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The Problems of Political Information Processes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

Rudolf Wildenmann
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Extract

TODAY, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS OFTEN SEEM TO BE IN THE position of the legendary caliph Harun al Raschid, who went about in disguise among his people in order to find out what they really thought, since he could not trust his servants to tell him the truth. This story puts in a nutshell some systematic questions:

What kind of political information is circulating in society?

What are the information ‘needs’ of government and how can they be satisified?

How is information transformed or shaped in the political process, in society, in parliament, in government?

To what degree is political information dependant on the respective structure and distribution of legitimate power Herrschuftsorganisation?

What informal and organizational networks exist?

What is the impact of the mass media? How far, if at all, do our present theories on information processes explain reality?

How far is political information dependent on individual perception?

What processes of feedback exist and what influence do these feedback processes exercise on the content of information and decision-making?

Type
Original Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , 01 April 1983 , pp. 131 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 1983

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References

1 Political Parties, Hearst’s International Library, 1915.

2 Lippman, W., Public Opinion, Harcourt Brace, 1922 Google Scholar.

3 R. Wildenmann, Max Kaase et al., Führungsschichten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, in process: 1,750 top position holders of the various sectors of society, 1981.

4 Barnes, and Kaase, , Political Action, Princeton University Press, 1980 Google Scholar.

5 Muller, E. N., Aggressive Political Behaviour, London, Sage Publications, 1980 Google Scholar.