1^st Week

Course introduction:

Part 1: the roles of mass media in Postmodern Democracy

Part 2: how political actors compete over the news media

Part 3: the agenda-setting and image-setting functions of mass media in

election campaigns

Part 4: comprehend the agenda-setting and image-setting functions of mass

media in election campaigns

Part 5: the strategic uses of polling in election campaigns

Part 6: case study of political ads in Taiwan’s major political campaigns

2^nd Week

Political actors compete over the new media

Political power and power over the media

Political control and media independence

1. 
   

   Duncan Watts (1997), Political Communication Today

   
   

Chapter 11: The media and democracy. Pp.197-209

1. 
   

   Gadi Wolfsfeld (2011), Making Sense of Media & Politics: Five Principles in Political Communication

   
   
   

   Chapter 1 & 2: Pp.1-44

   
   

3^rd Week

Turning political into news

No such things as objective news

Telling a good story

1. 
   

   Gadi Wolfsfeld (2011), Making Sense of Media & Politics: Five Principles in Political Communication

   
   
   

   Chapter 3 & 4: Pp.45-94

   
   
   

    

   
   

4^th Week

The media get you when you’re not paying attention

1. 
   

   Gadi Wolfsfeld (2011), Making Sense of Media & Politics: Five Principles in Political Communication

   
   
   

   Chapter 5: Pp.95-118

   
   

5^th Week

Mediatization and de-centralization of political communication

1. 
   

   Kees Brants and Katrin Voltmer (2011), Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy

   
   
   

   Chapter 1: Pp.1-18

   
   

6^th Week

New approaches to political communication

Audience democracy: An emerging pattern in postmodern political

communication

Representation and mediated politics: Representing representation in an age of

irony

1. 
   

   Kees Brants and Katrin Voltmer (2011), Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy

   
   
   

   Chapter 2 & 3: Pp.19-56

   
   

7^th Week

Mediatization: The changing power game between politics and the media

1. 
   

   Kees Brants and Katrin Voltmer (2011), Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy

   
   
   

   Chapter 4: Pp.59-74

   
   

8^th Week

De-centralization: New forms of citizenship and political communication

Political consumerism as political participation

1. 
   

   Kees Brants and Katrin Voltmer (2011), Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy

   
   
   

   Chapter 10: Pp.167-182

   
   

9^th Week

The media and social control

Media influence upon the formation of public opinion

The triangle of the attentive public, the political actors, and the media

1. 
   

   Glasser & et.al. (1995), Public opinion and the communication of consent

   
   
   

   Chapter 2: Public opinion and rationality. Pp.33-54

   
   
   

   Chapter 9: Social-psychological perspectives on public opinion. Pp.177-216

   
   
   

   Chapter 13: Origins and consequences of mediated public opinion. Pp.323-347

   
   

10^th Week

The agenda-setting functions of the media

The influence of media on issue attributes

The influence of media on candidate images

1. 
   

   McCombs, M (2004), Setting the Agenda

   
   
   

   Chapter 4: Why agenda-setting occurs. Pp.53-67

   
   
   

   Chapter 5: The pictures in our heads. Pp.68-85

   
   
   

   Chapter 6: Attribute agenda-setting and framing. Pp.86-97

   
   
   

   Chapter 7: Shaping the media agenda. Pp.98-118

   
   
   

   Chapter 8: Consequences of agenda-setting. Pp.119-133

   
   

11^th Week

The components of candidate images

The formation of candidate images

The assessment of candidate images

1. 
   

   Hacker K. L. (2004), Presidential Candidate Images

   
   
   

   Introduction: The continued importance of the candidate image construct. Pp.1-20

   
   
   

   Chapter 1: Campaigns and candidate images in American presidential Elections. Pp.21-48

   
   
   

   Chapter 4: The “authentic candidate”: Extending candidate image Assessment. Pp.85-104

   
   
   

   Chapter 5: A dual-processing perspective of candidate images formation. Pp.105-132

   
   

12^th Week

The impact of political polling on voters

The functions of political polling in election campaign

The strategic use of presidential polling

1. 
   

   Robert V. Friedenberg (1997), Communication Consultants in Political Communication

   
   
   

   Chapter 2: Polling consultants: the intelligence service of the ballot wars. Pp.31-68

   
   


2. 
   

   Robert M. Eisinger (2003), The Evolution of Presidential Polling

   
   
   

   Chapter 1: seeking autonomy: The origins and growth of presidential polling. Pp.1-20

   
   
   

   Chapter 2: Planting the seeds of presidential polling. Pp.21-34

   
   

13^th Week

The content of political advertising: issue vs. image, negative vs. positive

The effects of political advertising on voters

The effects of political advertising on candidate images

1. 
   

   Kaid L.L. & Johnston A. (2001), Videostyle in Presidential Campaigns: Style and Content of Televised Political Advertising

   
   
   

   Chapter 1: Presidential campaign advertising on television. Pp.1-11

   
   
   

   Chapter 2: Political advertising content and effects. Pp.13-24

   
   


2. 
   

   Hacker K.L. (2004), Presidential Candidate Images

   
   
   

   Chapter 6: The effects of political advertising. Pp.83-98

   
   


3. 
   

   Lynda Lee Kaid (2004), Handbook of Political Communication Research

   
   

Chapter 7: Political advertising. Pp.155-202

 

Class participation 40%

Reports on designated readings 60%

There is no mid-term test, final test and term paper for this course.

Information on Assignment：

Students are required to turn in 2-4 pages (no more than 4 pages) of reading report on the designated readings each week. For each weekly report at least 2-3 questions springing from the readings should be raised for possible class discussion. When we have invited speakers to conduct special topics, student shall turn in 2 pages response and reflection 7 days after.