appearance of the first
chrestomathies in the field of the political communication science
> !$"7# in France# 1rand 0arousse de la language fran aiseand in
.SA# Band9oo6 of Communication# coordonated 9/ @immo# 8, Sanders
D,R,# apud @immo# 8,# S anson# 8,0,# !$$ p,"? the authors tried to
structure the theories
ela9orated in this field on several dimensions,Some authors
thought to structure this teories depending on the research topic
in the field# so @immo and S anson structured them in t o
categories: voter persuasion paradigm and@immo# 8,#S anson# 8,0,#
!$$ p," %"?,
2ippa @orris >2ippa @orris# !$$$? prefers also a
chronological approach, Bence# he startsfrom the
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the li9eralJpositivist school covers those theories included in
the persuading votant paradigm# thereforethe most ell 6no n
positivist theories >i,e,# agenda setting# the spiral of
silence# user and gratificationtheor/? are enclosed in the mass
media influencing models section, 3n addition# this vie
highlights
the most the interdisciplinar/ nature of political
communication, This perspective includes the 9ehaviorist school and
structural functionalism school,
1.1. Behaviorism
This approach focuses on the stud/ of political 9ehavior# the
approach of the voting process# pu9licopinion research designed as
aggregation of individual opinions and the impact of
electoralcampaigns,
Man/ theoreticians consider the or6 of 5alter 0ippman# 2u9lic
opinion >!$((?# as 9eing thefounding material of the stud/ of
communication science, K0ippmann as a contemporar/ researcher
ith the political scientist Barold 0ass ell# ith respect to the
stud/ of propaganda and pu9licopinion, >L? The contri9ution of
0ippman as an important one regarding the identification of themass
media role in the development of the pu9lic opinion in democrac/,
Be argued that media hosefreedom as protected 9/ the First
Amendment# is a crucial factor in the formation of a space of
ideas,>Daida# 00# (&&%# p,%?=,The second conception
regarding the effects of mass communication is the one of 2aul
F,0azarsfeld,Baving a mathematician formation# he 9ecame an
important methodologist in the;uantitative research of the mass
communication, K Be led the Radio Research 2roIect funded 9/
theRoc6efeller Foundation in !$7"# hich examined the effects of
radio on American audiences, 0ed0azarsfeld led also the first
;uantitative research on voting 9ehavior# the most famous of them
9eingthe research in Erie Count/# hich accounted up to a certain
level as 9eeing# the most important pioneering investigation of
political communication, >39id,# p +?=,This contri9ution had a
maIor impact on multiple further research, The 1erman researcher
@oelle @eumann ill ta6e later in from 0azarsfeldNs research the
concept of 9and agon, According to 0ongand Ruth >(&&"?
the 9and agon effect refers to people doing certain things 9ecause
other people aredoing them# regardless of their o n 9eliefs# hich
the/ ma/ ignore or override, 3n comparison# K>L?2aul F,
0azarsfeld# specialist in social ps/cholog/ and electoral
processes# once tal6ed a9out ahierarch/ of sta9ilit/# putting the
voting intentions on top of itO in his opinion# the/ are
sta9le#changing ver/ slo l/# depending on experience# o9servations#
information and ne vie s= >@oelle @eumann# E,# (&&%#
pag, ("?,The concept of Agenda Setting as formulated in t o
different studies# occurring almost
simultaneousl/ > !$"(? in the .nited States: Max ell E, Mc,
Com9s and 8onald 0, Sha P TheAgenda Setting Function of Mass Media#
in the 2u9lic pinion Guarterl/# no, 7)# !$"( # p, !") !*"
+
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and R, Co99 and C, Elder 2articipation in American 2olitics: The
8/namics of Agenda Setting> !$"(?,Agenda setting theor/ is a
model of media influence# ho considers that media has the po er
to
choose the order and prioritize the information to present to
the pu9lic# thus setting not onl/ theagenda of the media 9ut also
the pu9lic agenda, According to this perspective the media agenda
9ecomes pu9lic agenda,This paradigm is a ne approach to the role
and functions of the media that ta6es into account t onovel
representations of communicators# the relationship 9et een the
media and pu9lic opinion, 3tQs Iust the media facult/ to order and
mentall/ organize the orld for us >8r gan# !$$)# p,
()&?,This perspective has 9een made on the 9asis of the
anal/sis of McCom9s and Sha # during the !$)*election campaign #
9eing su9se;uentl/ confirmed and supported since !$"(# the anal/sis
of Rogers
and 8earing made outside election campaigns, Bo ever# model
refinement as carried out 9/ Co9and Elder ho introduce 9esides the
t o varia9les >agenda media and pu9lic agenda? a ne varia9le:the
political agenda,This ne paradigm arises in the context of studies
on media use and satisfaction caused 9/ mediaconsumption, 3n 9oth
studies# ho ever# e are given different complementar/ media notions
of the
Agenda Setting function: McCom9s and 8, Sha stud/ refers to the
media function to 9uild theagenda the agenda of the pu9lic opinion
# hile the stud/ of R, Co99 and C, Elder ta6es into
account the media role in the design of the 2olic/ Agenda
9uilding , So# on one hand# mediainfluences the Agenda of the
citizens >pu9lic opinion? the correlation 9et een the Agenda of
the media and Agenda pu9lic opinion and on the other hand the
correlation 9et een the media and
political agenda >politicians discourse?, verall# it is the
correlation 9et een the mediatization of the actualit/ > Agenda
esta9lished 9/ mass media?# pu9lic perception over the actualit/
>pu9licopinion Agenda ? and the Agenda of the political de9ate
>su9Iects and priorities addressed 9/ politicians especiall/
during election campaigns ? > 8r gan# 3, # !$$)# p ()7? ,Even
currentl/# the 9ehaviorist approach sho s a strong trend 9ecause of
the man/ researchers in thefield and man/ positivist current follo
ers,
1.2. tructural functionalism school
From this perspective# political communication lies in a set of
interactive processes 9et een elementsof a political s/stem and
surrounding elements >1erstl ,# (&&(# p, 7+?,De/
concepts in structural functionalist approach are: s/stem# exchange
and 9alance, The firsttheoretical formulation of the functional
relationship 9et een the social s/stem and media as made
9/ political scientist Barold 0ass ell in !$%*,0as ell is the
one ho formalized the content anal/sis methodolog/ of media
messages, Be is 6no nfor the communication model consisting of five
;uestions:
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Starting from MertonNs model# in France# ean Stoetzel ela9orated
in !$+!# a list of functions aroundthe concept of information,
Also# Charles R, 5right compiled a list containing more than
)&information functions,
3n this context# appears in the earl/ )&s
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