What exactly is political communication? To gain a good insight into the functioning of political communication, the opinion of political experts is essential. This article presents the views on political communication of two PvdA councilors. Their opinion is discussed about the way in which political communication is applied and what they consider characteristic of political communication. Their weaknesses and strengths are also highlighted.
Application
The way in which communication is applied by politicians is (very) amateurish. This is certainly noticeable at a local level in smaller villages and towns. The fact that politicians are volunteers certainly has an influence on this. In addition, political communication is often one-sided, because political parties only communicate positive news about themselves to citizens.
Characteristics
Political communication is still too much one-way traffic. Politicians do not play the role of receiver enough and are often transmitters. The communication is also very colored and not always objective. With the exception of a few occasions, political communication is not manipulative. By definition, a politician will make attempts to influence the will of his potential voter, he wants to profile himself positively and will try to do this in every possible way: as a person and through policy.
Weak sides
As mentioned above, the message from political parties is often too colored. This way people quickly see through it and notice that politicians make everything a little too rosy. Another point is that the Internet today has ensured that every citizen can easily have his or her say on the Internet. It is virtually impossible for politicians to respond to this. This is further reinforced by the fact that people often talk using pseudonyms. On the internet, the rules of decency often fade into the background. Political communication suffers greatly from this and there are most likely several victims next door. In addition, it happens again and again that political parties underestimate the intelligence of citizens in their communications. Over the years, politicians have also started to pay more and more attention to media interest. This could also be done less.
Strong sides
Most politicians can speak clearly and to the point, which is often necessary, because citizens do not want long stories. The recognizability and the great social impact can also be referred to as strengths of political communication, as can the reliability. The experts indicate that political communication is reasonably reliable and also credible.