Media Systems and Accountability in Western European Democracies: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

Abstract

This article tries to give an explanation of different media systems by focusing on government accountability in Western European democracies. One the one hand, typological studies comparing media systems have received more attention since the 1990s in the field of political communication, but there is still room for considering the dynamic relationships with political institutions. On the other hand, prior studies of governmental accountability focusing on behavior of political parties often lack a perspective of media as an important source of information and vehicle of communication with citizens. To fill the research gaps, I investigate pathways to achieve different media systems in Western European democracies using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). This study shows that multiple paths can be constructed by combined institutional conditions relating to government accountability. The major findings are: (1) a practice of accountability based on proportional representation and non-wholesale alternation in government would have an essential role to shape corporatist media systems; however (2) the mediated communication becomes more polarized when the government accountability fails. While the results highlight an importance of media systems that assist voter to assess government, it also suggests that the accountability failures force to media playing a different role.