This reception work was carried out with the intention of analyzing Political Communication within the digital world, with the change in ICT's since the introduction of the internet and in our days, social networks.
Within the writing you can see various meanings of the term Communication as part of our first chapter, with the help of different authors and the various perspectives under which it is studied, the Socio-Critical, Structural and Functionalist, analyzing from Aristotelian times to the present day, The different elements involved in the communication process will also be analyzed, which have different purposes within the Communication, for example, depending on the type of issuer, it will be the type of objective that the Communication seeks. As part of the functionalist structure and entering what is the digital age will see the change of attitude on the part of the receivers, who are now in turn emitters.
With the Political part or also known as "Power", you will see some definitions of the term, to then describe its part as science and a brief explanation of part as theory.
In the Political Communication section, as in the previous chapters, there will be various definitions of the term, as well as a brief overview of the communication perspectives and different models of the communication process, which will be analyzed in the first chapter, this will be adding the element of "The Power" or "Politics", which although it does not change the communicative models, if it alters them a little due to the search for influence that it hopes to generate in its recipients, under this purpose which seeks persuasion.
Taking into account the entry of the internet and social networks as part of the communication supports and the new generations, which we will be able to detail later on, which have quite peculiar characteristics, unlike the predecessors, is that the analysis of the change that is being generated within the Political Communication.
All with compilation of bibliographic material, technical magazines, internet pages related to the subject. Trying with this project to understand this topic of interest.
PROBLEM
Both communication and politics have been the foundations of society, and since their beginnings they have worked one according to the other, politics has used communication to influence its public, seeking methods to achieve acceptance or conviction of These, in addition to collecting information from their audiences in order to find out public opinion, Felipe Chao Ebergenyi (2017) argues that "communication and politics have always been closely linked, everything that is political communicates or is not political".
The techniques have been refined over the years. but not only have communication techniques been modified, but communication media have also been changing, Campos Freire, Francisco (2008) mentions that “the advances in ICTs have incorporated new tools and forms of interactivity, social networks that they place before a new phase of a service society even much more accelerated and in which the attention appears more segmented, personalized, instantaneous… ”and it is that with the entry of social networks the conception of communication channels as we knew them until a few years ago they saw the need to reinvent themselves at the beginning of the 21st century, since they work in a more personal way with audiences, achieving bilateral communication in real time and empowering the user,contrary to traditional media where feedback is not obtained from the audience or the information may not be personalized. This situation was further highlighted with the entry of Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005, Twitter in 2006 and Instagram in 2010, just to mention some of the most influential networks in Mexico today (AMIPCI, 2017).
It is not surprising that the new generations prefer the use of social networks rather than some traditionalist medium, since in addition to having been born almost at the same time, these supports offer an immense amount of benefits for the young public that by their nature seeks the easier, more suitable and digestible processes for obtaining information, for their part, these supports grant a sense of belonging to a “social group”, giving the user the opportunity to acquire a certain status, a benefit that no native of the digital age would dare to to refuse.
Thanks to the dynamism that social media offers us by achieving a participatory audience, with blogging tools, live videos and the digitization of social groups, it was not surprising that political communication took time to become involved in the use of these supports, since, as well as offering a wide variety of benefits for the receiver, it does the same for the sender, for example, social networks omit the mediation that exists in traditional media, such as audiovisual and print, a point that has become the passage of time to these supports in a fundamental communicative instrument in the emission of political messages, with the idea of generating or maintaining a good image before this type of public.
However, it must be taken into account that understanding the use of social networks is not always easy, since the main audience that is intended to reach through these supports are very particular individuals, people who have been born, grown up and understood technological tools like no other generation, in addition to belonging to medium to high socioeconomic levels, with the ability to own smart devices such as smartphones, tablets or laptops, interested in the information that can be obtained through social networks and that they like feeling close to the country's political-democratic processes, in addition to showing great interest in political actors, campaign proposals, political parties, among other issues (AMIPCI, 2017).
Therefore, within this written work, the main object of study will be Political Communication, where its historical background, various concepts will be analyzed, as well as a tour of the different communication media that it has used until reaching the social networks, and the answer will be: What role have social networks played as a tool in political communication strategies?
JUSTIFICATION
The increasing use of social networks at the global level is a trend that continues to rise from the moment of its creation, Mexico is no exception and it is positioned as the fourth country that most uses social networks in Latin America and the Caribbean (Latinobarómetro 2016), with just over 63% of the active population on the internet that has at least a profile on some social network, which translates to 77 million Mexicans using these supports (AMIPCI, 2017).
The use of social networks as a global digital platform for social interaction is indisputable. In Mexico the most popular networks are: Facebook with just over 73 million users, WhatsApp with 71 million, YouTube with 55 million, Twitter with 50 million, Instagram with 45 million, Google+ with 44 million, among others (AMIPCI, 2017) In addition, it is known that on average each user within the country is active on 5 social networks using 8 hours a day.
In addition, this audience is concerned with obtaining information related to political-democratic processes since 92% of social network users say that the use of the internet has brought them closer to these processes, likewise, they show great interest and willingness to know the next political messages, the topics that they hope to know the most are: campaign proposals, political public figures, analysis and transparency cases.
This is where the importance of knowing if social networks are being used as a tool in political-communication processes, since having an audience in expectation and with the disposition to dialogue with your interlocutor must analyze and reflect if the sender of the message is taking full advantage of these supports.
OVERALL OBJECTIVE
Know the role that social media management has played as a tool in political communication strategies and understand if its use could contribute to bringing political figures closer to younger audiences.
