Voters as Nontrivial Machines:Valuation of Political Actors by the Press and Estonian Voters’Preferences from 1999 to 2007

Abstract

By employing a constructivist approach and conceptualising media effects as contingent change, this article examines the impact of the valuation of different political parties by the media on forming people’s election preferences in Estonia over an eight year period. Research indicates that valuations serve the structural coupling of the mass media with consciousness systems and with other social domains and perform an important role in the formation of public opinion and election preferences. More frequent valuations of an actor or event in media messages trigger the valuation of that same actor or event among the public, which, in turn, is the basis for people’s preferences and decisions. The valuation of political actors by the press is an essential means of orientation that enables people to organise their experiences and interact. For political actors, their valuation is the basis of their legitimacy.