MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
In: European journal of political research: official journal of the European Consortium for Political Research, Band 11, Heft 2, S. 215-222
ISSN: 0304-4130
SEVERAL INTEGRATION THEORISTS SUCH AS HAAS (1958), DEUTSCH (1957) AND NYE (1971) HAVE INDICATED THAT ONE OF THE CENTRAL QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS OF THE FURTHER POLITICAL INTEGRATION OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY IS THAT OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION. DUETSCH PLACES A GREATER EMPHASIS ON MASS SOCIAL COMMUNICATION, WHEREAS HAAS CONSIDERS THAT ELITE SOCIAL COMMUNICATION (AND TRANSFER OF LOYALITIES) WOULD BE A NECESSARY PREREQUISITE OF ANY FURTHER EUROPEAN POLITICAL INTERGRATION. IN A LATER ARTICLE HAAS (1971) SUGGESTS A NEW 'MASTER CONCEPT', WHERE HE STATES THAT IN ORDER TO INTERRELATE ALL THE VARIOUS FUNCTIONALLY SPECIFIC ISSUES, ONE REQUIRES A MASTER CONCEPT; THAT IS, A NOTION 'AUTHORITY-LEGITIMACY TRANSFER'. HASS FURTHER SUGGESTS THAT A MEASURE WHICH IS NOT CONSTRAINED TO A GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING IS THAT OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION. THIS CAN BE MEASURED BY OBSERVING ELITE AND MASS PERCEPTIONS.