7

Political Communication

INTRODUCTION
ofknowledge, values
Political communication relates to the communication
participation and recruitment are
and attitudes. The processes of socialization, individual is determined by
dependant upon it as the political activity of thewords of Althoff and Rush.
In the
the process of political communication. ofpolitically relevant information
"Politicalcommunication is the transmission
another and between the social and the
from one part of the political system to
"it is the dynamic element
political system". According to Karl W.Deutsch,
of a political system. growing importance in
Thestudy of political communication has acquired
political systems is examined
recent years. The effectiveness of the different
of political communication.
through a comparative analysis of the performance development of other
"Communication performance can hinder or enhance the
articulation is the opportunity
kinds ofsystem activity. Thus, underlying interest
which greatly enhances the likelihood
for individuals to exchange thoughts freely
demands upon the political system.
of their forming groups and making or television about conditions in the
Information obtained from newspapers
leaders may determine the types
political system or about actions of political
demands initiated".
of support rendered and
COMMUNICATION STRUCTURES
interactions antong
Communication system is fundamental to all kinds of
mass media like radio and television
the human beings. In amodern society thecommunication structures. However,
are the most specialised and differentiated into five categories:
communication structures are classified
informal face to face contacts,
religious group rela
traditional socialstructures relating tofamily or
tionship, interest groups, pressure groups,
political output structures such as
trade unions and political parties,
 Introduction to P'oltlcal
and
Sociology
political output structurcs, such as lcgislaturcs burcaucracies
the mass media.
Acommunication system would comprise the sourcc of thc mcssage or
infornation, the message itsclf, andthe channcl through which it has to pass
tothe recipient of theinformation. This alsoincludes a process known as 'feed
back by which the positions of he source and audience may be reverscd in
the form of areaction to the message. Intthis connection theexample of aperson
who contests for a political office may be cited as one, who acts as the sourCC.
The series of policy proposals which are made by him would| be considered as
him would be his chan.
his message.A television or radio broadcast made by audience who watch e
his
and the members of his electorate would constitute feed-back' or audi
broadcast over the radio and the television. The
reaction will be assessed from the approval or isapproval of his proposals
a
Political communication and its various elements are not necessarily
elements in the svstem
structural part of the political system. The role of these another. For examnls
situation to
isalso not continuous and may vary from one of the message in one
it may so happen that an individual whois the source
another situation
situation, may become the audience in another and in still communicated.
message is
he may be the channel through which the sources may be classified as
In the process of political communcation, the
source.
specific and diffused. A political leader is an exampleof the specific socicty
In every
while the electorate furnishes the example of a diffused source.
co-related to the complex
there is acomplex net-work of communcation
of sources,
character of the political system as evidenced through variety as well as
vertical
audiences and channels. Political communication is both
cach individual and
horizontal. There is a known communication network for
cach group of individuals in the political system. channels of :
Despite the differences between the political systems, the office
information for most individuals are generally similar. For a political
diverse and complex.
holder the sources, audiences and channels will be more
the
For this source of information, he has to depend upon his close colleagues,
associates
adminstrative office-holders who are associated with his office and his
including both supporters and opponents, interest groups, pressure groups a
throug
the mass media. He has to maintain his contact with the clectorate
electoral campaigns, periodic visits to the constituency and delivery of putbl
channels ol
speeches. These factors are bound to make his audience and hand. forthe
communication accordingly composed and diverse. On the other andchannels
people who are not politically very active, the sources, audiencesCommunication
are bound to be morelimited and, the whole process ofpolitical
more intermittent. variancein
Political systems vary from one another and with that there is general
the nature and degree of political control over the mass media, The
 Poltcad Ommunicaion 67

political awarcncsS of the pcople in varying political systcms are bound to be

ditlerent and hencc cach political system devclops its own network of political
communication and the importancc ofparticular sources,channels andaudiences
willvary from one system to another. The more specialized of the mass media
are over-whclmingly political in content and the role of mass media in political
communication indicates the way in which the whole proccss is integrated with
the socictalcommunication network. A wide range of subjects are discussed
and analysed through the newspapers, radio and television and politics forms
a minor part of these informations. In democratic countries generally a large
number of people regularly follow public affairs and collect information about
them. Butthis is not true of all systems of government. Even in the democratic
countries the level of the awareness varies from country to country. It is thus
natural that the extent to which people would follow public affairs would vary
considerably from one political system to another.
CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION

