On the Dichotomies of Political Communication

The generation of knowledge in any discipline is sustained only by the intellectual efforts of its scholars. This is particularly true and exciting in the field of political communication, which is marked by social, political, and technological developments on many fronts and in markedly different cultures and regions. Exemplifying this confluence of developments is the Arab uprisings in spring 2011— events that have motivated scholars to examine, for instance, the use and impact of social media, media coverage of the protests, and state-press relations. A Gestalt view of the Arab Spring or any similar cluster of events would suggest that with continued research, an overarching theory or coherent set of conclusions would be forthcoming. Of course, cautious optimism is warranted as progress toward this goal is hampered by the same diversity of intellectual efforts that pushes the field. In this essay, we focus on how differences in perspective, thoughts, and practices have defined political communication research. Beginning with the broad dichotomy—political communication as a phenomenon vs. political communication as a discipline—we speak to some key differences in political communication research in and outside the United States.