1. Gianpietro Mazzoleni La comunicazione politica Chapter 6
Political Actors
Gianpietro Mazzoleni
La comunicazione politica
Chapter 6

2. Who are “political actors”?
Partisan actors: parties and party leaders, candidates, interest groups
Institutional actors: government, parliament, judiciary

3. The US presidential government

4. Presidents in presidential systems
The powers of the US president are limited by the Congress, especially in the periods of “divided government”
In order to overcome the Congress’ control, the president may “go public” by using rhetorical tools
Three strategies are available
Manipulation
Media management
Narrative

5. The French semi-presidential government

6. Presidents in semi-presidential systems
Operating in Europe, these presidents make use of an extended public media system

7. Governments
Public communication: official reports by government’s specialized departments
Political communication: it is directed towards media, coalition partners and opposition parties

8. Governments’ political communication
Available strategies
Media management
Information management
Image management
This strategies are embedded with
Proximity, in Mediterranean democracies
Spin, in Anglo-Saxon democracies

9. Parliaments
Institutional communication: press conference, briefings, official reports
Informal communication: rumors receivable only by journalists, sharing with the MPs a relationship of brotherhood

10. Parliaments and television
Since some years, televisions make live coverage of the parliaments:

11. Parties and political movements
Traditional parties: both interparty and intraparty communication are today reported by the media rather than by partisan and parliamentarian channels
Forza Italia: birth of the medial-personal party
Five Star Movement: birth of the on line party

12. Judiciary
Everywhere a three-way relationship politics-judiciary-media exists
In Italy the judiciary prevailed in the 1990s

13. Terrorism
Declarative terrorism: violence is simultaneously combined with a related explanation
PS terrorism: violence is followed by an explanation afterwards
Hermeneutic terrorism: no declaration follows the violent action