| Political Communication in India

Modern democracies are mainly developed by the connections between mass media, politicians and citizens. Political Communication comprises the exchange and creation of opinions and ideas between the political institutions, citizens, government officials and media. It covers the political discourse at the local, state as well as national level and tries to understand the use of political information in achieving the political goals.

At the fundamental level, it is the dialogue between political actors, political organisations, citizens and the media which becomes an interdisciplinary field consisting a combination of social sciences, media studies and strategic communication along with the knowledge of politics and government. The strategies and techniques used in the process allow the elected officials, policy advocates, political consultants and other actors involved to shape and communicate messages which influence and creates a substantial effect on the political process. This has many forms like political speeches and campaigns, social and print media, online media like television and radio, press releases and policy studies and advocacy, etc.

It is hard to underestimate the role of communication in politics as political life in any mass society is impossible without established methods of political communication. It is also self-evident that varying settings of political communication systems affect mass political behaviour and the working of democracy differently.

This course in Political Communication introduces the fundamental concepts, theories and the processes behind them in creating a discourse along with a comprehensive knowledge about the strategies and mechanisms behind the governing and distribution of political messages using different modes and channels. It also aims to focus on the operations of political institutions, processes and platforms at the various levels of government.

The significance of this course lies in the vital role of effective communicators in the political process which makes it easier to contextualise the issues involved at the various levels of discourse. Effective communicators and the modes of communication are the central players in promoting increased participation in the democracy by helping the politician to run for elections and office, in developing legislation and policies for the social benefit, educating and informing the public about various socio-political issues.

Currently, there are ample amount of issues in India that needs to be tackled. There are different strands of issues from governance to policy paralysis, public opinion and voting behaviour, elections, etc. which requires a comprehensive and deeper understanding of the communication and the political systems.

The relevance of making this course India-specific with general theories and principles of Political Communication is that the major population in India still resides in villages and issues like poverty and illiteracy still persists as a challenge to development. For such a country, there is requirement of a number of communication channels to be able to reach to the masses which will be different from any other developed or western countries.

This course is divided into Five modules comprising the major actors, modes and issues involved in political communication and its relevance for public policy.

Module 1: Idea of Political Communication

Module 2: Political Communication During Elections

Module 3: Government and Legislative Communication

Module 4: Mass Media and Public Opinion

Module 5: Information and Voting Behaviour

This course is offered to Master’s students at the Institute of Public Policy, NLSIU. It is a foundational course which adds to the knowledge of students about the political, electoral and governance process in India. The pedagogical method is a combination of lectures, Socratic style of discussion and exercises in class.

In India, politics is mainly local, and citizens usually elect representatives based on the local and regional issues rather than national or international issues. This course will help to understand about the Indian Politics on a daily basis and what is the relationship between the individual, political institutions and the media in India. What are the different channels and modes used by a government to promote their electoral goals and policies in a country where majority population resides in rural areas? In addition to this, it will as provide them with the following skills:

            1. An understanding on the characteristics and skills of campaign management, political and speech writing, covering the emergence of political consultancies and their role in Indian elections and the role of legislative communication in the policy process.

            2. To study leaders’ communication style and different strategies used by political actors to communicate proficiently with voters due to a continuously transforming media and a political environment.

            3. Understanding of how political decision-making is shaped by media