Excepting the primitive or traditional societies where there is low level of

literacy andwhere they have not been able to make technologicaldevelopment,
in all other advanced societies the newspapers and broadcasting are the most
important channels through which political information is transmitted. Interest
groups and political parties are also important channels of political
communication. These are vital to the communication process, though in
varying degrees in different political systems, as these act as channels of contact
between those holding political and administrative office and the general
public. Individuals who are members ofpolitical and quasi-political organizations
are involved in the process of intermittent political communication. There are
other people who are active participants in the political process. Such persons
are involved in more frequent communication in which information is passed
vertically form them to those who hold higher positions and horizontally
between the members active at a comimon level.
Informal contact is another important channel of communication between
individuals and groups of individuals, Although not isolated from newspapers
and broadcasting and other formal organisations, informal contact forms an
important basisof the theory of communication. In any society informal contact
political
is the most common means of communication, although its role in
communication is related more tothe formation of public opinion than to the
transmission of political information. This theory is knownas the 'bvo slip flow
and his
of communication' and was first advocated by Paul Lazarsfield
colleagues in studying voting behaviour. According to this theory, the work
of mediation between the mass media and the people is being done by the
'opinion leaders' of thesociety. These opinion leaders are very much alike and
typically belong to the same primary groups of family friends and co-workers.
 Introduction to Politcal
Theseintumalcontactsinvolveinter-personalrclationsywhich havc the
Sncinlogy
implications: lol owiny.
These act as actal channcls of infornmaltion.
As sourcs of social pressure upon the individual to follow ccrlain
norms of attitude and bchaviour, and
As sources of support for such norms and hence for group cohcsion
But in this connection it may be mentioned that mass media cxerocises grcat
control upon the process of opinion formulation and as a channel of
subordinated to this.
communication the other channcls.are
COMMUNICATION
DETERMINANTS OF THE PATTERN OF
Various factors in society determinethe pattern ofits communication which
system. These factors may be classificd
as
is also correlated to the political political and socio-politi
economic lactors,
physical and technological factors technological factors in the
factors. The role of physical and
absence
sphere of
of these factor
underestimated. n the
communication cannot be
disseminating information easilv
the past, there was great difficulty in communication network and int
speedily. This led to the isolation of The dissemination of
communication between networks was also limited.
newspapers were either non.
information was fragmentary and haphazard as
much limited. These difficulties wers
existent or their circulation was very
and anew dimension
overcome due to scientific andtechnological advancement
Man's mastery over space and tine
was added to the communication networks. brought
technological advancement,
and the removal of physical barriers due to information. The development
about agreat revolution in the communication of
economic development of the
of mass media is also closely related with the
society. communication system in the
large number of people are involved in the
A channels of
highly developed societies and they depend on the same
reaches them is more
communication network. Thus the information that
the communication
uniform. On the other hand, in the developing societies as
channels of communication.
system is more fragmented and relies upon informal dissemination
information reaches only a particular section of the people and
of uniform information is not possible under such
circumstances.
patterns of
The level of literacy in a particular society also affects its the mpact
communication. Ina society where there is a low level of literacy
with the spoken work
of the printed media becomes limited and so is the case
such a socily:
since understanding is linked up with educational attainment. In
face to facecontact or informal contact becomes more important and is acoy
as the principal means of comnmunication. political
In a totalitarian society where there is total state control upon
development
communication, the political play an important role inthe
factors
Political Commumication 69

