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Papers by Hans-Joerg Trenz

European Journal of Political Research, 2014

Does the increasing politicisation of Europe signify a step towards the legitimation of the Union... more Does the increasing politicisation of Europe signify a step towards the legitimation of the Union? This could be the case if the increased public intensity of debate and polarisation of opinion brought about by politicisation do not fragment the audience and if arguments presented in public are sufficiently clear about the desired nature of the polity. To answer this question, the focus of this article is on dynamic contestation in the public sphere using original data of news platforms and political blogs in 12 EU Member States and transnational websites during the European Parliament election campaign of 2009. The results are, first, that diffuse eurosceptic evaluations dominate public debates despite large variation in the intensity of debate across Member States. Second, a majority of evaluations made, particularly those by citizens leaving comments online, are negative in all countries included in this study. A gap between elites and citizens persists, but it appears less pronounced than often proclaimed in the literature. And third, democracy is a primary concern in EU polity contestation, especially for those evaluating the EU negatively. Although little evidence is found of a fragmentation of audiences, the prominence of diffuse euroscepticism poses a major challenge to legitimation of the Union.

Understanding the Mechanisms of EU Politicization: Lessons from the Euro-zone crisis

he article critically evaluates existing theories and approaches on European Union (EU) politiciz... more he article critically evaluates existing theories and approaches on European Union (EU) politicization to understand how the EU’s democratic politics can potentially work in an era of ‘mediated politics’. Moving beyond questions of why politicization has occurred, and what kind of EU will it lead to, we outline a theoretical perspective on the mechanisms of how the EU’s politicization is taking place. Against the backdrop of a post-functionalist theory of integration, the contours of which have been recently discussed within political science, we think that the dynamics of EU politicization can be better grasped from a public sphere perspective within the framework of what we will call a ‘democratic functionalism’ approach. The Eurozone debt crisis case is used as an example of deep and broad EU politicization to explicate the mechanisms at work.

The mediatisation of politics. From the national to the transnational

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Keywords Cleavages Crisis Democracy Economic crisis European Union France Immigration Legitimacy Neoliberalism Non-Established Political Parties Social Movements Statistics Welfare State activism gender equality identity politics participation religion social movements statistics
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About The Authors

Hans-Jörg Trenz
University of Copenhagen
Denmark

Hans-Jörg Trenz is Vice-Chair of the Center for Modern European Studies and professor of European media culture at the Department of Media, Cognition and Communication, University of Copenhagen.

Asimina Michailidou
University of Oslo
Norway

Asimina Michailidou is a political communications scholar who researches at ARENA, Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway. She holds a PhD in political communication from the University of Loughborough, UK. Central to her work is the role of online media in the EU’s public communication strategies, crises, European elections and Euroscepticism. Among her most recent publications are the monographs ‘The Internet and European Integration’ (Barbara Budrich, 2014) and ‘Contesting Europe’ (ECPR Press, 2013), both co-authored with H.J. Trenz and P. de Wilde. Her research also appears in the European Journal of Political Research; the Journal of European Public Policy; the Politics of Prejudice Journal; Journalism Practice; European Journal of Communication Research; and the Journal of Contemporary European Research.

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Publication Home > Vol. 7, No. 3 (2014). Special issue: New Directions in Political Sociology > Trenz
The Mediatization of Politics. From the National to the Transnational
Hans-Jörg Trenz, Asimina Michailidou

Abstract

The mediatization of politics is generally explained in relation to the legitimacy requirements of the modern state and as such, it is typically confined to the national media sphere. Can we speak in any meaningful way of mediatization beyond the national? The European Union (EU), which operates under increasing legitimacy constraints and is exposed to the salience of media debates that contest its public legitimacy, is a case in point. Is the EU becoming mediatized? And what are the effects of EU mediatization? Under what conditions can the mass media become a facilitator of European integration? The issue at stake is whether the media (new and old) can have an integration function beyond the national and facilitate the building of democratic legitimacy of the European Union. We propose that the concept of mediatization offers the theoretical and analytical tools necessary to understand precisely how the interaction between the EU polity and the media unfolds and how it impacts on the process of the EU’s public legitimation. First we deliver a general account of mediatization, highlighting its core definers and main points of critique that the concept has attracted. We then show how mediatization is relevant to the EU polity and propose an analytical model that can capture this process empirically