SCOPE AND LIMITS
A mainly descriptive research will be carried out on the object of study because there is already prior information on the subject, the purposes of this work will be to know the background of the research topic, as well as describe the current situation of the topic in terms of use of social networks in Mexico, without going so far as to propose any methodology or method of working with social networks for use in relation to political communication.
CHAPTER 1. COMMUNICATION
The first concept to be defined is Communication and within this section we will take on the task of clarifying its meaning, bearing in mind that each author has his own perspective of what this concept means.
The following thoughts arise from the same idea but different authors, "all societies require communication as a fundamental element in the operation of this", as Cortés (2008) mentions "every community is formed as the result of the first formation of a code emission and reception system ”, which implies that for an functional society to exist, an efficient communication system must first be found in use, in the case of Pasquali (1978), who maintains that“ communication appears in the very moment in which the social structure begins to take shape… where there is no communication, no social structure can be formed ”,For his part, Cáceres (2009) shares the same thinking and proposes the following phrase “it was this that facilitated the grouping of hominid communities and gave way to the evolution of society and, later, of culture… the relationship between language and culture it is direct: languages disappear when a culture is extinguished ”(p. 180), the terms communication and language / language are independent despite maintaining an identity relationship, although as mentioned
May (1981) there may be a "non-linguistic communication and a non-communicative language", however, understanding that without communication the existence of any society is not possible, we can give rise to the ideas of some other authors about what is meant by communication under their own perspectives.
Schutz (1974) states that "it implies sharing the flow of the other's experiences in the interior time, this living through a common present that constitutes the experience of the us, which is the foundation of all possible communication" (p. 173), also explains that for good communication there must be a "you" for it to be conceived, since it is the actor to whom the message is addressed and seeking the purpose of the message being interpreted correctly or with the intention that the issuer wants.
Years later, May (1981) makes an allusion to the term under the reference of the linguistic sciences, where:
“Communication is any phenomenon or process of passing information and / or reception through significant messages (linguistic or non-linguistic) between systems (individuals, interlocutors) and recipients in interaction that, starting from something in common (context) and using means Adequate (channels) have the effect of dynamically affecting (changing, modifying, influencing) their respective states in a variable way ”(p. 44).
These models study the practice of daily communication and its effects on the masses, actions that often repair buying, voting, watching or listening to a radio or television program. Next, some of the best known theories such as those of Harold Laswell or McQuail will be exposed. From the first analysis of communication and the elements that intervene in it, various authors emerge who take on the task of investigating and creating the current communication theories that are known to this day.
We will begin by describing the "Rhetorical Arts" or "Speech Arts" which have existed since the 4th century BC. C. Thanks to the studies carried out by Aristotle, where he calls communication "Rhetoric" in his writing "Collection of Rhetorical Arts", it is there that he mentions three elements that he considers main within rhetoric:
- "Who" is the origin of all communication, look for a response from the receiver. "It says what" is the message, "By which channel" is it about the means used to transmit the message. "To whom" is the recipient of the message. "With what effect" is it about the impact with which you want issue the message.
These previously mentioned theories have base elements that years later would serve to formulate the theory of "Uses and gratifications" where the receiver is understood as the main actor in the communication process. The public becomes an active element, unlike the role they play in past theories, he mentions that now the message is used as part of the "effect" where it will serve to satisfy the needs of the audience, in addition to granting the option of media choice, as mentioned by Lundberg / Hulten (1968):
"It is the receiver who primarily determines that a communication process occurs, or not… In addition, members of the audience are rational, active, goal-directed individuals with decision-making power regarding the use of the media and its messages. Different people use the media to satisfy particular needs or interests. ”
In this theory we can see that power is now held by the receiver of the message, which can also now generate a “feedback” towards the sender.
Pasquali bases his notes "Understanding Communication" on this simple formula "Sender - Medium - of - Communication - Receiver", where he implies that the media has revolutionized the way communication is done. In his own words, Pasquali defines the media as «an artifact that expands, facilitates, perfects, increases, refines and, in short, extends a pre-existing natural capacity of man», a tool that will serve to facilitate communication, and also manages to separate the concept of communication of the role of the media as an instrument within the process.
As a definition, Pasquali explains that "Communication is the human community relationship consisting of the emission-reception of messages between interlocutors in a state of total reciprocity, being therefore an essential factor of coexistence and a determining element of the forms assumed by the sociability of man" (pp. 5152). Among the receiver's ideal participation functions are: freely choosing to be the recipient, deciding the channel of his choice, decoding and understanding the message, all considering an implementation of Communication Ethics.
Towards the year of 1959 Charles R. Wright mentions that within mass communication "the communicator tends to be or operate within it a complex formal organization that may involve large expenses", such a communicator addresses an anonymous but broad mass through the "mass media", such as television, radio, cinema or print, and seeks to reach as many viewers as possible by broadcasting a simultaneous message.
Years later, with the studies carried out by McQuail (1983), a window opens up to new ways of understanding how the communication process works and the role played by each of the elements of this model and in his writing on "Introduction to mass communication theory ”states that the“ mass media are; resource of power, a potential instrument of control and innovation, primary source of fame in the public sphere, in addition, the media monopolize most of the leisure and entertainment activities ”(p. 28), both Wright and McQuail they have a perspective based on the effects that the media cause on the receivers, going from the studies of the “mass media” to the “uses and gratifications”.
The change in the media arises at the same time that society is changing, in this way the “Theory of the Media and Society” is born, in which it is explained that the public, now active, seeks to obtain information from social institutions through the media autonomously, leaving the interpretation of messages by referring to their personal experience and what they want to know, as Cáceres (2009) mentions about the processes “these conceptions of communication within of mass culture abandons the traditional sender-message-receiver model for the production – distribution – consumption model, but the circulation of information continues to prevail ”, as illustrated in the following graph.
