The Three Models

Abstract

In Part II we examine the media systems of each of our three groups of countries in detail, exploring the logic and the historical evolution of each of the three models introduced in Part (555) I. We discuss the Mediterranean or Polarized Pluralist Model in Chapter 5; the North/Central European or Democratic Corporatist Model in Chapter 6; and the North Atlantic or Liberal Model in Chapter 7. In each case, we try to stress both the common elements that define our three models, and the ways in which the media systems of individual countries vary from the three ideal types. Each of the three chapters in Part II begins with a discussion of the historical origins of the press, continues to discuss the characteristics of the media system, and moves in the final section to a discussion of the political context in which each media system evolved and an analysis of the links between the media system variables introduced in Chapter 2 and the political system variables introduced in Chapter 3. The discussions of the three media system models are essentially organized around the four variables proposed in Chapter 2: the development of media markets and particularly of the mass circulation press, political parallelism, journalistic professionalism, and the role of the state. The exact structures of the chapters vary somewhat, however, because different issues require extended discussion in the different cases.