The Political Communication Section of ECREA was founded when the Association was first established in 2005.

The section ascribes to “the principle of positive discrimination of the under-represented categories”, provided that the primary premise of high academic standard applies. Adhering to this democratizing and equality promoting principle, we welcome participants from all regions and countries of Europe, from every gender and age, particularly so the younger scholars. Eventhough a young entity the Section reckons already with a number of members and we are looking forward to more and especially young participants.

The Section’s intention is to bring together and encourage both critical and empirically robust research in our field. It aspires to engage in the related broader theoretical, epistemological and methodological discussions of our field, for instance about the inherent inter-disciplinarity of it and the related needs / constraints in our research and work approaches. Viewing the role of social science as an active agency in the service of community, the Section will join forces with our association at large, but also with other networks, in every effort to engage in official public interventions and consultations on crucial matters pertinent to aspects of political communication, notably those referring to the European – EU dimension, and to related spheres, such as the on-going communications policy-making.

In the mission statement (infra) such issues as goals and priorites are set out clearly and exposed in greater detail. So, colleagues are urged to visit the appropriate page and to communicate their reflections with us.

The Modus Operandi of the section is clearly laid out in the relevant page (infra) aiming to uphold a high standard of transparency in operations and management.

Our aim, as heads of the section, is also to uphold, as much as possible, interactive and productive relations. To this effect we have adopted the interactive postal feature to our website.

Currently, (2007), the section is a co-organiser / convenor of two important academic manifestations:

1. ECREA Symposium: Equal Opportunities and Communication Rights: Representation, Participation & the European Democratic Deficit, 11-12 October 2007 Brussels

2. IAMCR 50th anniversary conference – 23-25 July, UNESCO / Paris, Co-sponsored session with the Political Communication Section of IAMCR.

Aspiring to develop intra- and inter-organizational communication and collaboration, we invite intersted partners to submit their proposals about synergetic initiatives. We welcome bona fide critical remarks about how best to go about in the completion of our goals.