Based on functionalist studies and the elements of the process already described, Cáceres (2008) proposes to explore the presence of cybernetics within the communication field, locating models that share elements or adapt to new media, and mentions that it is necessary to “find out which models in our field are anchored in premises derived from cybernetics ”(p. 500) since in recent years more studies have emerged on the link that exists between new“ mass media ”such as the internet, the tools it includes and its relationship with communication, such relevant issues for today's society.
One of the predominant characteristics within this new model established by McQuail is the degree of consumer participation, who now, in addition to generating feedback to the issuer, are aware of the role played by the younger generations especially in the communication process. which decide for themselves the communication channels through which they want to stay informant, unlike the older generations that make use of traditionalist media.
Some of the main characteristics of these new consumers, now called "prosumers", are:
- The degree of information, they are very active audiences and they are not satisfied with the information obtained through traditional channels. He dares to compare the information, so his decisions are more thoughtful than those of the rest. He is more determined and does not have Filters when using social networks. So you could say that they are considered Internet users, their favorite channels are on the Internet. He likes to be heard, taken into account.
Within this section we show the elements that intervene in communication processes, in addition to contextualizing the different functionalist models that have existed, from Aristotle to McQuail's theories, which we will use to illustrate the situation of Political Communication.
CHAPTER 2. POLICY
Next, the concept of Policy will be analyzed with reference to some authors who have been in charge of giving meaning to the term. Although we are talking about a fairly broad topic, Weber (sf) distinguishes this meaning of the term politics:
"In a broad sense, politics is any autonomous managerial activity of any group or community, we would say that it is the specific line of their conduct: this is how one can speak of company policy, union policy, etc. With greater rigor and in a more restrictive sense, only the direction or influence over the direction of a political association, that is, of a State, is considered political. ”
Weber considers that politics is a merely directive activity, in addition we can notice that there is no relationship whatsoever of the "State" with any other element, which varies from the explanation that Cortés (sf) offers us where he expresses that it is "art to govern the peoples ”(p.12), in the same way that Aristotle explained, where the purpose of the communication called by him rhetoric, is precisely to achieve persuasion in the receiver of the message or as Machiavelli considers it, which he understands that politics is, first of all, the study of power struggles between men.
The term "politics" is generally related to the activities of the government, political parties, the State, elections, public institutions, among others, as can be found in the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (2017) where it is considered as "Art, doctrine or opinion regarding the government of the States "or" activity of those who govern or aspire to govern public affairs ", these ideas are very limited, and that is that politics is also the center of any collective social activity, either public or private of all kinds of institutions.
Politics has captured the attention of both philosophers and historians since ancient Greece, where the object of study began to be considered as "human actions of power", or simply, political acts. Within the Greek etymology it is derived from the word "polis", a term that refers to the community made up of a group of men who resided in a defined territory, who constituted a practically self-sufficient entity and was governed by their own government.
Echavarria (1984) mentions that “Politics would be activities related to the city, or more specifically, city government. And we would apply the qualifier of political, to designate that necessary condition of human beings who live, as a consequence of their own nature, in a specific form of human society, the city "(p. 139) and Aristotle in Echavarria" only the man is a politician, the gods or animals do not need the city ", for his part, Rousseau in Tamayo (2012) would define politics as" the activity that aims to regulate and coordinate social life through a function of order, defense and justice to maintain the improvement and cohesion of a certain social group ”(p. 16), which suggests that politics is based on human social activities,in the collectivity of their peoples, in communication relationships and in their organizational capacity, which are focused on achieving an end, which will generally be to achieve the common good.
Politic science
Understanding that societies are the natural scene of politics, it must be taken for granted that it is nourished by the relations that exist between the government and the citizenry, the capacity for leadership, power and autonomy are also essential elements for the existence of these links between both actors, so their role should not be neglected.
It is clear that each author will have his own definition of politics, and although it is likely to vary from that of someone else, it must be borne in mind that politics is a science, since it has a scientific method which leads to the knowledge of political acts, as well as the reality that surrounds it. In addition, it has its own structure and theories, which consolidates it as a discipline, unlike other subjects of a social nature, such as philosophy, history or anthropology.
Nicolás Machiavelli is esteemed as the father of Political Science, thanks to his writing "The Prince" in the 16th century, where he considers "power" as the ability to govern and exercise dominion over others, likewise, is A characteristic that offers greatness and prestige, the media are a political part, so they will help to achieve and maintain power.
From the perspective of Catholic doctrine, power is in function of the service of human growth and the media must work under morality to spread political acts, for their part, the people can freely choose their representatives.
It was not until the second half of the 19th century that this term began to be used, previously it was used to refer especially to certain political and state phenomena, decades later it would begin to be used more widely in political life. Tamayo (2012) mentions that:
“Political science is a discipline that within the framework of the social sciences aims, through the scientific method, to transcend opinion and the description of political events into systematic knowledge. It is rigorous, explanatory and potentially applicative, which is why it is considered a social science that develops its field of study both in theory and in practice from the description and analysis of individual political systems and behaviors, of society and of the State., and, its levels of theorizing are descriptive, explanatory and interpretive ”(p. 20).
At present it is known as "political science" to the body of knowledge that historically has been shaped in volume and in direct relationship with the State and its relations with society, for Serna (sf):
“State is an order of coexistence, a product of culture, that is, an artificial creation of the way of life of human communities, to make life possible in a society. It is a constant formation of legal norms, customs, habits and practices renewed uninterruptedly before the social demands and necessary to adapt or guide human behavior in new orders of social relations ”.
