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

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

3. 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

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

5. Public opinion and media 2 Media as deliverers of frames

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

7. 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

8. 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

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