Theoretical Aspects of the Communication Interaction of Political Institutions and Media (Illustrated by the Republic of Bulgaria)
The article defines that political institutions are integral elements of the political system of society, important subjects of politics and carriers of the political process, that regulate the political organization of society, ensuring its stable and long-term functioning. It is stated that the main scientific approaches to understanding the phenomenon of political communication is positivism, behaviorism, structural functionalism, institutionalism and the attention is drawn to the fact that the mass media perform several functions in modern society – communicative, informational, relay, through the implementation of which, media affects all spheres of society and play an important role in the process of interaction between the government and the public. It was noted that the authorities of the Republic of Bulgaria took advantage of the historical moment when the European Union member states were interested in cooperation and were able to convince the Bulgarian society that membership in the EU is a way to solve economic problems, which will further contribute to the economic well-being of the country. The article mentions that an important role in the European integration process of interaction between the authorities and the public was played by Bulgarian journalists, who conducted an extremely intensive and important information campaign, which resulted in 76% of support for the Republic’s membership in this international organization by the Bulgarian society The experience of the Republic of Bulgaria shows that effective work of the mass media is extremely important for establishing communication interaction between government and civil society at a crucial moment for the country. However, the modern Bulgarian media environment is subject to intense criticism for the poor quality of the media product, the media’s dependence on oligarchs, and corruption.