Framing contest in the Spanish political debate about the economic situation (2008-2011)

Abstract

“Successful political communication requires the framing of events, issues, and actors in ways that promote perceptions and interpretations that benefit one side while hindering the other” (ENTMAN, 2003: 417). The objective of this research is to determine whether the frame of the Spanish Government on the economic situation during the last legislature has been able to prevail over the political opposition and over major newspapers, or on the contrary, they have offered alternative versions. To do this, we apply the cascading activation model, developed by ENTMAN, which explains how the frame “war on terror”, sponsored by the White House after the 9/11, managed to be the dominant version of what happened also to opposition and the main U.S. media.