"Mediatization" of Politics: A Challenge for Democracy?

1999/07/01 by GIANPIETRO MAZZOLENI, Gianpietro Mazzoleni, WINFRIED SCHULZ +1 · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #Media Studies and Communication #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Social Media and Politics

paper · doi:10.1080/105846099198613

openalex publication_date 1999/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

The growing intrusion of media into the political domain in many countries has led critics to worry about the approach of the "media-driven republic," in which mass media will usurp the functions of political institutions in the liberal state. However, close inspection of the evidence reveals that political institutions in many nations have retained their functions in the face of expanded media power. The best description of the current situation is "mediatization," where political institutions increasingly are dependent on and shaped by mass media but nevertheless remain in control of political processes and functions.

Citations

• News decisions: Journalists as partisan actors
• The Structure of Foreign News

Cited by

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• The Eurosceptic Europeanization of public spheres: print and social media reactions to the 2014 European Parliament elections
• ‘Big Lies’: understanding the role of political actors and mainstream journalists in the spread of disinformation

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• Do the media set the parliamentary agenda? A comparative study in seven countries