Political communication is the field of academic research which examines the communication of different political organizations and individuals (political parties, governments, states, presidents, leaders, candidates, interest groups, movements, and terrorist organizations) and their complex relationship with the media and the public. It is a multidisciplinary field with strong links to political science and communication studies. Political communication also straddles the fields of psychology, sociology, cultural studies, linguistics, history, anthropology, marketing, economics, international relations, public relations, and journalism.

Approaches in political communication studies commonly involve two intertwined but not necessarily concurrent dimensions: the normative and effectual. The normative dimension wants to establish how closely certain practices and procedures have come in approaching democratic standards, while the effectual perspective asks whether and to which extent these practices fulfill ...