ofthe pattem of communication.Even in democratic countries,communication

is subject to political control in varying degrees and the role of thc political
factor still remains prcdominant. It may thus be safelyconcluded that informal
contact plays an impratnat role in all communication systems and much will
depend upon the attitude of the people towards the dissemination andexhange
of political information. In the formation of public opinion attitudes play a
prominent role and moulding of public opinion is one fo the major functions
of a communication systen.
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE FORMATION OF PUBLIC OPINION
Public opinion is an integral part of political communication and also
closely linked with the processes of socialization, participation and recruitment.
Public opinion is moulded by the knowledge, values and attitudes of the people
and is a vital factor which determines their political behaviour.
It is commonly acceptedthat public opinion is united and undivided and
where there is division of opinion, it is argued that, there are clearly defined
groups sharing acommon opinion on any particular issue ofpublic importance.
But in reality there are infinite number of 'public opinions' on an infinite range
of matters. For example although there may be a general agreement about the
'arrangement of society, this may in practiceaffect different social groups in
different ways and therefore, public opinion on any particular issue is likely
to be divided. This process has been described by Robert Lane and David Sears
as the capacity of direction of public opinion.The higher the level of education
of aperson, the more qualified will be his response to any question of public
interest. Some people might not have any opinion on a particular subject.
Generally the opinion of the people on any matter may be viewed on the
subjective 'pro-con' basis. Since each individual is likely to have his subjective
opinion on the baiss of his socialization and extent of information, the nature
of his opinion will be conditioned by such attitudes.
Direction provides the orientation of the opinion of an individual, but
equally important is the intensity of his opinion on a particular subject. The
person who holds an opinion very strongly is bound to perform his actions on
thatopinion with the same intensity. When such intensity of opinion is shared
by a group and not only by an individual, there is bound to be more determined
action on the basis of the opinion held by the group. Thus the question of
intensity of the opinion is closely connected with political participation in
general and recnuitment in particular. It may be noticed that some opinions are
held by an individual more prominently than others. For example, an
individual may regard his political opinion as paramount and that may lead
to a high level of political participation.
Another problem is rationality in the formation of pubiic opinion. The
question of levels of information and willingness to hold opinions are linked
70 'oliticl
intomationteccived by arational
with the factorsof tatioali The he righttypc indivrdual
arc poessod
Iewen obectively
his valucs andthe
he is ableto hecstablish
andinformation
offrclationshp
rçccives, He is thcrcforC, not likely
contradictory of notivatcd
to be misd1rectd or misguided by
information
ideoogcal or thnic issucs or mattcrs conccrning rcligio1 arc Vcry often lablc.
to rational preSsurCs. On the other hand, issucs conccrning SOCial and
problems are subjcct to rational pressurcs, Pcoplc who do not have
rational considertions are likcly to make wrong responses on ISSues liable to
rational pressures. An individual who suflers from the problems of family
Stress, pOverty, illiteracy, social alicnation and an undermining of traditional
The values and attitudes of
culture. is likely to make irrational responses.between sOcialenvironment
individuals are determined by the interaction
the individual. Public opinion is formed by factors like mass media, face-to-
influence of the family, work and literature groups,
face contact, education, these factors vary in thei
broadcasting, peer groups and the opinion leaders and
public opinion. Every individul
importance in influencing the formation offactors and upon that depends the
makes his own evaluation of each of these
the factors. Both the audience and the source are mutualh.
importance of
communication since there ie
evaluated. Particualrly, this is true of political
the dissemination of calculated information to achieve the desired eflect The
information will depend on the nature
extent of such circulation of distorted
government over the mass media.
and extent of control of the
CHANGE IN PUBLICOPINION
public opinion:
Basically two factors determine the process of change in and
exists in the society
the amount of resistance to change that
information on which the
