Political elites' media responsiveness and their individual political goals: A study of national politicians in Belgium. (11th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sevenans, Julie; Walgrave, Stefaan; Vos, Debby
• Is Part Of: Research & politics. Volume 2:Number 3(2015:Jul.)
• Publication Date: 2015-08-11
• Subjects: Political elites -- media responsiveness -- Parliament -- Belgium; Political science -- Periodicals; 320.05
• DOI: 10.1177/2053168015593307
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2053-1680

Abstract

This paper addresses the micro level variation in media responsiveness by political elites. It hypothesizes that individual political goals, in addition to party position, affect the extent to which MPs' parliamentary initiatives are inspired by media cues. Regression analysis on data from a survey with Belgian national parliamentarians confirms this assumption. Opposition MPs react more to the media than coalition MPs. Within parties, MPs who are focused on party political goals display higher levels of media responsiveness than MPs who are not. The findings are explained by the differential usefulness of news coverage for various political actors.