scholarly journals Issue Engagement in Election Campaigns The Impact of Electoral Incentives and Organizational Constraints

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Meyer ◽  
Markus Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Electoral Incentives ◽  
Democratic Quality ◽  
Organizational Constraints ◽  
The Impact

It is easier for voters to make informed electoral choices when parties talk about the same issues. Yet, parties may decide against such “issue engagement.” We hypothesize that issue engagement between parties is more likely (a) when the similarity of their policy positions means that both parties have clearelectoral incentivesto talk about the same topics and (b) when parties face feworganizational constraintsin terms of campaign resources. Our empirical analysis of 2453 press releases by Austrian parties shows that ideological proximity and party resources affect the level of issue engagement. These findings suggest that issue engagement is less likely precisely where it is needed most, which has important implications for understanding the democratic quality of election campaigns.

scholarly journals Campaigning on the welfare state: The impact of gender and gender diversity

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurenz Ennser-Jedenastik
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

Social policy matters have long been considered women’s issues. Extant research has documented a strong link between gender and the policies of the welfare state in the legislative, executive and electoral arenas. Yet what determines the strength of this association has largely been left unexplored. Drawing on tokenism theory, this article proposes gender diversity at the group level as a key explanatory factor. It hypothesizes that the gender gap in social policy diminishes as the female representation in a political party increases. To test this argument, it examines almost 8000 press releases issued by over 600 politicians during four election campaigns in Austria between 2002 and 2013. The analysis demonstrates that women talk more about social policy issues during election campaigns than men, but that this emphasis gap disappears for parties with a more equal gender balance. These results have important implications for our understanding of the politics of gender and social policy.

scholarly journals Constructive Aggression? Multiple Roles of Aggressive Content in Political Discourse on Russian YouTube

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-194
Author(s):  
Svetlana S. Bodrunova ◽  
Anna Litvinenko ◽  
Ivan Blekanov ◽  
Dmitry Nepiyushchikh
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Behavior ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Democratic Quality ◽  
Moscow City ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Political Groups

Today, aggressive verbal behavior is generally perceived as a threat to integrity and democratic quality of public discussions, including those online. However, we argue that, in more restrictive political regimes, communicative aggression may play constructive roles in both discussion dynamics and empowerment of political groups. This might be especially true for restrictive political and legal environments like Russia, where obscene speech is prohibited by law in registered media and the political environment does not give much space for voicing discontent. Taking Russian YouTube as an example, we explore the roles of two under-researched types of communicative aggression—obscene speech and politically motivated hate speech—within the publics of video commenters. For that, we use the case of the Moscow protests of 2019 against non-admission of independent and oppositional candidates to run for the Moscow city parliament. The sample of over 77,000 comments for 13 videos of more than 100,000 views has undergone pre-processing and vocabulary-based detection of aggression. To assess the impact of hate speech upon the dynamics of the discussions, we have used Granger tests and assessment of discussion histograms; we have also assessed the selected groups of posts in an exploratory manner. Our findings demonstrate that communicative aggression helps to express immediate support and solidarity. It also contextualizes the criticism towards both the authorities and regime challengers, as well as demarcates the counter-public.

Chile

2021 ◽  
pp. 214-234
Author(s):  
Eduardo Alemán ◽  
Juan Pablo Micozzi ◽  
Iñaki Sagarzazu
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Electoral Incentives ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
Chamber Of Deputies

This chapter examines speech participation in the Chilean Chamber of Deputies. It discusses the rules structuring speech participation, the impact of electoral incentives, and the country’s party system. The empirical analysis examines all speeches delivered on the floor of the Chamber of Deputies between 2006 and 2018. We find that being in the opposition increases the likelihood of delivering a speech and that legislators from more remote districts deliver more speeches than members whose districts are closer to the main metropolitan area of the country. Relevant differences between those on the right and those on the left are also present. There is no evidence—when looking at all speeches delivered without distinguishing between the type of speech or stage of the chamber’s session—that party leaders or committee chairs speak more often than other legislators or that men speak more often than women.

Self-Compassion and Quality of Life in Adults Who Stutter

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 2097-2108
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Croft ◽  
Courtney T. Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
The Self ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Adults Who Stutter ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify levels of self-compassion in adults who do and do not stutter and to determine whether self-compassion predicts the impact of stuttering on quality of life in adults who stutter. Method Participants included 140 adults who do and do not stutter matched for age and gender. All participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale. Adults who stutter also completed the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Data were analyzed for self-compassion differences between and within adults who do and do not stutter and to predict self-compassion on quality of life in adults who stutter. Results Adults who do and do not stutter exhibited no significant differences in total self-compassion, regardless of participant gender. A simple linear regression of the total self-compassion score and total Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering score showed a significant, negative linear relationship of self-compassion predicting the impact of stuttering on quality of life. Conclusions Data suggest that higher levels of self-kindness, mindfulness, and social connectedness (i.e., self-compassion) are related to reduced negative reactions to stuttering, an increased participation in daily communication situations, and an improved overall quality of life. Future research should replicate current findings and identify moderators of the self-compassion–quality of life relationship.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document