The word State arose as a replacement for reign, possession, principality, community, republic, domain and empire, currently it also replaces "political system", "government" and "power".
Bolívar (2001) mentions two broad purposes of political science, first "the will to integrate into an autonomous and independent science, and second, to achieve a theoretical and systematic political structure of its own" (p. 55), which seeks to understand the relationship that exists between this science and others of a social nature in order to understand its characteristics.
Although the Policy is based on human interactions of a social nature, which imply power or authority in its process, the Political Sciences hope to explain these relationships through laws, authoritarian decisions or mutual agreements.
Easton D. (nd) defines political science as "the study of the way in which decisions are made in a given society and its relationship with the majority of the population."
When speaking of the object of study within Political Science, we refer to the sum of the parts of the term "State" and "Society", of the relationship and development of both parts, Soltau in Echavarria (sf) defines it as In the same way, where "politics consists of all State activities: political science consists of the study of the State, its objectives, the institutions that allow its realization, the relations of the State with its individual members and with the other lists, all State activity ”
McQuail (2000) in turn mentions the intentionality of the activity generated by the audience as "" the process by which the active audience performs cognitive processing of information that arrives and consciously chooses based on it "(p.479), however, science does not intervene or affect the object of study in the process, it simply studies and analyzes it.
This type of study focuses on the relationship that exists between the people and the State, between the rulers and the ruled, between citizenship and power, in other words it is based on the execution of democracy, knowing that there is a Science of Communication, it must be taken into account that there are various methods to execute it, all aimed at understanding political relations, these methods seek validity before all audiences, that is, universality, a characteristic that democracy also seeks within the exercise of government. It should be borne in mind that both are exercised at the same time.
Among the most used research methods for the study of Political Science we can find two of which Tamayo (2012) talks about the comparative method and the historical method, which tell us about the following:
- Comparative method, it is precisely about comparing different political systems, societies and their behavior, as well as knowing what has arisen over time, the main objective is not to obtain their similarities and differences, but they may well function as part of an explanation of the processes. Although it was started by comparing foreign governments, nowadays one can go further and compare organizations, institutions, political parties, candidates, public figures, legislatures and political systems in general, they can cover from the international to the local. Historical method, such as its name says it makes a journey through time, looking for the historical background of politics and in turn,highlighting the political milestones around the world in order to rescue the constants within the political systems, the more data obtained the greater the results. They can be determined by periods, epochs, phases, years or lapses, all these arranged chronologically, in sequence to obtain the data descriptions or their analysis.
Political Science should not neglect its direct relationship with other social subjects, such as philosophy, history or anthropology, since they function as auxiliaries within political knowledge, as listed by Tamayo (2012):
- Political Philosophy, tries to achieve knowledge and explanation of political facts in a theoretical way, is in charge of studying fundamental questions about government, politics, freedom, democracy, justice, property, rights and the application of a Legal code by authority, but more than its application, political philosophy seeks to relate these phenomena to ethics and the common good, according to the moment or historical epoch of each society. Political History or Political Theory, the study of doctrines is carried out policies elaborated by thinkers in the course of history, the analysis of the facts, ideas and socio-political movements allow to structure the power relations of the modern state (p. 26).
Political Theory
The latter, has the same objective of Political Science, the study of everything related to power, political thinking and connection with society, but manages to differentiate itself in its task of studying it over the years to reach study of a final cause.
As can be seen in the following figure (graph 7), the element that is added unlike Political Science is “time”, but in addition to this there are more elements that intervene in the development of Political Theory, such as order social that exists, which is based on the hierarchical order and the relationship of those who comprise it.
Since communities have existed, there has been a social order within the relationship of man and society, in addition to the economic, and therefore political, often being the social position determined by economic-political factors, being further highlighted by the execution of power since as mentioned
Aristotle (nd) "political power is that which was exercised over free men, not over things, differentiating three types of power: paternal, despotic and political", in turn Weber in Tamayo (2012) also classifies three types of power; “Political, economic and ideological; Political power differs from the rest by laying the foundations of legitimacy and having the means of physical coercion, while the economic rests on wealth and ideology on the control of the means of persuasion and the influence of ideas "(p.37).
Whether the word command, power, dominance, authority, influence or simply power is used, it will have no effect if it is not exercised. Speaking of the governed, although they do not directly exercise power, they do feed it and help its construction, since there may be a role of interest or disinterest in this phenomenon.
The last graph of this chapter shows us the relationship that exists between the object of study that has already been described before and as from that Science and Political Theory emerge, in turn, we can see that Science uses various methods to his study, where the most used are the Comparative and the Historical.
With this we give continuity to the next chapter, once having a conceptual approximation of the two sciences that concern it "Communication" and "Politics" we can start the study of "Political Communication".
CHAPTER 3.
POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
Within this chapter an approximation on the concept of "Political Communication" will be given, since it is made up of two different sciences as we have already mentioned; Communication and Politics, although they arise from different demands of society over the years, have seen the need to unite. These disciplines were analyzed separately until arriving at a slightly more generalized idea about the object of study from the different perspectives of communication and politics.
In the previous chapters, a tour was made that illustrates the different schools of communication, from a critical, structuralist and functionalist perspective, in order to be able to illustrate their meaning and understand the elements that intervene in the communication process. political term through the various authors who have been commissioned to study it, along with Political Science and Theory.
