Institutional Change in the Public Sphere
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Fredrik Engelstad, Håkon Larsen, Jon Rogstad, Kari Steen-Johnsen (Eds.) Institutional Change in the Public Sphere Fredrik Engelstad, Håkon Larsen, Jon Rogstad, Kari Steen-Johnsen (Eds.) Institutional Change in the Public Sphere Views on the Nordic Model Managing Editor: Dominika Polkowska Associate Editor: Andrea S. Dauber-Griffin Language Editor: Adam Leverton Published by De Gruyter Open Ltd, Warsaw/Berlin Part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston The book is published with open access at www.degruyter.com. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Copyright © 2017 Fredrik Engelstad, Håkon Larsen, Jon Rogstad, Kari Steen-Johnsen and Chapters’ Contributors ISBN: 978-3-11-054632-3 e-ISBN: 978-3-11-054633-0 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. The Deutsche National- bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. Managing Editor: Dominika Polkowska Associate Editor: Andrea S. Dauber-Griffin Language Editor: Adam Leverton www.degruyteropen.com Cover illustration: © 2017 Thinkstock Contents Preface xi Fredrik Engelstad, Håkon Larsen, Jon Rogstad, Kari Steen-Johnsen 1 Introduction: The Public Sphere in Change. Institutional Perspectives on Neo-corporatist Society 1 1.1 Institutions and Institutionalization 3 1.1.1 Theory of Institutional Change 4 1.2 The Position of the State and the Public Sphere 6 1.2.1 Freedom of Expression 7 1.3 From Freedom of Expression to the Public Sphere 9 1.3.1 The Public Sphere as an Institution? 12 1.4 Aspects of the Public Sphere in Flux 15 1.4.1 Elements in an Institutional Theory of the Public Sphere 18 References 19 Part I: The Public Sphere Craig Calhoun 2 Facets of the Public Sphere: Dewey, Arendt, Habermas 23 2.1 Publics, Publicness, and the Public Sphere 23 2.2 Culture, Action, and Reasoned Critique 26 2.3 Unknowable Society 30 2.4 Indirect Relationships and their Consequences 35 2.5 Conclusion 41 Acknowledgement 43 References 44 Fredrik Engelstad, Håkon Larsen, Jon Rogstad 3 The Public Sphere in the Nordic Model 46 3.1 A Nordic Model 46 3.2 The Public Sphere: a Specification 49 3.3 Public Sphere Regimes and the Media Welfare State 50 3.4 The Nordic Model: Historical Background 51 3.5 The Position of the State in the Nordic Public Sphere 53 3.6 Freedom of Expression 54 3.7 Media Institutions 55 3.8 The Arts and Cultural Institutions 58 3.9 Research and Higher Education 60 3.10 Voluntary Organizations 61 3.11 Religion 63 3.12 A Nordic Model of the Public Sphere: a Fruitful Construct? 65 References 67 Gunnar C. Aakvaag 4 Institutional Change in Norway: The Importance of the Public Sphere 71 4.1 Exogenous and Endogenous Theories of Institutional Change 72 4.2 Voting and Bargaining as Causes of Institutional Change 75 4.3 Deliberation in the Public Sphere 78 4.4 The Democratic Power Circuit 81 4.5 Instituting the Democratic Power Circuit Model in Norway 84 4.6 Applying the Democratic Power Circuit Model: Peasants, Workers and Women 86 4.6.1 The Peasants 86 4.6.2 The Workers 88 4.6.3 Women 89 4.7 Concluding Discussion 91 References 94 Part II: Media in the Public Sphere Bernard Enjolras, Kari Steen-Johnsen 5 The Digital Transformation of the Political Public Sphere: a Sociological Perspective 99 5.1 A Sociological Perspective of the Public Sphere 100 5.2 Institutional Change and Digitalization 102 5.3 Changes to the Social Organization of the Public Sphere 104 5.3.1 Changes in Communication Media 105 5.3.2 Changes in the Role of Civic Associations and in the Expression of Public Opinion 108 5.3.3 Changes in Participation and in Social Hierarchies 109 5.3.4 Changing Symbolic Structures in the Public Sphere 111 5.4 Conclusion: the Functions and Dilemmas of the Digital Public Sphere 113 References 115 Signe Bock Segaard 6 The Institutional Anchoring of Social Media Venues as Arenas for Local Political Communication.Perceptions by Voters and Politicians 118 6.1 Introduction 118 6.1.1 Institutionalization of Social Media Venues as Political Arenas 120 6.2 Framework and Expectations 122 6.2.1 Rational Actors within Political Institutions 122 6.2.2 Previous Research on Social Media and the Implications of Individual Factors 124 6.3 Measuring Perceptions of Social Media 126 6.4 Social Media as Suitable Arenas for Political Communication? 128 6.4.1 Voters’ and Politicians’ Perceptions 128 6.4.2 Explanation of the Perceptions: the Implications of Individual Characteristics 131 6.5 Conclusions: Social Media Venues as Institutions for Political Communication 134 References 136 Fredrik Engelstad 7 Strategic Communication and Institutional Change 139 7.1 Dynamic Elements of Change 140 7.2 Habermas on the Public Sphere 141 7.3 Empirical Specification 143 7.4 Citizens: Flows of Communication 144 7.5 Ambiguities of Media Pressure 145 7.6 Lobbying: Tactics, Rhetoric, Reputation 146 7.7 Civil Service and Politics: Information, Initiative, Reputation 147 7.8 Politics for Sale? 148 7.9 A Model of Contradictory Relations 150 7.10 The Problematic Openness 151 7.11 A Farewell to Normative Theory? 