Communication capacity of NHC entities in digital media: are there significant asymmetries among segments?

Abstract

This work presents the results of a study that analyzed the processes and communication strategies by the entities represented in the National Health Council (NHC), 2018-2021 administration. The production of alternative communication by civil society constitutes one of the fundamental principles of democratic regimes for an important American institutionalist author (Robert Dahl). The emergence of the Internet and social networks has brought new demands for these organizations to disseminate their ideas and be present in this network society (Castells). Our study aimed to analyze the extent to which these entities are present in the digital media and to verify if there were significant differences in the communication capacity among the segments represented in the NHC. A survey was applied to the communication departments of the 42 NHC entities from September 2019 to February 2020. Thirty-four answers were obtained (81%). The results show the existence of 3 different levels of development in communication within these entities, regardless of the macro-institutional categories. Our article ends by discussing the results in light of the polyarchy and the digital democracy models and highlighting new steps towards effective democratic communication policies and participation.

Key words:
Civil Society; Health and Communication; Internet; Community Participation; Democracy