文摘
Governmental public relations, the tax-funded political communication by administrative bodies in Germany, can very well be described as an area of constant conflict. Actors are legally obliged to communicate their policies and decisions to the electorate; on the other hand there is the constant peril of infringements of democratic rights of oppositional actors through communicative measures. Major juridical debates have arisen. Communication studies have approached the subject of legal restrictions of governmental public relations rather cautiously so far. With the issue becoming more and more salient—especially due to the accelerating process of digitisation—the question of whether this is still satisfactory gains importance. This paper is to stimulate a debate. It highlights connections and delimitations between the different perspectives and points out the possible contributions of communication studies to the establishment of valid normative and legal frameworks and the emerging fields of research for the discipline itself.