Public Broadcasting, Public Funding and the Public Interest: How Government Broadcasting Subsidies Affect Political Knowledge and Participation
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Public Broadcasting, Public Funding and the Public Interest: How Government Broadcasting Subsidies Affect Political Knowledge and Participation by Patrick N. O’Mahen A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Political Science) in the University of Michigan 2013 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Allen D. Hicken, Co-Chair Professor Nicholas A. Valentino, Co-Chair Associate Professor Jenna Bednar Professor Michael W. Traugott ©Patrick O’Mahen 2013 DEDICATION I dedicate this work to Jenn D. I know you understand the painful reality that true courage often goes unrecognized. I acknowledge yours here. Also, I dedicate this work to Molly, for having faith that I would complete this journey. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The processes of completing a dissertation and recovering from a chronic illness have alarming parallels. The journeys are long, emotionally taxing and often very lonely. However, both are much more manageable, comfortable and empowering if you have a good support group. I am grateful that my support group has been nothing short of extraordinary – they all believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself and collectively helped to haul me across the finish line. Encouragement starts at home. My parents, Victor and Gladys O’Mahen have always provided a safe nurturing environment for me to pursue my dreams from a very early age. They challenged me to do well, but always gave me the encouragement and space to develop and pursue my own interests. My sister, Allision O’Mahen-Malcom, who finished her own dissertation not that long ago, gave me a relief valve when we both needed to laugh about how outrageous graduate school can be. I’m also happy to report that the unfairly maligned American public education system provided me with all the resources I needed to succeed intellectually. A parade of talented, caring teachers in the South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District put a lot of time and effort into helping to develop me as a person and grow intellectually. Marcia Anselmo, my kindergarten teacher, and Deborah Cassidy, my high school government teacher, both deserve singling out. I iii consider my parents’ tax dollars well spent on your salaries, and I will happily contribute to your pension funds and retirement health care plans when I join the work force. In my undergraduate years at the University of Rochester, Professor G. Bingham Powell’s 1998 course on conflicts in democracies showed me how neat comparative politics was; and I have been hooked ever since. He, Celia Applegate and Curt Cadorette were faculty members who taught me a lot about political science, history and religion, respectively; but also showed me that brilliant academics can (and should) be warm, humble people as well. The faculty, staff and students at the University of Michigan make it one of the premier universities, public or private, in the world. The members of the political science department foster a cooperative environment in which learning and scholarship can take place. My co- advisors Nicholas Valentino and Allen Hicken, and dissertation committee members Jenna Bednar and Mike Traugott proved to be a good fit for my needs. They challenged me to improve my work, but they leavened those challenges with enthusiastic encouragement for this project. They provided me constructive feedback and emotional support when I needed it, but gave me space to work through research problems on my own when I needed time to think and write. Most importantly, they set a good example for me by having a life outside of academia; all of them speak happily of their interests and families outside of work, yet are bright, serious, accomplished scholars. The lesson in life balance has not been lost on me. A Rackham School for Graduate Studies One-Term Dissertation Fellowship helped me finish writing this dissertation, and Rackham funds also sent me to several conferences that gave me helpful feedback on portions of this project as it developed. Matt Guardino, a post- doctoral fellow at Syracuse University with whom I shared a panel, provided extremely helpful iv feedback at the 2012 Midwest Political Science Association Conference. Chapter 3’s present form stems from several of his useful suggestions. Ken Kollman and Zvi Gitelman funded me as a Research Assistant for several summers, which both greatly eased my financial situation and taught me a lot about subject areas where my knowledge was sparse (who knew that the institutional design of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy or the politics of Jewishness in the post-Soviet states could be so darned interesting?) The resources of the University of Michigan Library system made this project possible. Catherine Morse is a reference librarian who is worth her weight in gold. Time and time again she found resources that kept my research grinding forward. I also appreciate her unlocking the deep mysteries of the inter-library loan department, which helped me gain access to literally hundreds of volumes of annual reports of public broadcasters from nearly a dozen countries. Peter Hull of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation also promptly returned my phone calls and gave me useful pointers on how to get some of the CBC’s historical documents. Finally, my undergraduate research assistants Elizabeth Rowland, Lydia McMullen-Laird, Katie Bies and Eileen Giudice all found out first-hand how soul-destroying conducting research could be as they helped me track down and translate into English documents from various European public broadcasters. Eileen in particular diligently pursued reference librarians and bureaucrats in a frustrating attempt to uncover detailed information about the Spain. Several items about reforms in the Spanish broadcasting system that make an appearance in the concluding chapter come from her web-searching skills. Graduate students form tight bonds from their shared struggles. I’ve made or strengthened a great number of friendships during my time in Ann Arbor. In particular, I’d like v to mention Kharis Templeman, one of my oldest friends who has a delightful tendency to keep ending up at the same university with me. Jennifer Miller-Gonzales, Charles Doriean, Matias Bargsted, and Krysha Gregorowicz-Heavner helped me get through methods problem sets when I was ready to quit in disgust. Ella Gao and also Jane Menon provided plenty of pep talks and coffee gossip that kept me going in my early years. My study partner and communications department counterpart Lauren Guggenheim also provided impetus to keep things moving along during the writing stages. My fellow graduate students over at the Graduate Employees’ Organization also deserve praise for 40 years of agitating for the pay, benefits and working conditions that make it possible for graduate students to complete their degrees. The sweat and courage of hundreds of activists over the years made my own experience at Michigan much better. I don’t have space to list all of your names – but you know who you are and you should be proud of your efforts. You hard work has helped thousands of us. Finally, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Dr. Molly Horstman. We met near the beginning of this project five years ago, and to my immense delight she has agreed to stick around through the rest of my life projects. Her quiet and unconditional loyalty speaks volumes about her character. I am immensely blessed to have her continuing love and partnership. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... x Chapter I Public Broadcasting and Political Accountability in Democracies ............................................ 1 Prelude: Mitt Romney Gets to Sesame Street ............................................................................ 1 The Serious Business of Public Broadcasting .............................................................................. 2 Summary of the Project .............................................................................................................. 5 Chapter II Developing a Theory of Public Broadcasting, Subsidies and Democracy ................................ 10 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 10 Review of Foundational Assumptions ....................................................................................... 11 What is Political Knowledge? .................................................................................................... 19 Developing a Theory of Broadcasting Outlets and Political Knowledge ................................... 23 Summary and Conclusion: ......................................................................................................... 37 Chapter III Present at the Creation: The Development of National Broadcasting Systems ...................... 40 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 40 The Shadow of the Past: