The Clientelistic Nature of Television Policies in Democratic Spain

Abstract

This article uses a case study to contribute to the debate on media-political clientelism and its relation to the theory of media systems. It proposes a cross-disciplinary approach between the fields of communication and political sciences and thus analyzes four dimensions to observe the evolution of these practices in the area of television policies during Spanish democracy: license granting, television ownership regulation, politicization of the public service, and partisan news coverage. The period analyzed includes conservative and social democrat governments, trying to find differences in clientelistic practices among the different political parties. The analysis demonstrates how partisan relationships have evolved and what mechanisms have been put in place to maintain clientelistic ties.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Montse Bonet and Roberto Suárez for their feedback, and to Steven Norris for his language input.

Notes

Note. UCD = Unión de Centro Democrático; PSOE = Partido Socialista Obrero Español; PP = Partido Popular.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Fernández-Quijada

David Fernández-Quijada (Ph.D., Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2008) is an Assistant Professor in the Departament de Comunicació Audiovisual i Publicitat at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. His research interests include cultural industries, communication technologies, publicservice media, media policy, and bibliometrics.

Luis Arboledas

Luis Arboledas (Ph.D., Universidad de Granada, 2009) is an Assistant Professor in the Departamento de Comunicación y Documentación at Universidad de Granada. His research interests include radio industry, communication policies, media systems, local communication and journalistic profession.