Once having a little clearer the meaning of "Politics" and "Communication" it will be possible to formulate an acceptance of the term "Political Communication", beginning with that of Meadow in Cortés (nd) where he defines it as "the exchange of symbols or messages that, to a significant extent, have been shared by, or have consequences for, the functioning of the political system ”(p.14); Ochoa (2000) in Cortés (sf) explains how the “transmission and reception of messages, from and to the components of the political system” (p.15), both authors share the idea that the importance of Political Communication lies in the transfer of information, which is the basis for all political activity to exist.
An approach to what the political system is according to David Easton (sf), which explains it as "the conduct or set of actions through which valid obligations or binding decisions are created and imposed on society", all from the political perspective.
Ochoa (1999) considers that the process of political communication “consists, fundamentally, in the exchange of messages of a political nature, between senders and receivers. Said roles can be performed indistinctly or simultaneously by government and citizens within a framework of the social system ”(p. 19), in this way it is sought that each of the political elements be integrated into the communication process to contribute to the relationship of governor and governed, in addition, this type of communication will adapt depending on the political system that is requiring it.
As Cotteret mentions in Reyes (2011) "the political system pursues precise objectives within society: to maintain or modify the social order" (p. 93), here lies the importance of legality around the political system and seeks to implement values within society, also mentions that "political communication consists of the voluntary passage of a political message from a sender to a receiver, with the intention of dragging the recipient in a certain direction, so that it cannot be routed to another ”(p. 94), the latter implies that there is a relationship of power on the part of the sender to the receiver, it will hardly be an equal relationship.
Political Communication works under a specific purpose, as Aristotle mentioned in his studies on rhetoric, where he not only seeks to inform the receiver but also convince and persuade, this process will seek to integrate all the communicative figures.
Valles en Reyes (2011) exposes two models of political communication:
- Telegraph model, is conceived as a linear relationship; the emitters elaborate and emit the message that is received and deciphered by the receiver; Communication is considered here as a bilateral exercise. Orchestral model, a relationship in which a multitude of actors intervene, who emit simultaneous messages, accessible in real time and are reinterpreted by the receivers who can react on the fly and intervene again. The process becomes something similar to the concert offered by an orchestra (p. 98, 99).
According to Valles, three elements intervene in the telegraph model; sender, message and receiver, but only senders will broadcast the message to the receiver. In the Political Communication there must be feedback, so the second model integrates this element, seeks reaction from the recipients, that is, public opinion.
Wolton in Reyes (2011) refers to Political Communication as a “space in which the contradictory discourses of the three actors who have the legitimacy to express themselves publicly about politics are exchanged, and that they are the politicians, journalists and public opinion through polls ”(p. 95), unlike the previous authors, he mentions a dynamic relationship between sender and receiver, where the political issues that revolve around them are discussed.
Democracy is an important point as a flow between "Politics - Information - Communication", the media and journalists will act as mediators in the interaction of actors (Governor and governed), leaving public opinion behind.
In the definition that Wolton offers us we can find the following characteristics:
- Interaction between the three actors (politicians, media and citizens). Importance of democracy, where everyone can be part of political life. Information communication with flow from political actors to the governed, taking the media communication as mediators, it is necessary to know public opinion. The sender can become receiver and vice versa.
Valles in Reyes (2011) mentions that the constant movement “back and forth between transmitters and receivers makes communication an uninterrupted exercise that never ceases and in which the multitude of participants are permanently involved, albeit at rhythms and with intensities different ”(p. 96), since through various media tools public opinion can record the reactions of citizens.
Within all this interaction we can find the relationship that exists between political figures and the media (owners and journalists), where clearly, it will be sought that messages are disseminated through the media to achieve recognition before society, we must take into account He says that each actor should not deviate from his role. Democracy is an important point within the model, since it mentions the relationship between Politics - Information - Communication, where the former is the political system, the latter the media (journalists) and the latter is the interaction of citizens with political issues.
Paraphrasing Ochoa in Reyes (2011), a model of political communication arises when the message is adapted to political needs, from the way it is said to the effect it is expected to have on recipients, both citizens like the media, the latter will act as mediators and opinion leaders.
The following graph shows the relationship between "Politics, Political Communication and Communication", as well as some of the elements, models, perspectives and methods that emerge from each one. For the elaboration of this graph, graphs 1 and 6 were combined.
Within the graph we can find the direct relationship that exists from politics to communication, as we already know, political communication has two methods, the telegraph and the orchestra. The perspectives seen in chapter one (sociocritical, structuralist and functionalist) will be the basis for the analysis of political communication, as can be seen below, some authors have restructured their distribution.
Socio-Critical Model
Torreblanca in Tamayo (2012) defines Political Science as a "critical-practical discipline that studies power relations", as has already been seen in the communicative models where Marxism studies the struggle of social classes, a situation in which is difficult to speak of equality since in general there are no common interests.
Tamayo (2012) highlights two theoretical foundations of Marxism:
"Historical materialism is made up of the study and analysis of the modes of production, their nature and their transformations. The method indicates that in order to know an object of study, its nature and origins must be identified AND Historical materialism highlights the dynamic nature of social relations in such a way that, for example, capitalism is a feudal historical stage and therefore transitory in the development of humanity, and not a static system or the product of a "natural" evolution of the human being, while dialectics refers to the history of thought, never static, always in motion and the foregoing allows us to consider historical materialism as Marxist science and dialectical materialism as Marxist philosophy ”(p.23).
As Tamayo explains, the Marxist perspective can be divided into both science and philosophy, where science will study the origin, nature and evolution of the object of study, and philosophy the history of thought.
