The Persuasive Potential of Government Communication In a Digitised Age

Government communication, the centralized efforts to persuade and convince publics to maintain power, intends to influence the media agenda in several ways; namely, by communication management. Especially political organisations like governments need legitimacy for their political actions. Thus, communicative interaction via mass media is essential to uphold the linkage to citizens. Regarding this, one has first to consider the extent of which government communication is professionalised and second to scrutinise the possibilities of new media technologies as dialogical and mobilising tools. Addressing the democratic linkage between governments and the citizenry via mass media and the repercussions resulting from this, the article analyses the instrumental dimension of government communication and intends to evaluate the persuasive potential of the different modes of communication management, especially social media. Data analysis of a triangulated German longitudinal case study shows intensified communication efforts in this respect whereas the underlying structures are most fragmented and diverse.