the evaluation of the source or sources of
opinion is based.
as important
Ifan individua! very strongly holds an opinion and considers it change his
likely to
among thewhole range of opinions held by him, he is notsource of information
opinion. The intensity of the f:it Tf ihe inG.idual in the
intensity of faith
willinfluence the likelihood of the change of attitude. This
encourage as much as to
in the source of the information may be a factor to
change is casily
discourage change. When the source is trusted, resistance to
overcome and depending on this trust of the people, political leaders try to
intorduce widespread social reforms. Although people who hold high olfice
takethe opportunity to introduce social change, they are not the only people
formal otice
whoare engaged in this process. Individuals who do not hold anySocial workers.
may alsotake active part in affecting widesprcadsIsocial reforms. the
changingThe
opinion-leaders and philanthropic societies play a great role in reforms.
society and creating aconducive atmosphere for affecting social
change in public opinionis grcatly influenced by those faclors.
 decisions for and decisions be
to significance asDavies
consequencesof the steering
usescommunication he
process they public and
is eNistence and individual isindividual are andthe theopiions political croeplal
the or
sametheCommunaon
a th e shaped communication linked th e the n Poltcal
Deutsch,
the enforceable
the The decisive existence theanalyses As not rolc Inpoople. In
learn provides politcal this the
attainment essence aim
notion and
concepts and of
decisions opinion. imutable,
are and of with ofsocialization NurC issuc
held oliticalsphcte
are governmental and and proccss scrcen
obeyed the made of of Lewis,
clement of co-ordinating the the the
change. the catalyst a Thus are
of but changeguided may by ofconteNt
'c ore inpolitics the power
change actual theory Lane political process plays of
politics
of of order with "One also and are support shapes of the by information not
physical in le ad they changing constant dnc public
and the area' is as method COMMUNICATION has THEORY
made their
byand The an as, people
goals to
respect definitions of
a that thefunctioning
functioning. system. him through
influcnce
dctormincs theirin
to is
carried promote the human been
two base
Sears inmportant of his seldom
opinion,
is component the growth role political political
of`the ofattainmentforce' concernsaffect of on beliefs.things to ultimately can knowlcdgc, varying
reshifing
society' . politics to the developed the have the This of but
out
dependable efforts the
this,public be the pure
the the 'political'. the science of of By : political part becauseinfomatiom
information,
by aspect basis th e
rightlypolitical
influences recruitment. oricntations. politically changed.
opinion, basic
He attainment is whole of of of government
political
structures adopting
to way process to of The
the continuing Deutsch by in
is the attain the hol d knowledyc, valucs
people of society
social in of Karl of orcintation, of
diffcrcnt
co-ordination arca Indeed cybernetics observed
communication
itsdecision
of in
the definitions the the members processes some information political
relevant
reaches th e
goals systems
of a Deutsch the In
politcal
Although and im e any
opinion
over of of is certain and existing
and political to
systems. communication information decision-making additionpolitical atitudes.
'enforceablesocial and hereduce that by valuesvalues of
context
views
a these politics communication receipt
wishes and to set to believe creating of
participation
period that ofgoals. with of analyse a social, to these
power". activity the Inanalyse of political is office and andvariation ofand
to goals. as The ofthe
governmentalhuman decisions this to the received, and vital this,orientations attitudes information
of According importance
reduce predict process favourable economic and attitudes process particularly
pecoplc
time decisions'. objective and words Deutsch not approach the he process forpolitical
tsystem
efforts whole of playS in
due must thus onl y way the thus the 71
the ofthe of a
the of ofthe on
 Introdction to
Poitical
habit and tear authorty. Apolitical system
survives and Soc
grOWs
the mechansm that allows or encouragcs habit foriMing among the aspeople
of it
iology
to
Other tactors ike acquiring infornation, the sclcction and storage of ths
has
ntormation (the facility of memory): thc sclection and devclopment of norms
relatingto the use of information also hclpthe society andthe political system
develop from time to time. Thus Karl Deutsch COmes to the
sunie and
toconclusion that, the inner source of political power is the relatively coherent
and stable structureof memories. Habits andvaluess depend on existing facilities
for social commumication, both fromn the past to the present and between