As it has been possible to see from the first chapter the critical perspective tells us that the authors agree that this type of theory focuses on the relationship of society and audience, but when talking about politics an element is added which will be "power"..
Structural-Functionalist Model
Some authors have dedicated themselves to the study of the different communicative perspectives, this time we find some that work together with the structural and functionalist as will be seen below.
Gingras in Cortés (nd) says that “abstractions, ideologies, large human groups, societies themselves, structural phenomena, trends, power structures and political processes provide frameworks of reference and understanding of political realities without which the political messages and the news would arrive in a sudden and incomprehensible way ”(p. 23), for which Tamayo (2012) mentions to us that“ structuralism is the study of political phenomena under the revision of the structure of the institutions that represent power ”(p.23), so these models will be merely descriptive.
For its part, the functionalist approach is a methodological approach, which is based on comparing functional political systems, turning it into observable functions. Structural and functional models are believed to have little explanatory power.
The Structural-Functionalist Model will be in charge of studying the regulation of political-social tensions and the means available to a political system to alternately overcome these tensions, for which reason De Fleur en Cortés (nd) points out four ideas for the study between “media, society and mass communication process ”:
- The processes by which a society maintains its social stability The processes by which it is modified over time The nature and importance of social conflict The forms of personal interaction with which human beings share meanings.
The role played by language, whether written, spoken or visually, from the creation of a society, its development, and the maintenance of it, stands out. De Fleur en Cortés (sf) exposes the following points:
- From a behavioral perspective, both social and physical realities are constructions of already defined meanings. Society can be understood as a system of meanings. The ties that unite people, the ideas they have about other people and their beliefs about themselves, they are personal constructions of meanings that emerge from symbolic interaction. Individual behavior, in a given action situation, is guided by the labels and meanings that people associate with this situation. (p. 21, 22).
Functionalist Model
As we already know within the functionalist model of communication there is a relationship between "" sender "," message "and" receiver ", adding to political science in the process we find" power ", as mentioned by Laswell in Echavarria (1984) "the object to study would be the distributions of values and the motives of those who fight for power" (p.143), a power that, as Easton explains in Echavarria (1984), is "cratological; for the true object of politics is the search or the exercise of state power ”(p. 144), in the same way that Weber shares it, who says that political participation will be the distribution, conservation or transformation of power. For Easton, the cratological approach focuses on all human activity that is around power.
Functionalist models have been in charge of studying the functions of the political system, which must instill values in all the actors that intervene. Communication manages to provide a space for politics, where it becomes symbols of language for its subsequent creation, understanding and dissemination, as Bon explains in Colomé (1994):
“Political action seems to be aimed at the production of languages and symbols: legal texts, ministerial circulars, orders, speeches, programs and ceremonies. The symbols to which political life resorts can be very varied: images, music, objects, uniforms, architecture… All the products of human activity can be taken and valued for political action (p. 6). Within the symbols you can also find the name of the organization, shields, flags, colors or hymns ”.
The studies of Lazarsfeld (1948) Figure 14. The two-step theory indicated that propaganda exerts a persuasive political environment and avoids ideas contrary to those that are emitted, with the entry of the new media these problems have intensified. The media will be in charge of reinforcing pre-existing ideas or balancing the decision, as can be seen in their two-step model, which consists of a leader downloading information to the masses, they will be a link, an intermediary, Since there are people who are better suited to leaders than to the media, these leaders have more information on the subject than the rest of their group.
Pasquali in Colomé (1994, p. 7) recognizes that:
"The risk of carrying out, even involuntarily, hidden manipulation or persuasion is inherent in any contemporary use of media communication… It is the State that suffers the most from this situation, since it is required, and in all fairness, to paradigm of objectivity, in the same way that it is denied the right to convert the public into a controlled mass ”.
Making a comparison of the model that McQuail tells us about "media and society" and what we know so far about political communication, it could be obtained that:
In this case, the sender of the message becomes an actor of a political nature, whose objective is not only to inform, but now also to persuade, control, and convince its public or audience through the various media, which will use to get your message across. Politics in this case becomes a producer of symbols and languages.
Power is an important factor in this process, since as mentioned
Castells (2009) "power is the relational capacity that allows a social actor to influence asymmetrically in the decisions of other social actors so that the will, interests and values of the actor who has the power are favored" (p.33), as previously mentioned, said power will have no effect if it is not exercised, taking into account that the degree of influence will depend on the actor that is issuing it.
With the entry of the new means of communication, users look for known figures to trust, in order to base or confirm their preferences, although in the same way there may be users who resist the influence, if a balance is achieved between This resistance and obedience would bring about a change in power relations, where political figures begin to listen to their interlocutor, a relationship that is adequate since otherwise the social part would be lost.
Depending on what type of broadcaster is using communication, the objective of this will change, for example, if the broadcaster is a company that is dedicated to creating audiovisual content, its objective is most likely to seek consumption by its audience, on the other hand. An educational company seeks to inform and create awareness, in this case when speaking of "Political Communication" the authors of the messages will be political figures and for communication to be considered to be political, it must be linked to the following:
- The content of the message must be political or incorporates that intention. All processes must be public in nature. It seeks the exercise of public power through the emission of messages. It establishes power relations. It not only informs, but also persuades, controls and convince your public or audience. It focuses on the public interest on a daily basis. It allows and seeks citizen participation in order to influence public decisions.
These are just some considerations that must be taken into account when talking about what is "Political Communication", in the same way that there may be more or excuse any of the list. In addition, various areas of interest can be found, which could be:
- Electoral communication; electoral propaganda. Informative communication of politics; relationship between government / media. Political Rhetoric; speech and messages.
