Special Issue: Communicating European Integration

Abstract: Since the 1990s the so-called 'democratic deficit' of the EU became an increasingly discussed topic in both academic and political circles. In this context, the (apparently insufficient) communication of European politics to its citizens has been of especially great importance. Academic research has invested considerable efforts in trying to analyse and explain these problematic relationships. However, because this still growing area of research is still dominated by social scientists, historical approaches seem to be somewhat underrepresented. Against this background, this special issue will present historical studies on actors, means and contents of communicating the process of European integration from its beginnings to the present day.

A series of articles:

+ Introduction - Communicating European Integration: A Historical Perspective by Manuel Müller, Tobias Reckling and Andreas Weiß

Research Articles

+ Communicating European Integration in the Age of the World Wars: Print Media Discourses on the Unity of Europe, 1914-1945 by Florian Greiner

+ ‘What Europeans Saw of Europe’: Medial Construction of European Identity in Information Films and Newsreels in the 1950s by Anne Bruch and Eugen Pfister

+ Communicating European Integration – Information vs. Integration? by Alexander Reinfeldt

+ A Salutary Shock: The European Suffrage Movement and Democracy in the European Community, 1948-1973 by Eric O'Connor

+ Europe as a Symbol: The Struggle for Democracy and the Meaning of European Integration in Post-Franco Spain by Carlos López Gómez

+ From Informing to Interacting? Exploring the European Commission's Communication Strategy 'to be all ears' by Annelies Van Brussel

+ Communicating the European Ombudsman’s Mandate: An Overview of the Annual Reports by Nikos Vogiatzis

+ Political Values in a European Museum by Pieter Huistra, Marijn Molema, Daniel Wirt