1433.16 - Political Communication (MA)

1433.16

Political Communication (MA)

10

Students must have completed a BA or have equivalent qualifications.

The aim of the course is to give the students an understanding of political communication in present society and provide them with the skills necessary to analyze and do research in specific cases concerning political communication. The students will deepen their understanding of the changes in political communication in recent years; they will learn how to differentiate between different genres of political communication and learn to analyze the rhetoric and tricks in political communication and its role in today’s democracies.

The course explores the increasing role of communication in politics and examines how changes including the importance of communication advisers and spin doctors are shaping both politics and discussions in present day democracies. What is political communication and in which contexts is it used? The students investigate different kinds of political communication, and events of political or economic nature are analyzed from a communication perspective. Different theoretical approaches to communication are used as analytical tools.

The course is class-based and offered as three hour weekly sessions, although the lessons in the beginning and at the end of the course are merged into 5 or 6 hour lessons. The learning and teaching strategies used are lectures, student presentations and class discussions.

At the end of the course successful students will have acquired: • knowledge of the different genres of political communication • understanding of the role of political communication in today’s democracies • insight into the communicative interaction between media and political systems • ability to analyze political incidents or events from a communication perspective • ability to apply theories of communication in analytical work with different empirical data such as texts, articles, interviews or speeches • ability to explore and analyze the impact of communication advisers and so-called spin-doctors on the shaping of politics and the political discussions in socitey

Written examination, take-home assignment. Reexamination: same as regular.

External

The bibliography is provisional as other text may be added when the course begins: Nielsen, Mia Femø (red.) (2005). Spin, selvfremstilling og samfund. 359 p. Kjeldsen, Jens E. (2005). Retorikk i vår tid. 396 p. Heradsveit, Daniel & Tore Bjørgo (1988). Politisk Kommunikation. 151 p. Jønsson, Rasmus m.fl. (2001). Professionaliseringen af den politiske kommunikation. 134 p. Steen, Jens Jonatan & Reiter, Gry Inger (2015). Tag bladet fra munden. En introduktion til politisk framing. 181 p.

Bergur Djurhuus Hansen