Key Factors for Government Communication During Times of Crises – Handling the ‘Representation Gap’

The more politics are professionalised, the more this leads to a communicative crisis. Especially when the relationship between political representatives and the represented turns volatile, a worst-case scenario of political communication arises, a ‘representation gap’ which indicates a transformation in terms of lesser legitimacy of the communication. When political decisions of governments are professionally shaped and communicated by lobbyists and PR-Experts in the government communication field, one should both question their legitimation and the accountability of political decisions. Hence, less legitimacy exists because political communications takes place among restricted circles. Due to a lack of research, exploring the political and media interrelation-field is highly relevant to trace the transformations of representation through communication. Therefore, the following research questions were addressed: - How did the professionalisation of politics change the interrelated field of government communication? - Which ‘habitus’ of PR-professionals can be identified? - How does the emerging ‘representation gap’ influence the communication process and the linkage between government, journalists and, via media, citizens? The basis of this research consists of a German case-study which is based on the micro-meso-level. The material is obtained from a mixed-method-design with 45 qualitative experts interviews (Spokespersons, PR-Experts, Journalists), an online-survey (N=49; PR persons) as well as a tentative analysis of media coverage (N=153). Data analysis shows two processes: First, an increase in political PR professionalisation. Government communication is highly professionalised in adapting instruments and persuasive political marketing tools. This is attended by a habit of engaging external spin doctors. Second, parts of the journalistic field are ‘deprofessionalised’. This means a decrease in product-quality, economic-efficient work processes and increasing indiscretions. Both developments widen the representation gap. To conclude, one has to take into account not only a transformation of the representative relationship but a communicative crisis as well.