1. Defining media

What are media, what is their role in a society. How and by what means is information transferred and what is information? What is the impact of information on an individual and on a society, how does it influence decision-making?

a. Defining media, mass media

b. Media typology

c. Information transfer models

d. Communication channels

e. Functions of media

2. Defining political

How do we define the political, what is the realm of the political. Can an individual or group exercise authority over another and under what legitimacy? Where does legitimacy start and end, what are the appropriate borders and in what realms? Does power arise from conflict or consensus and how does that impact the individual’s role in life and society?

a. Policy, Politics, Polity

b. Aristoteles vs Schmitt

c. Legitimacy – national and supranational

3. The role of the state

Is there a need for a state? How does a state come to be? Is there a right to coercion, Are norms imposed or agreed on? Is there an obligation to comply? What does it mean to be free?

a. Anarchy vs State (Wolff & Green)

b. Individualism vs Communitarism (Nozick & Rawls, Hart)

c. 4 concepts of liberty (Berlin)

4. The rule of law

How are just norms defined, how are concepts of justice determined? By consensus or per natura? How do they translate into norms defined by the state and how does that align with the authority of a state?

a. Natural law vs positive law (Finnis & Dworkin)

b. Policymaking (Easton & Almond)

5. Theoretical approaches to political communication

What is the role of the press in different types of society? How can the normativity of a media system be defined and what different concepts do we know?

a. Four theories of the press

b. Comparing media systems (Hallin & Mancini)

6. Media in a democratic society

What role do media serve in a democratic society? What are threats to media freedom and corresponding threats to a free society?

a. Normative theory

b. Media as the 4^th estate

c. Freedom of the Press

7. Media effects on the audience

How do media influence the individual and the collective? How has the understanding of this influence evolved after the formation of a mass society?

a. Development of understanding of media effects on the audience

b. Persuasive communication

c. Spiral of cynicism

d. Spiral of silence

8. Evolution of political communication

How has political communication evolved and how has technological, societal and political development influenced the way how political communication influences the individual and methods that it uses to communicate and mobilize?

a. 3 ages of political communication

b. 4 eras of political journalism

9. Public ethics

How can possible means be reconciled with acceptable means of influence? Is there a normative border to approaches, goals and methods or does capacity justify the outcome?

a. The trolley problem

b. Weber & Machiavelli

c. Utilitarianism (Bentham & Mill)

10. Political parties

How do political parties serve as an intermediary between political institutions and the public? What role do they serve in a democracy and how has the evolution of democracy impacted the evolution of political parties?

a. Role of political parties in communication

b. Changing nature of political parties and their role

11. A network approach to society

How can a society be understood as a network, how does communication facilitate this and what are the possible implications for democracy and the usurpation of power?

a. Middle level of communication (Deutsch)

b. Opinion leaders and Two-step flow of communication (Lippmann)

12. Current trends in media

What do media look like in the 2^nd decade of the 21^st century? What trends in ownership and in media functions, role, usage, etc. can we observe?

a. Vertical, horizontal and diagonal models of ownership

b. Globalization, commodification, infotainment, etc.