Political communication has been adapting to the characteristics of the digital age, as for example, previously the intervention that messages would have would be territorially restricted where the power of the state was located, but with the entry of social networks this delimitation is going fading, what happens from one country to another, from one city to another is known thanks to these.
Within social networks there are no defined limits, these will be determined by users, also known as a network society, Castells (2009) “a network society is one whose social structure is made up of networks activated by digital communication and information technologies based on in microelectronics ”(p. 51), therefore, it is considered a global society, although not all society participates in it if it is affected by what happens within it.
Castells lists various types of state power in relation to networks:
- Power to network: There is talk of the power of the actors and organizations that are in the networks of society compared to people who are not integrated into them. Power of the network: Here the characteristics of both parties are combined, for what is considered as the power that exists in the network over its parts. Power in network: The network will serve as a vehicle for the operation of power.
Within the asymmetric relationships we can find the one that extends from the Government to public opinion, passing through the elites, the media, generating an information framework which will reach the public sphere, once this point is reached a feedback process, which is expected to reach its starting point (Government).
Since the evolution of communication media and with the entry of the internet, especially social networks, the role that actors play in the communication process has been changing little, since now it is you who generates the message, as mentioned Castells (2009) "the three forms of communication (interpersonal, mass communication and mass self-communication) coexist, interact and, rather than replace each other, complement each other" (p.88), so this new relationship within communication it is considered novel.
Although the users of the new communication media are causing a transformation in the way in which political communication was developed and understood, some authors have already set out to describe these new events. The following graph shows some of the characteristics that accompany this change in the entry of the internet into society.
This chapter helped us to make a tour of the diverse communicative perspectives under the ideas of various authors, who have combined their studies with the elements of "power" or politics, from the critical, functional and structuralist perspective, which have It has been modified with the entry of new communication media, such as the internet, a tool that has been adapted to the requirements of society and vice versa.
CRITICAL-REFLECTIVE ANALYSIS
From the Aristotelian studies of Communication to those of the new Digital Age, three elements can be observed that are a constant in the communicative process "sender - message - receiver", each author may have his own definition of the concept of communication but all mention the relationship that exists between these three elements, in addition to creating each of them from very basic models such as that of the “two steps” to more complex models such as that of the Media and Society, taking into account that the vast majority of authors they are based on previous models for the execution of their own.
By including the Power or Policy element within the communication process, the issuer's objective will be modified, going from just informing to persuading or influencing the issuer. Another important characteristic is that the help of opinion leaders is added, who are expected to be people who are trusted before opinion groups or public opinion, since they must be people who share the ideals of citizens. In the same way, the media will develop a direct relationship with the State, which in turn will reach the citizens with the messages emitted by political figures.
With the entry of social networks the digital world was consolidated, since as we well know they include the viewer within participatory processes and turns them into an active figure that investigates, opines, answers and creates content, all this in real time, society has been adapting to new forms of communication and vice versa.
Society in general has become a "great social network", in which the exchange of messages is allowed since any individual with internet access can create and share content, in addition to having access to as many social networks as they want, in real time and from anywhere in the world. Among the users who took advantage of this new means of communication are, of course, political actors.
Nowadays, it is not only enough to be well informed or to have knowledge on some subject, with the constant change of the public which becomes more demanding, the political parties and public figures must be well prepared in any situation, to convince in a way natural and not forced, to gain the confidence of consumers (potential voters), with the confidence that they will spread their messages to their contacts or followers.
But as expected with social networks, not only the issuer has the "power", but also the receiver can make their value judgments on any topic and the latter is well used to create free and massive citizen digital platforms, from In this way, society manages to approach political-communicative processes, something that had not been achieved until the entry of social networks and it could be said that the barriers between these actors no longer exist, contrary to the traditionalist media where they are spoke to the masses.
From the 50's a transformation began in the world of communication, the mass media were transformed, from the traditional use of radio, film, print and television, political figures made use of these media to transmit their messages to viewers, such as the case of the televised NixonKennedy debate in 1960, one of the most popular at the time, thanks to this case political consultants became very popular as well as political marketing, not only in the United States but around the entire world. world. With the entry of the internet at the beginning of the 21st century, new modes of communication were created; blogs, web sites, emails, forums and of course social networks.
As already mentioned, social networks have had their boom for that year 2004 and were born with the need to keep users connected around the world, giving them the option of becoming content creators. Facebook is considered the most popular network in the world and is that it offers features for all groups of people as it allows you to perform various actions at the same time.
Social networks in general provide a series of benefits, such as achieving a “status” in front of a specific group of people, sharing opinions, likes, among many others, and more and more users are connected to these networks, mainly generations younger people who seek immediacy in interactivity in exchange for almost no effort. In addition to allowing barriers of all kinds to be broken, from the mediation that exists in traditional media, as well as instant feedback, on the other hand there are no rules at the time of its use, someone may be using their networks to create daily content and another may just be looking for it, both on the same social network. Anyway,The importance of social media in our lives is remarkable and it is almost certain that it will continue to grow over the years.
Among all the possible characteristics offered by social networks in general, in addition to those already mentioned in this written work, it is found that these tools allow addressing the public in a personalized way, although each of these is spoken to a large group of people. He will read the message in a different way, achieving an individual reading, at the same time giving them the opportunity to express their opinions, give feedback to the issuer and share the information of public figures with their followers, often without asking for it.
It also offers the opportunity to have a "conversation" between citizens, political figures, correspondents who are responsible for creating news on the agenda through the network. By using social networks, it is also easy to obtain the profiles of the voters, and the political team will only have to collect this information and translate it into valuable data for their campaign strategies.
