Gianpietro Mazzoleni La comunicazione politica Chapter 9 The citizen-voter Gianpietro Mazzoleni La comunicazione politica Chapter 9

What is public opinion? Public opinion is based on citizenship An opinion is a changeable predisposition due to Schemata Values Group identifications

Different kinds of public opinion General public, generally not very informed Qualified public, a minority of well informed citizens Active public, informed and involved Public of voters, involved and sharing a vote intention Latent public opinion, unclear but deep-rooted Perceived majority, generated by the political debate

Public opinion and media 1 Media as sources of knowledge As a starter As an intervener As reinforcement or distortion

Public opinion and media 2 Media as deliverers of frames

Public opinion and media 3 Media as tools for persuading Source Credibility Attractiveness Message Saliency Intensity Repetitiveness Differentiation One-sidedness Ranking

Public opinion and interpersonal communication Diadic influence: from an opinion leader to an individual Group influence: from an opinion leader to a group Spiral of silence: from the public opinion to an individual

The effects of political communication: first theories Mass society and behaviorism: people can be easily manipulated Columbia approach: the theory of minimal effects Michigan approach: party identification as a key concept

The effects of political communication: recent theories Active public Dependency from the media Information processing Affective intelligence Social constructivism Agenda setting Framing Priming