Democratic Legitimacy and Media

York Hall B204. Discussant: Prof. Willem Maas

How British media portrayed migration from the EU in the context of Brexit

Wai Suet Gi Gi Chan, University of Toronto

In this paper, I explore how British media portray immigration from the EU and how that relates to the Brexit decision. I base my arguments from a range of empirical research that analyzed British media’s portrayal of EU immigration prior to the Brexit vote. In the first part, I analyze how British media portrayed the facts of immigration. In the second half, I analyze how British media interpreted implications of EU immigration. I found that British media plays more than a passive role in presenting facts and viewpoints in the Brexit debate, but is active in shaping facts, selectively reporting on the immigration issue and imposing its own analytical frames in explaining the implications of immigration. British media highlighted the massive scale and negative consequences of EU immigration. It most often presents EU immigrants as abusing British welfare system and the EU as eroding British sovereignty. Understanding how the British media influenced public understanding and opinion about EU immigration in relation to British people’s decision to leave the EU has can reveal how the media interacts with public opinion and political reality more generally and will be insightful for future political campaigns.

I am a political science student at University of Toronto. I am pursuing a career in public policy/ international development. European Affairs are of special interest to me as it presents an alternative governance model with a strong moral commitment to mutual advancement and humanitarian concerns. I have written about social capital in Scandinavian countries and the role of media in the 2015 EU immigration crisis. I am currently researching on affordable housing policies across metropolitan cities and I am exploring graduate school options in Europe.

 

Regional Brexit Media and Public Attitudes

Brittany Harding

Referendums have become a common feature within British politics, and have affected how policy decisions are made. The most recent referendum in the United Kingdom occurred in 2016 surrounding British membership in the European Union. A majority of polls and political pundits predicted that Britain would remain a member of the EU, thus it was a shock when the referendum passed with 51.89% of British voters selecting to leave the European Union. This paper focuses on the role of the British print media in regional Brexit outcomes, trying to determine if there was a correlation between media attitudes and voter attitudes. The media is the focus of this study, as they have played a historical role in framing wider political events and setting an agenda for future political change, particularly the 1975 European Economic Community (EEC) Membership Referendum. My research compares previous studies of the media in the 1975 EEC referendum and media sources from the 2016 Brexit referendum to see if their role or method of reporting on British politics has changed. To understand if there was a correlation between the media and voter preferences in the 2016 referendum, this paper conducted a headline media analysis over the ten-week period leading up to the referendum in the four regions of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Through studying front-page headlines of every Saturday within the referendum period, the content analysis aimed to provide a snapshot of the British media attitudes towards the referendum, seeing if there was a particular junction in time when voter preference changed and if media biases were closely aligned throughout the campaign period. My research found a negative correlation between media attitudes and voter attitudes during the 2016 Brexit referendum, as the five most circulated British print media sources from each country infrequently commented on the Brexit Referendum. My research reflects the declining relationship between media attitudes and voter attitudes, and tries to understand why media influence did not play a larger role or frequently publish headlines on an important current event that held great significance to the British public.

My name is Brittany Harding, and I am a recent graduate of Brock University from the Master of Arts program. Being within the political science stream, my core focus is comparative politics, particularly the actions of the British media throughout Brexit. Being originally from Guernsey, a small British country in the English Channel, the current ongoing events within the UK are of significant importance to me. I hold an ongoing interest to see what happens next, and what political actions could mean for the UK and its various partners across the EU and the rest of the global economy.

 

The Future of Youth Active Citizenship in the EU

Natasha Dixon

Europe is currently undergoing a period of transition and the European Union is tasked with re-establishing and uniting the member states on its path to steering its future. This proposal suggests the European Union and its fellow organizations take an active position to pioneer its position, however, this success of this process is dependent upon the devotion of its constituents.  The 2017 White Paper will serve as the framework of reference for the objectives the European Union aims to fulfill by the year 2025. This paper proposes the development of civic engagement is the key to the effective ratification of the social dimension of the White Paper which is imperatively linked to the economic advancement of the nation. To support this supposition, quantitative data will be primarily sourced from Eurostat and the Eurobarometer to address the history of constituent satisfaction and disengagement with policy making, particularly at the regional level. As stated previously, the constituent population must be onboard with the current leadership in governmental institutions; thus, the principle recommendation is for the reconstruction of existing institutions to foster innovation in civic engagement through creative formats under within the context of participatory democracy.

Natasha is currently a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at York University who is intrigued by the concept of civic engagement and would like to further explore the relationship between civic engagement and effective social policy outcomes across the European Union’s member states.

The Democratic Deficit in the European Union: a Problem of Conception

David Nightingale

While there is a wide body of research on the idea of a democratic deficit in the European Union, there is very little consensus on the nature of the deficit and even on whether one exists at all. In this paper I outline some of the main arguments that are presented for the presence of a democratic deficit and discuss why some argue that none exists at all. I argue that the reason for this lack of consensus is differing conceptions of the nature of the European Union. While those who argue that a deficit exists focus on the democratic legitimacy of the Union through political representation, those who argue that a deficit does not exist focus on the intergovernmental nature of the Union, emphasizing the power of the nation-states. I argue that the presence of these differing conceptions can have a significant influence on public policy and that the European Union should clearly define what it is in nature and what its end goal is, in order to enact effective policies and institutional changes that are designed to reach those goals.

I am a Masters student in the bilingual Master of Public and International Affairs at York University. My research interests include governance structures, electoral reform, and state legitimacy.