The Politics Of Attention: Agenda-Setting And Democratic Accountability In Contemporary Democracies
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 hour ago
- 1 min read
Shweta Hooda, B. R. Ambedkar Law University, Rajasthan
ABSTRACT
In modern democracies, the power is not about who is there in the authority and making decisions, but also about deciding what the people pay attention to. Democratic systems depend upon the informed citizens, but in the contemporary environments, most information that people receive is filtered through media, social media, and other institutions. Indeed, it is incontrovertible that those who frame and control the agendas, are the ones who can influence the public debate. And if we pay attention to the contemporary society, we will notice that the media and political actors, deeply if not directly, influence what issues people should consider important. They may not tell people what to think, but they certainly influence what people think about.
This article draws upon the “Agenda-setting” theory and explores the mechanisms through which the governments and media institutions shape the public attention, conversation, and actions simultaneously through policy making, crisis narrative, and strategic communication. While agenda-setting could be an important aspect of political leadership, excessive control over the public narratives could limit the democratic aspects of the governance and weaken the meaningful debates of the society.
This article argues that the democratic accountability does not depend on the authoritative formal institutions working, but also on the transparency of all the prevailing issues in the society. Strengthening of independent media, encouraging civic awareness, and promoting a traceable political communication system have become essential in order to sustain a democratic environment in which people could remain adequately informed about the actual significant issues around them.
Keywords: Agenda-setting, Democratic accountability, Public discourse, Political communication, Media influence