An important factor that had to be highlighted in this writing is the change in power, which would be passed from the sender to the receiver, regardless of the author who mentions this event, it should be noted that it is a situation that is beginning to arise within the political activity, but that does not mean that it should be neglected but quite the contrary, the political figures must be attentive to what is happening soon. Since, as mentioned, the receivers begin to be transmitters of the message, due to the singularities of the new generations.
Although from the beginning of this research you had an idea of what this change of power could mean, after carrying out this research work you have a clearer idea of what the entry of the digital age entails in conjunction with Communication Politics.
It is not only necessary to consider the aforementioned in direct relation to social networks, taking into account that the users of these are natives of the new generations, it could be expected that their expectations of Political Communication, without distinguishing between communication media, are quite high.
What I mean when I say this, is that it is likely that a user of the social network site accustomed to receiving information from political figures through these supports, demands the same benefits or characteristics in other supports, such as radio or television., many times reaching disappointment before those who do not offer the dynamism and personalization that lies in digital media, in part this is spoken of when the relationship between Society and the Digital Age is mentioned, since as we can see one it depends on the other. However, it will depend on the political figure to understand these peculiarities of both society and its relationship with the Digital Age or social networks, specifically.
CONCLUSIONS
As explained from the beginning, Political Communication arises from two sciences, Communication and Politics, which is why in the first two chapters we set out to clarify a little their meaning with the help of various authors, each science seen by his own side to later combine these ideas.
In what was Communication we saw from the Socio-Critical, Structural and Functionalist perspective, passing through the Marxist school to the models of the Media and Society, where Communication seen from the Critical perspective focuses on the relationship that takes place Among "society - audience", in addition, the phenomena will be observed directly for a later explanation. Within the structuralist models, a fundamental part is the use of the senses, in addition to the fact that the media are defined as simple tools of dissemination and transmission of information, the whole is equal to the sums of its parts, if an element is missing the communication will not be complete in itself. Finally, the functionalist perspective tells us that they will be based on social communications,These models study the practice of daily communication and its effects within the masses.
In the political part, also known as power, the difference in Science and Theory was explained, from the writings of Machiavelli in "The Prince" to more modern authors. When speaking of the object of study within Political Science, we refer to the sum of the parts of the term "State" and "Society", of the relationship and development of both parts. This type of study focuses on the relationship that exists between the people and the State, in other words it is based on the execution of democracy.
Turning to Political Communication, it is understood that this works for a specific purpose, as Aristotle mentioned in his studies on rhetoric, where not only is it intended to inform the recipient but also to convince and persuade, this process will seek to integrate all the communicative figures, the perspectives studied are, the socio-critical, structural and functionalist:
- The authors of the critical school agree that this type of theory focuses on the relationship between society and audience, but when talking about politics, an element is added which will be “power.” Some authors combine the structural perspective with the functionalist one. Therefore, it will be in charge of studying the regulation of political-social tensions and the means available to a political system to alternatively overcome these tensions. The last type of model, the functionalist model, has been in charge of studying the functions of the political system., which must instill values in all the actors involved, communication manages to create a space for politics, where it becomes symbols of language for its subsequent creation, understanding and dissemination,
Thanks to the great versatility of the new means of communication, messages can have new characteristics, such as their origin, since it can now be broadcast by what was previously known as a receiver.
As it was seen in the last section of Political Communication in the digital age, the users of these platforms are open to a dialogue of feedback with political actors, generally if they find these figures related to their beliefs and values, they will be willing to listen to them., so they see well that the rulers make use of social networks or the internet in general, this does not indicate that the political figure should use social media or the internet as the only means, they will serve as auxiliary support or reinforcement in the emission of your messages may well take advantage of the characteristics of these supports so that you can get closer to your audiences.
On occasions, as we have seen, citizens will trust more in figures called opinion leaders, who are a bridge between what the Governor expects his audience to know and vice versa, citizens hope to be able to dialogue with someone they trust in order to feed back the message. original. Furthermore, these figures will seek to shorten the distance between the two actors.
For its part, the public (political) figure must generate a terrain in which everyone feels comfortable, with different tactics and projects that integrate the State, which is geographically restricted by country, city, region, continent and more. In any case, communication of all kinds, including politics, is now immediate, flexible and personal. As previously mentioned, the barriers are gradually dissolving, an issue that previously could have seemed alien to us is now real thanks to these new supports. at the constant change of the company.
Finally, we must remember some points to consider Communication as Policy:
- The content of the message must be political or incorporates that intention. All processes must be public in nature. It seeks the exercise of public power through the emission of messages. It establishes power relations. It not only informs, but also persuades, controls and convince your public or audience. It focuses on the public interest on a daily basis. It allows and seeks citizen participation in order to influence public decisions.
It could be said that currently the political figures are in a constant campaign thanks to the entry of the internet, not only in electoral times as was previously customary. And it is that the demand of the users has increased considerably, since the knowledge of the political is of utmost importance for everyday life, like other issues of social reality.
Initially, the reason for this writing was explained, and without neglecting this, it is closed with the latter. The part of receiving messages has been changing in recent decades and even more in this century with the entry of social networks into everyday life, since the consumer of the message is in turn the same producer, without neglecting that its main role is to be the receiver within the communication process, it will be necessary to understand that the second action it performs (produce) is carried out as an exchange or feedback of the first thing that has happened on the part of the issuer, we must not forget that the prosumer's actions are for his personal use, however in many occasions these will have consequences in his close social circle.
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