The Micro-Macro Link in Deliberative Polling: Science or Politics

n this article, we critically examine the question of how to link the ‘micro’ of deliberative min... more n this article, we critically examine the question of how to link the ‘micro’ of deliberative mini-publics with the ‘macro’ of the democratic system. To explore this puzzle, we relate to EuroPolis, a transnational deliberative experiment that took place one week ahead of the 2009 European Parliamentary elections. The main argument is that although the scientific design of deliberative polls is a necessary condition for the fulfilment of the criteria for equal participation and informed opinion-making of selected citizens (the micro-dimension), this does not necessarily translate into a democratically representative and legitimate proxy for the broader political constituency (the macro-dimension). This problem is potentially exacerbated in deliberative settings that cut across domestic political cultures and nationalized public spheres.

Understanding Media Impact on European Integration: Enhancing or Restricting the Scope of Legitimacy of the EU?

Journal of European Integration, 2008

The debate about the legitimacy of the EU and the possibilities for its democratization has addre... more The debate about the legitimacy of the EU and the possibilities for its democratization has addressed so far only rarely the question of the role of the media. An instrumental approach prevails towards the media, acknowledging that the so‐called gap between the EU and its citizens is grounded in a communication deficit and that the EU should therefore strive towards a higher legitimacy in terms of public accountability, openness and participation, in other words of democracy. The article discusses these technical aspects of ‘public‐sphere building from above’ in relation to the systematic constraints on mediatization that result from the inertia of the existing (national) media spheres. On the basis of this, an alternative understanding of mediatization and its ambivalent effects on the legitimacy of the EU will be developed. The proposal is that European public sphere research should focus on the more active role of the media as an independent variable that affects institutional choices and processes. Empirical results from comparative content analyses are discussed, which illustrate to what extent media have become an enabling and/or constraining factor on European integration.

Books by Hans-Joerg Trenz

Contesting Europe: Exploring Euroscepticism in Online Media Coverage

Investigates the way politicians and citizens evaluated the European Union and the process of Eur... more Investigates the way politicians and citizens evaluated the European Union and the process of European integration in public debates during the 2009 European Parliament elections. The authors present detailed, rigorous analysis of citizens' online response to news stories, and reveal new evidence about the dynamic nature of online contestation of Europe and the degree of convergence towards Euroscepticism.
Such convergence provides new challenges for democratic representation in the EU, and insight into the public basis for a legitimate European Union.

Rethinking the Public Sphere through Transnationalizing Processes: Europe and Beyond

This book discusses the extent to which the theoretical relevance and analytical rigor of the con... more This book discusses the extent to which the theoretical relevance and analytical rigor of the concept of the public sphere is affected (or undermined) by current processes of transnationalization. The contributions address fundamental questions concerning the viability of a socially and politically effective public sphere in a post-Westphalian world. To what degree are the theoretical presuppositions regarding the critical function and democratic quality of public deliberation still valid in contemporary societies that adhere decreasingly to the Westphalian logic of closed national political communities and modes of communication? Under what conditions is the critical impetus of the public sphere still applicable in a world that, in Europe and beyond, is increasingly responding to processes of trans-border interaction and communication?

The internet and European integration. Pro- and Anti-EU Debates in Online News Media

This book offers a wealth of original empirical data on how online media shape EU contestation. T... more This book offers a wealth of original empirical data on how online media shape EU contestation. Taking a public sphere perspective, the authors highlight the myths and truths about the nature of audience-driven online media content and show how public demands for legitimacy are at the heart of the much-analyzed politicization of European integration. What EU citizens most intensely debate online are the fundamental questions of what the European institutions stand for and how they can be held accountable.

Drawing on innovative and rigorous analysis of online media ownership, journalistic content and online readers’ inputs, the authors piece together the components of the dynamic nature of EU contestation and the degree of convergence towards Euroscepticism across EU member states in the first years of the Eurocrisis. There is no doubt that EU citizens have strong opinions about the EU and interactive online media allow these opinions to come to the fore, to be challenged and amplified both within and beyond national public spheres. Yet, for all its potential to unite European publics, online EU contestation remains firmly anchored in offline news media frames, while citizens and journalists alike struggle to put forward a clear vision of the future EU polity.