THE MORALITY PLAY

Abstract

One of the core questions in the research programme on media–government relations—with implications for democratic theory, journalism, governance, and international relations generally—is how the media can be influential. I argue here that the government (deliberately) and the media (as a function of their communicative acts) are involved in a never-ending conversation with moral implications that affect a government's capacity to lead or act. This theory is validated through empirical research, is falsifiable, and has explanatory force. It also supports or otherwise does not contradict key theories in political science about media–government relations including the rally-around-the-flag effect and the honeymoon period for new presidents. By contrast, the theory does take the research agenda away from the complexities of causality and the seeming importance of public opinion in that dynamic, while taking the field towards the study of communicative force in both inter-personal and inter-institutional relations.