cOtemporartes. He suggests that in apolitical system, information precedes

compulsion. Again he is of the opinion that a political system 'depends 10 a
large extent on the fabric of co-ordinated expectations'. On the basis of
period of time the
informations gained and stored over a componentsof a
political svstem act and reactin accordance with expectations about how others
will act and react.
which are viewed as communication systems With
political systems
their Nowmechanisms and processes for the acquisition, collection, transmission,
developed over a period of tin
selection and storage of information, which
`self-regulating Or self-controlling syslenme
are to some extent considered as acquired by the memberss forthe
Insuch asystem, mechanisms
are
the
transmission
channels ot
co0-ordination and control of
of message and for the control mechanisnis
communication. Thedegree to which these coordination and the political system
cohesion fo
continue tofunction properly, determines the
systenn is analogous
In the opinion of Deutsch, government in apolitical
administration of connmunication
to the steering ofa ship and is a form of government--somewhat
channels. Accordingto him, 'one should, look upon the
problem of steering: and
less as a problem of power and somewhat more as a Self-regulation and
steering is decisively a matter of communication'.
exercise of
coordination involve the steering of information, rather than the
involves trans1mission
power over the individuals. In a political system control
is to be viewed
of messages and the understanding of control processes. This
function ol
as communictions engineering and not as power engineering. The
than
the governnent should be therefore, this kind of steering rather
predominantly involving the use of power.
The sub-systems of a political system like parties, pressure groups ald
interest groups are alsoviewed by Deutsch as minature communicationsy stenis
The sub-systems are interconnected and open, but are also to some extem
capable of steering themselves with human and institutional mechanisS
adapt and modify their structures and behaviour. Failurc of the stccms the
facilities lcad to conflicts or collisions between political systms. or betwecnt
sub-systems of asingle political system.
 PoliucalCommnicion 73

The success of a politicalsystenn, thorclorc, las to be analysed in this context

o its capacity to apply thc acquircd inlormation in the following sphercs
Increasing its opcnncss, that is to refining the channcls through which
it roccives information;
Increasing its capacity to respond cflectivcly to its environment, and
the
Increasing the range and diversity' of the goals which it has
capacity to set itself to pursue and achieve.
historical
self-steering system, argucs Deutsch, must be looked upon as a
A
self-steering society or
System which means that it should possess memory. A from its past, from
three sources
System must receive its intorimation from
environment. The system must
its externalenvironment and from its interanal
maintain the continuousflow of information.
COMMUNICATION THEORY
THE SOURCES OF THE
Karl Deutsch was greatly influenced
In describing the political phenomena, him there are similarities in the
According to
by the principles of cybernetics. living things, clectronic machines
processes and functional requirements between directs the analyst to specific
model
and social organizations. 'A cybernetic variety
of any system. He isled, for example, to analyse the amount of sub
aspects the information network, the
structure of
of information, the structure of
organization of the system's memory
systems, the feed-back system, thedetermine the behaviour of the system
mechanisms, and the rules which patterned relationship between
According to Deutsch,information represents a
the
models of political analysis and is of
events.
Deutsch has discarded the other relevant to
anlaysis based on the concepts of the cybernetics, is
opinion that
social systems because there is a resemblance in the
the understanding of computcr,
organizations. There are common characteristics in the
processes and organisations, for they have thecapacitythe to
the brain and society which make of
According to Deutsch, the model
transmit and react to information. analogues or models of mechanisn,
replace the classic
cybernetic system can for so long have dominated so much of
organisation and process, which
scientific thinking. back approach and claims that it
emphasis on the feed
KarlDeutsch lays The feed-back process which is also
the equilibrium approach.
is different from referstoa `communications
network that produces
known as servo-mechanisn, information, and includes the results of
its
an innut of
actions in response to which it modifies its subsequent
behaviour
own action in the information byorganisation simply reacts to the information
The
in theequilibrium system'.attempt to return to its original state. But the feed
in such amanner so as to orgainisation to change its state if necessary in
back mechanism allows thc argues that in cquilibrium theories, growth
reaction toinformation. Deutsch
 Introbtion tn Politienl
74

