THE PRIME MINISTER-MEDIA NEXUS IBD

Sinopse

This book offers a systematic inquiry into how, why, and with what consequences media affects governments and the standing of prime ministers. It aims at an understanding of how media has caused institutional effects in government, as well as at advancingáa unified theory of government communication.áThe author develops a logic of centralization and applies it to one case, Sweden. Government communication has been institutionalized, tightened and centralized with the prime minister andáhas changed irreversibly.áAnalysis of how the government communication system has evolved, mainly in its institutional structures, suggests that the shift to centralizationáarose more out of necessity than choice. For prime ministers most of this is about finding ways to ensure that the entire government respond to media uniformly. As governments face a set of functional demands from media, different kinds of media, uniformity has been a paramount objective. Nevertheless, thisdevelopment involves shifting dynamics of intra-executive relations and a shift of power away from ministries to the prime ministerâÇÖs office, the apex of political power. The prime minister has been empowered at the expense of ministers through the concentration of power and resources to the executive centre. That is partly because of media, which reinforces political hierarchies. That and the centralized control of government news in turn raises further questions about democratic governance and the nature of modern-day governing.á