Murphy, Peter (2005) Communication and self-organization: why the manufacture of consent has always been a sunset industry. Southern Review, 37 (3). pp. 87-102.

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Abstract

Though commonplace, persuasion and other discursive means in practice are weak ways of creating consent. Historically, this has been reinforced as political communication has migrated from oligarchic peer to democratic network models. Manufacturing consent is typical of mass network communications. Editorial gatekeeping is a conventional technique used. The impact of this, though, is overrated. In liberal societies, opinion is always deeply divided irrespective of opinion management. Idealist attempts to overcome the manufacture of consent by melding peer and mass communications usually end in farce, not consensus. Despite this, governments in liberal societies often enjoy high levels of consent. What this suggests is that political consent is mobilised by means other than persuasion, and that consent does not rely on a consensus of opinion. The article discusses some of these nondiscursive media of consent formation.

Item ID:	22578
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	0038-4526
Date Deposited:	14 Sep 2012 05:37
FoR Codes:	20 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 2001 Communication and Media Studies > 200101 Communication Studies @ 50% 16 STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY > 1608 Sociology > 160806 Social Theory @ 50%
SEO Codes:	95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9502 Communication > 950299 Communication not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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