152 7.12 Core Elements in Professional Ethics 154 7.13 Coda 155 References 157 Part III: Aspects of Freedom of Expression Olav Elgvin and Jon Rogstad 8 Religious Threats and Institutional Change in Norwegian Mass Media 161 8.1 Introduction 161 8.2 Critical Events, Discourse and Institutional Change 162 8.3 Data and Study Design 166 8.4 Religiously Framed Threats and Coverage of Religion in Norwegian Media 167 8.5 Norms, Values and Perceptions of Threats 170 8.6 Traces of Change: (Not) to Publish for the Sake of Publishing 173 8.7 Institutional Change Through Changes in Discourse 176 References 177 Sissel C. Trygstad 9 Opposing Forces: On Whistleblowing in Norwegian Working Life 179 9.1 Expanding the Field for Workplace Democracy 179 9.1.1 Methodology 180 9.2 Institutional Change 181 9.2.1 Changes in the Pillars 182 9.2.2 Freedom of Expression 182 9.2.3 On Employees’ Right to Disclose 183 9.2.4 Freedom of Expression Versus the Managerial Prerogative 184 9.3 Findings 186 9.3.1 Norwegian Surveys 187 9.3.2 Has the Legislation Made any Difference? 189 9.3.3 Findings in a Comparative Perspective 189 9.4 Discussion 191 9.4.1 Institutional Inertia? 192 9.4.2 Decoupling? 193 9.4.3 Countermeasures 193 9.5 Conclusion 196 References 197 Part IV: The Arts in the Public Sphere Håkon Larsen 10 The Public Sphere as an Arena for Legitimation Work: The Case of Cultural Organizations 201 10.1 Legitimacy and Sociology 201 10.2 Legitimation Work in the Culture Sector 202 10.3 Communication Between the Organizations and the State 204 10.4 Societal Mission 206 10.5 Satisfying the Art World 210 10.6 The Public Sphere as a Key Arena for Legitimation Work 211 10.7 Conclusion 214 References 216 Part V: Religion and Institutional Change Inger Furseth 11 The Return of Religion in the Public Sphere? The Public Role of Nordic Faith Communities 221 11.1 Nordic Religious Landscapes 221 11.2 Theoretical Perspectives 223 11.3 Studying the Presence of Religion In the Public Sphere 225 11.4 A Growing Nordic Interfaith Infrastructure 226 11.4.1 The Pioneers – the Christian Umbrella and Ecumenical Organizations 227 11.4.2 Umbrella and Worldview Organizations 227 11.4.3 Interfaith Organizations 229 11.4.4 Presentational Communications on a Variety of Issues 230 11.5 Critical Issues 232 11.5.1 The Role of Public Stakeholders 232 11.6 Public Participation by Religious Actors 234 11.7 Deprivatization of Religion 235 References 237 Knut Lundby 12 Public Religion in Mediatized Transformations 241 12.1 Introduction 241 12.2 Three Spheres of Public Religion 241 12.2.1 The Journalism Sphere 242 12.2.2 The Cultural Sphere 242 12.2.3 The Religious Media Sphere 242 12.2.4 Public Religion 243 12.2.5 Mediatization of Public Religion 243 12.2.6 Mediatization and Secularization 244 12.3 Nested Institutions 245 12.3.1 Religion and Media as Institutions 245 12.3.2 Institutional Change – Changing Configurations 246 12.4 Mediatization as a Theory of Institutional Change 247 12.4.1 Change and Transformation 247 12.4.2 The Institutional Approach in Mediatization Studies 248 12.4.3 Media Logic – Institutional Logics 249 12.5 Researching Mediatized Public Religion 250 12.5.1 Diachronous or Synchronous Approach 250 12.5.2 Interaction in Mediatized Religious Environments 250 12.5.3 Baseline for the Diachronous Analysis 251 12.5.4 Baseline for The Synchronous Analysis 251 12.6 The Journalism Sphere 252 12.6.1 Media History: Changes Across Reader Cultures 253 12.6.2 Contemporary Survey: the Significance of News Media 253 12.6.3 Mediatized Public Religion in the Journalism Sphere 254 12.7 The Cultural Sphere 254 12.7.1 Media History: Popular Magazines 255 12.7.2 Contemporary Survey: Satire, Humour and Entertainment 255 12.7.3 Mediatized Public Religion in the Cultural Sphere 256 12.8 The Religious Media Sphere 257 12.8.1 Media History: ‘Christian’ Publications and ‘Religious’ Programmes 257 12.8.2 Contemporary Survey: in a Corner of the Public Sphere 258 12.8.3 Mediatized Public Religion in the Religious Media Sphere 259 12.9 Conclusion 259 References 260 Part VI: Afterword Fredrik Engelstad 13 Afterword: A Viable Model of the Public Sphere? 265 13.1 Institutional Elements in the Public Sphere 265 13.2 A Viable Type of Public Sphere? 267 About the Authors 269 Preface This book is the second in a three-volume series on institutional change in Nordic societies, with the main emphasis on Norway.