The Flow of Political Interests and Influence in
Democratic Landscape (Achmad Supardi)
Interest Groups ------------------Spheres of Influence-----------Target of Influence
Media
Pressure Groups Structural Political
(NGOs, Associations) Representatives (Parliament)
Lobby groups Media Citizens
Political Party Political Party
Politicians
Feedback (Input Feedback
and Vote) (Input)

Public Sphere
German sociologist, Jürgen Habermas  “By the
public sphere we mean first of all a realm of our
social life in which something approaching public
opinion can be formed.... Citizens behave as a public
body when they confer in an unrestricted fashion –
that is, within the guarantee of freedom of assembly
and association and the freedom to express and
publish their opinions” (cited in Pusey 1978: 89)

Public Sphere
Gripsund  “a set of institutions representing a sort of ‘buffer zone’ between the
state/king and private sphere, to protect them from arbitrary decisions that
interfered with what they considered private activities in an irrational way” (1992:
89).
 The press in particular ‘was to function as an instrument or a forum
for the enlightened, rational, critical, and unbiased public discussion
of what the common interests were in matters of culture and
politics’ (ibid.)
Josef Ernst  “distinctive discursive space” within which “individuals are
combined so as to be able to assume the role of a politically powerful force”
(1988: 47).
McNair (2003: 21) “the bourgeois realm of politics” (Ernst 1988: 47) which has
gradually expanded from its elitist beginnings to include absolute majorities
of the population in modern democratic societies.

Public Sphere
McNair  The public sphere, as can be seen, comprises in essence the
communicative institutions of a society, through which facts and
opinions circulate and by means of which a common stock of
knowledge is built up as the basis for collective political action (2003:
20-21)
Hence, the mass media, which since the eighteenth century have
evolved into the main source and focus of a society’s shared
experience played a significant role in the public sphere (McNair:
2003: 20-21).

Public Opinion
Media became the most influential actor in influencing public
opinion.
According to Habermas, the first use of the term ‘public
opinion’ was documented in 1781, referring to “the critical
reflection of a [bourgeois] public competent to form its own
judgments” (Pusey 1978: 90).

Generally, the media is the most influential actor in
determining public opinion. Other actors are pressure
groups
Pressure groups
Pressure groups “have been credited with having
developed new styles of political activism, the so-
called ‘new politics’ – popular protests, marches, sit-
ins, direct action, and so on – that has proved to be
attractive to a growing body of young people
disillusioned by ‘conventional’ politics”*.
Conventional politics: politics through parliament by means of political
parties

Group Interests
Pressure groups and political parties
“Pressure groups and political parties have much in
common. They are the two main bodies through
which the public’s views and interests are channelled
to government. As such, both of them carry out
representation, facilitate political participation and
contribute to the policy process. However, on the
face of it, groups and parties are very different
beasts”
(http://www.palgrave.com/PDFs/0230201733.pdf).

Group Interests
A pressure group is an organized group of people which aims to influence
the policies or actions of government.
Pressure groups are defined by three key features:
1) They seek to exert influence from outside, rather than to win or
exercise government power. Pressure groups do not make policy
decisions, but rather try to influence those who do (the policy-makers). In
that sense, they are ‘external’ to government.
2) They typically have a narrow issue focus. In some cases, they may focus
on a single issue (for instance opposing a planned road development).
3) Their members are united by either a shared belief in a particular
cause or a common set of interests. People with different ideological and
party preferences may thus work happily together as members of the
same pressure group. (http://www.palgrave.com/PDFs/0230201733.pdf).

Group Interests
Examples of Pressure Groups:
Indonesia
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
International
1.
2.
3.
4.

The Flow of Political Interests and Influence in
Democratic Landscape (Achmad Supardi)
Interest Groups ------------------Spheres of Influence-----------Target of Influence
Media
Pressure Groups Structural Political
(NGOs, Associations) Representatives (Parliament)
Lobby groups Media Citizens
Political Party Political Party
Politicians
Feedback (Input Feedback
and Vote) (Input)

Media and Public Discourse
The scheme above indicated that media hold two positions:
1) Media as one of interest groups
2) Media as public sphere of discourse
Media as ‘disseminators’ as well as ‘directors’
** Media Ideology  determines the choices of topics and
editorial policy  political stance
** Media Ownership  the owner’s interest and future goals
Public Discourse  Anti-Trust Regulations

Print media
Radio
TV
Online media

What trigger the emergence of individual
broadcasters?
What are the impacts of individual
broadcasters for political campaign?
What are the effects of individual
broadcasters for government/policy-
makers, media, industry, and interest groups?