Comparing Media Systems
Three Models of Media and Politics

A comparative analysis of the relation between the media and the political system.

Daniel C. Hallin (Author), Paolo Mancini (Author)

9780521543088, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 April 2004

360 pages, 3 b/w illus. 18 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.53 kg

'There is much of interest, much to be learnt and much food for thought in this book and it is likely to be welcomed, quoted and pored over.' European Journal of Communication

Building on a survey of media institutions in eighteen West European and North American democracies, Hallin and Mancini identify the principal dimensions of variation in media systems and the political variables which have shaped their evolution. They go on to identify three major models of media system development (the Polarized Pluralist, Democratic Corporatist and Liberal models) to explain why the media have played a different role in politics in each of these systems, and to explore the forces of change that are currently transforming them. It provides a key theoretical statement about the relation between media and political systems, a key statement about the methodology of comparative analysis in political communication and a clear overview of the variety of media institutions that have developed in the West, understood within their political and historical context.

Part I. Concepts and Models: 1. Introduction
2. Comparing media systems
3. The political context of media systems
4. Media and politics and the question of differentiation
Part II. The Three Models: 5. Mediterranean or polarized model
6. North/Central European or democratic corporatist model
7. North Atlantic or liberal model
Part III. The Future of the Models: 8. Homogenization
9. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Media studies [JFD]