Do the Media Set the Parliamentary Agenda? A Comparative Study in Seven Countries

• In Event: Comparative Perspectives in Political Communication Research

Abstract

A growing body of work has examined the relationship between media and politics from an agenda-setting perspective: is attention for issues initiated by political elites and do the media follow suit or is the reversed relation stronger? A long series of single-country studies has suggested a number of agenda-setting patterns but these have never been confirmed in a comparative approach. In a comparative, longitudinal design including comparable media and politics evidence for seven European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK), the study highlights a number of generic patterns. Additionally, we show how the political system matters. Overall, the media are a stronger inspirer of political action in countries with single-party governments compared to countries with multiple-party governments. But, this larger media effect is fully due to the higher reactivity of the opposition parties; government parties are more reactive to media under multi-party governments.

Authors

• Rens Vliegenthart, U of Amsterdam

• Stefaan Walgrave, University of Antwerp

• Laura Chaqués Bonafont, U of Barcelona

• Peter Mortensen, Aarhus U

• Pascal Sciarini, U of Geneva

• Anke Daniela Tresch, U of Geneva

• Shaun Bevan, U of Mannheim

• will jennings, U of Southampton

• Frank Baumgartner, U of North Carolina - Chapel Hill