Can you hear me? Political communication between MPs and citizens

Résumé :

This study of political communication in France and Germany offers a detailed analysis of citizens’ as well as representatives’ behavior in several political communication situations (interpersonal, mediated by the mass media, online). By comparing MPs’ strategies of top-down political communication with citizens’ tendencies to get political information from traditional media sources, the authors observe a dichotomy in communication styles. A communication gap results from MPs shifting efforts to online channels while citizens continue their reliance on traditional mass media.