Introduction

Abstract

Democracy is best described as a struggle over opposing ideals and interests. According to Schattschneider (1975 [1960]: 135), competing leaders and organizations define the alternatives of public policy in such a way that the public can participate in the decision-making process. From this point of view, the citizens’ judgements appear as a reaction to the terms proposed by the political elites. The ‘political supply side’ approach recognizes that the relevant information is to a considerable extent controlled by the political actors. Manin (1995: 290) has formulated this vision of democracy most pointedly by stating that, in politics, there is no demand which is independent of supply. Political conflicts are organized by collective actors (governments, political parties, economic interest groups, and citizen groups) who set the agenda by providing the policy options. They also promote the particular problem definitions, recommendations, and causal interpretations for the conflict at stake. In addition, political actors mobilize the citizens in order to gain support for their own favoured policy option. Given that citizens’ preferences are incomplete and sometimes incoherent, members of the political elites enjoy discrete room to manoeuvre, providing them with a substantial degree of autonomy. Therefore, political communication adopted by political actors can be considered of major importance in the democratic decision-making process.