1. Introductions
Tessa Houghton
PhD candidate, Media & Communication
Hacktivism and Habermas: Online Protest as neo-Habermasian Counterpublicity
Filling in for
Dr. Babak Bahador:
COMS205/POLS232:
Media & Politics

2. COMS205/POLS232: Media & Politics
The course provides an understanding of the role of the media in domestic and international politics. It does this by analysing key theoretical assumptions and debates on the role of media institutions in the struggle for power domestically and internationally.
3. COMS205/POLS232: Media & Politics
Public opinion + media effects
Media + democracy
The public sphere
Politics + entertainment
Public relations, celebrity + spin
Politics + media in NZ
Propaganda + state control
The Propaganda Model
Media + foreign policy
4. L1 Media & Democracy:Lecture Overview
What is democracy?
Historical development
Freedom of speech and press
New media and the transformation of politics?
5. What is democracy?
Governmentof/by/for the people
6. The history of democracy
Common belief today is that democracy = only legitimate form of government
But democracy = rejected for 2000yrs!
7. Global democracy: claimed
8. Global democracy: actual
9. Democracy FTW?
So, why is democracy better?
Claims to be superior both:
Instrumentally
Intrinsically
Two key values:
Freedom
Equality
10. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The general will
Direct democracy
Were there a people of gods, their government would be democratic. So perfect a government is not for men.
11. Limits of Direct Democracy
Barely conceivable, inefficient
Who sets the agenda?
12. John Stuart Mill & Representative Democracy
Elected political representatives
Make and execute laws
If they do it well, society > more prosperous
But system must have safeguards
13. The Tyranny of the Majority
Democracy/majority vote alone = insufficient
Minority rights must be protected
Must have a liberal democracy
14. Mills Harm Principle
The state should only limit individual actions that harm others
Balance must evolve from principles
15. Rights
Harm principle > human rights
Life, freedom of assembly/movement/religion/vote/standing for office/speech/the press, etc.
16. Freedom of Speech/Thought
Mill: complete freedom in the private sphere, few limits in public.
No gain in censorship but great possible loss
Suppressing falsity will make the truth weak and dogmatic.
17. Freedom of the Press
Varying degrees of freedom given to mass media
No complete press freedom
18. 19. Mass Medias Role in Democracy
Great weight placed on communication.
Key roles:
Deliberation
Representation
Accountability
20. The Free Press and Market
Critics seen tension between free press and market
Issues over private ownership
21. New Media and Political Transformation
New media?
Claims of political transformation and a return to direct democracy
Global networks
Interconnectedness
Globality
Identity
22. Time and Space
Always constrained by spatial and temporal limits
New transport/communication technologies have dramatically reduced these constraints
23. Reconceptualising space
24. Reconceptualising time
60 days 1 day 0.5 days
25. 26. Electronic Democracy
Belief that the internet can change politics
Belief in the dawn of a new democratic order
Potential for direct democracy
27. Limits to direct democracy
More information does not necessarily mean better information
Technology can devalue democracy
Technology can serve the powerful
28. Next lecture