I.1. Introduction and Problem Definition
On its way from an economical partnership to a political union the EU has faced a long-time debate about its democratic deficits. Discussions and proposed remedies focused mainly on the institutional side of the problem and the ques-tion of how the institutions can be democratised. Since the 1990s the debate about European identity and citizenship attracted the limelight of the political debate within the European Union. However, this paper will neither focus on the institutional nor on the identity part of the debate about the democratic deficits of the EU, but will focus on a dimension in between.
Direct democracy, as in the Greek city states, is, because of the size of modern democracies, not feasible anymore. The media is needed to communicate deci-sions (top-down) as well as the will of the people (bottom-up). (Mass-) media creates publicity. On a national level there is a network of print, TV and online media, which creates a tight arrangement of top-down and bottom-up communi-cation: national publicity. The European Union, with its multi-level-governance structures and the heterogeneous identities, is more complex than a nation state.
European Publicity can be seen from two angles: In the first place European Publicity as “EU wide publicity” – which means Europe wide media and also a common communication-place for European topics from a huge variety of par-ticipants. From this angle the lack of “a common European Media” – although attempts like “Euronews” are a first step - could be analysed. Furthermore there is a language problem with regard to “EU wide publicity”. Within the EU there is no common language; therefore there cannot be (at the moment) media which is comprehensible for everyone. To summarize this part of European publicity: If no one listens there cannot be publicity. But this view is of no relevance for this paper. [...]
Table of Content
I. Introduction and Methodology
I.1. Introduction and Problem Definition
I.2. Methodology and Research Design
II. The Model
II.1. Publicity as interaction between EU-MLG and Europeans
II.1.a. The Basics
II.1.a.1. What is meant by EU-MLG?
II.1.a.2. Who are Europeans?
II.1.a.3. What is meant by Publicity?
II.1.b. The influence of Media
II.1.b.1. Media and EU-MLG
II.1.b.2. Media and Europeans
II.1.b.3. Media and Publicity
II.2. Publicity as a Requirement for Democracy
II.2.a. An ideal Democracy
II.2.b. The Role of Publicity in a Democracy
II.3. The Model in a Nutshell
III. The Reality
III.1. Preliminary Remarks
III.2. Newspaper Analysis
III.2.a. Inter-Event-Comparison
III.2.b. Inter-Newspaper-Comparison
III.3. Results of the Newspaper Analysis
IV. Conclusion
Research Goals and Key Topics
The primary research objective of this thesis is to examine the relationship between European publicity, through media coverage, and the level of democratic legitimacy within the European Union. By developing a theoretical model, the work investigates whether the lack of media coverage for European issues contributes to a democratic deficit by hindering the necessary top-down and bottom-up communication between European institutions and citizens.
- Interrelation between EU Multi-Level Governance and European publicity.
- The impact of media coverage on the legitimacy of EU political structures.
- Comparative analysis of German newspaper reporting on Bundestag and European Parliament elections.
- The connection between publicity, enlightened understanding, and effective participation as democratic requirements.
- Identification of obstacles to establishing a common European public sphere.
Excerpt from the Book
I.1. Introduction and Problem Definition
On its way from an economical partnership to a political union the EU has faced a long-time debate about its democratic deficits. Discussions and proposed remedies focused mainly on the institutional side of the problem and the question of how the institutions can be democratised. Since the 1990s the debate about European identity and citizenship attracted the limelight of the political debate within the European Union. However, this paper will neither focus on the institutional nor on the identity part of the debate about the democratic deficits of the EU, but will focus on a dimension in between.
Direct democracy, as in the Greek city states, is, because of the size of modern democracies, not feasible anymore. The media is needed to communicate decisions (top-down) as well as the will of the people (bottom-up). (Mass-) media creates publicity. On a national level there is a network of print, TV and online media, which creates a tight arrangement of top-down and bottom-up communication: national publicity. The European Union, with its multi-level-governance structures and the heterogeneous identities, is more complex than a nation state.
European Publicity can be seen from two angles: In the first place European Publicity as “EU wide publicity” – which means Europe wide media and also a common communication-place for European topics from a huge variety of participants. From this angle the lack of “a common European Media” – although attempts like “Euronews” are a first step - could be analysed. Furthermore there is a language problem with regard to “EU wide publicity”. Within the EU there is no common language; therefore there cannot be (at the moment) media which is comprehensible for everyone. To summarize this part of European publicity: If no one listens there cannot be publicity. But this view is of no relevance for this paper.
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction and Methodology: This chapter defines the research problem regarding EU democratic deficits and introduces the methodological approach of using a comparative newspaper analysis to test the correlation between publicity and democracy.
II. The Model: This section presents a theoretical framework explaining the interplay between multi-level governance, media-driven publicity, and the democratic requirements of enlightened understanding and effective participation.
III. The Reality: The third chapter applies the theoretical model to practical data by conducting a quantitative analysis of four German newspapers to compare media coverage of national versus European elections.
IV. Conclusion: The final chapter synthesizes the findings, arguing that a significant lack of European publicity exists, which reinforces democratic deficits and necessitates increased communication efforts to democratize the EU.
Keywords
European Union, European Publicity, Multi-Level Governance, Democratic Deficit, Media Coverage, Political Communication, Newspaper Analysis, Legitimacy, Enlightened Understanding, Effective Participation, European Identity, European Parliament, Bundestag Election.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research examines the extent to which the level of European publicity, defined by media coverage of EU-related topics, correlates with the level of democracy within the European Union.
What are the central themes addressed in this study?
The work focuses on the interaction between multi-level governance, the media system, and European citizens, specifically investigating how publicity serves as a necessary mechanism for democratic legitimacy.
What is the primary research question?
The central question is: To what extent is the level of European publicity, with regard to media coverage, related to the level of democracy in the European Union?
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The author uses deductive reasoning to develop a theoretical model, which is then tested through a quantitative comparative analysis of front-page newspaper reporting across two different electoral events.
What does the main body cover?
The main body establishes a theoretical model of EU publicity as a link between governance and citizens, explains why publicity is a requirement for democracy based on Robert Dahl’s criteria, and presents the empirical analysis of German press coverage.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
Key terms include European Publicity, Multi-Level Governance, Democratic Deficit, Media Coverage, and Political Communication.
Why did the author choose to analyze only front-page coverage?
Front-pages are analyzed because they display the most important news of the day, reflecting what is considered "newsworthy" by editorial boards to attract readers, thus serving as a proxy for the level of public discourse.
How do the findings regarding the European Parliament election compare to the Bundestag election?
The analysis reveals that media coverage of the European Parliament election is significantly lower—approximately one-third—compared to the coverage of the national Bundestag election, indicating a lack of substantial European publicity.
- Quote paper
- Hannah Cosse (Author), 2005, European Publicity - A new way to democratise the EU?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/65880
