政治传播研究的新发展

政治传播(Political Communication)吸纳了心理学、社会学、政治学、修辞学、传播学和批判及文化研究等领域的成果, 是一门重要的多元学科。政治传播研究的对象包括竞选活动、选举广告、公众舆论、公众政治参与、讯息处理、国际关系和政治娱乐节日(Graber & Smith, 2005), 其研究主旨是了解政治讯息在精英(elites)、媒介和群众之间生成、交流和接收的过程及其影响(Chaffee, 1980；Graber & Smith, 2005)。

政治传播在促进民主及改善政府管治中扮演重要角色(Jarvis & Han, 2009)。首先, 只有当公众掌握足够信息, 才能有效参与政治, 民主才成其为民主。选民必须掌握充足的资讯, 才能投出明智的一票, 有效监察官员, 提升施政素质。其次, 领导人、政治家和候选人通过传媒向公众解释其政策主张和管治理念, 争取其支持, 回应其诉求。最后, 政治传播推动社会参与, 培养公民意识, 促进公民社会。公众通过政治传播了解国家事务, 参与民主实践, 提高政治效能(political efficacy)(Hart, 2000)。社会参与促成社会网络(social network), 生成社会资本(social capital)(Putnam, 2000)。如Putnam所说, 社会资本有助于解决个人与社会问题, 促进社会的持续发展。

中国大陆、香港、台湾近数十年间经历了重大的政治和社会变化：台湾实行了总统选举并经历了两次政党执政更替；香港的公民社会发展日趋成熟并正处于民主化的进程；中国内地网络的兴起增强了民众政治参与的热情, 网络公众舆论影响深远。政治传播学也逐渐成为两岸三地传播学者关注的课题。本文旨在回顾政治传播学的发展, 阐述该学科的前沿理论和展望其未来的发展方向。为此, 本文将分四小节。第一小节回顾政治传播学理论范式的转变；第二小节概述当今政治传播学中的三个前沿理论：议程设置、铺垫作用和框架理论；第三小节阐释近年兴起的商议民主和商议式民主调查。最后两节介绍两个我们正在关注的新课题。

This chapter reviews the development in political communication research. After discussing classic theories such as selective exposure, agenda setting, and spiral of silence, and more recent theories such as framing and deliberative democracy, the chapter summarizes two germinating theories that the first author has written about previously in Chinese.

One is spiral of imbalance, which attempts to meld selective exposure, gatekeeping, spiral of silence, among other theories. Although the construction of the theory began in the middle of 1990s when television and newspapers dominated, the theory may have even more relevance in societies dominated by internet.

The second is an informational theory of electoral systems, which explains the electoral systems that dominate most of the countries today are not sufficiently democratic, because the systems prevent voters from expressing efficiently and sufficiently their will. Furthermore, the theory explains, the under-democracy of the electoral systems are perpetual causes of many ailments of modern societies, including so called mature, transitional, and emerging democracies.