ot oon of a s sfem is hot pemitted An clemCnt of dyuamisu has becn

Soiology
intnxhued b the fed back cOncopt in the place of the static aalysis of the
cqmltbm
Doutsh theonstN
analvses oconcepts like negative fccd back, load. lag. and gain as
Nuboncets of the main fecd back system. A political system changes its
whavour npursuit of the poals. in the light of information transmittcd back
lo itsclf (which uasthe result of its dccisions and actions). Tlhe total amount
of infomation possessed by a system at a particular timc is known as load. The
amont of deiav experienced by the systcm betwccn acting on the information
reporting by the consequences of decision is indicatedby
b lag. Thc
manner ofand
reccned responsC of the systemto the information receivedliis known as gain.
The Capacity ofthe system to react to prediction about the future consequcnce
as load.
of decisions and actions is known
attainment of goals hy
In his entire analysis Deutsch puts emphas1s on the
processes of steering and
a politicalsstem. He highlightsthe similarity of the
Davies and Lewis are
goalsccking. both in living things and political systems. without any basis
of the opinion that Deutsch has assumed certain things
definitive goals set for them
isalwavs not possible for political systems to have
answer to this criticism in the
Iike in business organisations. There is an
state
statementof Deutsch, that the political systens may try to maintain some
of affairs they deem desirable, such as prosperity in economics or tanqulity
be explained
in politics. Deutsch is of the opinion that conflict of goals canand failures of
channels
and resolved. Eventually in terms of blockades of
and
signals to warn about the information load, such as its variety, quantity
disposition, within the system. Through such analysis Deutsch is able to put
values to some of the traditional concepts of moral and political philosophy
like willand soveriegnty. He defines will as the putting into operation of data
proposed from the past of adecision-making system in such a manner as to
override most or all of the information currently received from its enviroment.
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE COMMUNICATION THEORY
Inthe opinionof Oran and Young, the communication approach generates
a powerful thrust towards the cffort tooperationalise hypothesis and to engage
in quantitative analysis. In the words of Davis and Lewis, "Really Deutsch tries
toconstruct model which confines an input-output type of analysis with tha
of an amended structural functional analysis, for he secs it as possible 1or tne
orignial structural functional model to incorporate notions like fecd-bach.
information flow and learning."
However, the communication theory of Deutsch suffers from uuy
shortcomings. One of the lapses of the theory is that it views decision-makingof
Instead
as a process and does not put emphais on the results of decisions. flow
giving emphasis on the substance of the infornmation, it focuscss Onthe
Poliical (ommmmication 75

af inornation and on the haturc of various str1cturcs which shapc the

fow.
Deutsch lhasput too much emphasis on quantification and the variables which
are anmenable to this proccss, but he forgcts that politics is too complicatcd a
nheuonenon and it isnot possiblc to cxpalincvcrything in terns of quantified
data.
Grcater importance is attachcd by Dcutsch to thc arca ofpattcrn naintenance.
revolutlionary
He has sOme answcr for cvolutionary changc, but in matters of
change and disruption, the coMmunication thcory docs not havc asatisfactory
answer. Human behaviour is highly complex andvery often unpredictabie and
in terms of the
the atten1pt made by the communication theoryto explain it
principles of engineering, appears higly mechanistic in nature. The similarity
between mechanical and organicconstructs is superficial and does not go very
Young has drawn
far. Consequences are cqually important as processes. Oran quantification in
theattention tothe dangers of false counting and destroying
the search for performance indicators. science
It is not possible to apply models taken from engineering to political
has become a futile
in allcases. It may also bepointed out that model building
analysis of
intellectual exercise in terms of meeting human requirements or
increasingly
human behaviour. It does not serve the purpose for which it is being
uscd in social sciences. Models are generally used to explain complex phenomena
complex that instead of
in simple terms, but Deutsch has made his models so confusion. Further, it is
explaining the phenomenon they have created more
confused with the
noticed that terms taken from engineering are very often
the desired meaning.
terms of every day use and as such they fail to conveycommunication theory
Thus both at the structural and the substantive level the
communication theory is
suffers from serious limitations and lapses. The
therefore, rarely used in empirical research. when one tries to
The limitations of the theory become more evident
politica! science is
operationalise it. Thus, meaning of communication in
entirely different from communication in engineering.
CONCLUSION
studies have been
In conclusion it nay be observed that although some
the cybernetics
made in political science on the communication processes,There is no doubt
theory ofKarl Deutsch has not been able to influence many.
political science
that Deutsch has made outstanding contribution to the study of more than
through his communication theory, but it is hardly anything regarding
suggestive. Through his models, he has raised a number of questionsanswering
in
the performance of govern1ments, but these models are of little use
the questions.