Populism, Politics, and Public Policy: 1970s Conservatism

1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-98
Author(s):  
J. David Hoeveler
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
The People

A quarter century and more has passed since the 1970s made its debut. History, always problematic as an objective undertaking, encourages present-mindedness when proximity to events in question governs our perspectives. This article does not pretend to have avoided this pitfall. Today the animus against government dominates political discourse. “Outsiders” who aspire to office boast of that status; “insiders” obscure theirs. All politicians design to show their commonness, their oneness with the people, the beleaguered people, victims of the socially privileged, of haughty bureaucrats, and the sundry occult forces that sustain their misery. Ours, it has been observed, has become a dominantly “populist” culture, its anti-elitism resounding from local Serb Halls in Milwaukee and elsewhere to the very chambers of the Capitol itself.

scholarly journals Populism, Twitter, and COVID-19: Narrative, Fantasies, and Desires

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 294
Author(s):  
Laura Cervi ◽  
Fernando García ◽  
Carles Marín Lladó
Keyword(s):  
Text Analysis ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Ability To Work ◽  
The Core ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The People ◽  
Working People ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So

During a global pandemic, the great impact of populist discourse on the construction of social reality is undeniable. This study analyzes the fantasmatic dimension of political discourse from Donald Trump’s and Jair Bolsonaro’s Twitter accounts between 1 March and 31 May. To do so, it applies a Clause-Based Semantic Text Analysis (CBSTA) methodology that categorizes speech in Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) triplets. The study findings show that in spite of the Coronavirus pandemic, the main beatific and horrific subjects remain the core populist signifiers: the people and the elite. While Bolsonaro’s narrative was predominantly beatific, centered on the government, Trump’s was mostly horrific, centered on the elite. Trump signified the pandemic as a subject and an enemy to be defeated, whereas Bolsonaro portrayed it as a circumstance. Finally, both leaders defined the people as working people, therefore their concerns about the pandemic were focused on the people’s ability to work.

scholarly journals The power of the people: the meaning of kratos in dēmokratia

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
John McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Old Comedy ◽  
Black Lives Matter ◽  
The People ◽  
Satisfactory Answer

In this paper, I reconstruct the notion of kratos as a unique and distinguishable exercise of political power. Using examples from 5th- and 4th-century Attic tragedy, Old Comedy, and forensic oratory, I show how kratos was used in Athenian cultural and political discourse to convey the irrefutability of a claim, the recognition of someone’s prevailing over another, and the sense of having the last word—all of which makes kratic power dependent upon its own continued demonstrability. I argue that the peculiarly performative character of kratos has little or no role within contemporary democratic thinking because the agency of the dēmos is largely mediated through the mechanisms of electoral success and constitutional rights. Nevertheless—and regardless of whether they are ultimately successful in achieving their stated political aims—the spontaneous, organisationally diffuse protests operating extra-institutionally under the banners of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter reveal how the attempted ‘domestication’ of kratos, and the sublimation of its peculiar power into piecemeal reform, was never a realistic or satisfactory answer for democratic discontent.

scholarly journals The strategy of demagoguery in Donald Trump’s thankful speech

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Specific Strategy ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Views ◽  
National Convention ◽  
Local Strategy ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Linguistic Means

The article is focused on identifying local and speech strategies (tactics) that are subjected to the global strategy of demagoguery in American political discourse. The article concerns analysis of the definitions and synonyms of the term demagoguery. Such analysis confirmed the appropriateness of considering demagoguery as a specific strategy of political discourse. The results of the research ascertain that the term demagoguery is perceived differently in Ukrainian and English linguistic cultures. Ukrainians perceive demagoguery as a tool for deceiving and manipulation, while Englishmen think of it as of a method of leading a political game and broadening the voter base. The recipients of demagoguery in Ukrainian linguistic culture are uneducated groups of people, while in English linguistic culture the recipient is the people as a whole. Demagoguery as a specific strategy of political discourse is mainly used to influence the electorate through appealing to the feelings, instincts, and prejudices and through forming required political views and preferences. The analysis of the American sociologists’ works enabled us to identify the main features of demagoguery. They are the following: the focus on broadening the audience, using propaganda for manipulating the masses and entertaining character. Analysis of empirical evidence, Donald Trump's thankful speech, which was given at the Republican national convention in 2016, allows us to single out local strategies of demagoguery. The local strategies of demagoguery, which are typical for American political discourse, are the following: populism, manipulation, subjectivation, fascination, and information simplification. Moreover, the article identifies and describes speech tactics that are typical for each local strategy. Among them, there are tactics of empty promises, lies, accusing, ridicule, using slogans, vulgarization, intimidation, and a tactic of finding a scapegoat. The research also concerns analysis of the linguistic means used for the realization of every local strategy and speech tactic. The most frequently used linguistic means are usage of expressive language with positive and negative meaning, repetition, anthroponomy, and subjectivation.

scholarly journals 160 DILEMA KEBIJAKAN YANG PRO RAKYAT (Peraturan Gubernur Kalimantan Tengah No 15 Tahun 2010 tentang Pembukaan Lahan dan Pekarangan Bagi Masyarakat)

KRITIS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-176
Author(s):  
Brian L Djumaty ◽  
Nina Putri Hayam Dey
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Central Kalimantan ◽  
Policy Relevance ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
Food Needs

Since the enactment of decentralization local government have been granted the authority to organize, protect society etc. Given the authority that Central Kalimantan provincial government issued a policy (Pergub No. 15 tahun 2010 on guidelines for land clearing and yard for the people) to protect the local community in the tradition / habit of farming by burning forests to customary provisions. The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the extent to which public policy relevance since the issuance of the policy in 2010-2015 and to what extent these policies protect the local wisdom. the method used is descriptive qualitative study, using the study of literature in the process of data collection. Results and discussion of these studies show that 1) in 2015 created a policy that is no longer relevant because the whole area of Central Kalimantan is 15.3 million hectares, 12.7 hectares (78%) is controlled by plantation companies. 2) goodwill by the Government of Central Kalimantan to protect local communities need to be given appreciation. But this policy could apply / relevant if it is done before the 90s because many forests and local people still farming to meet food needs.

scholarly journals Come Fly With Me: Analyzing The F-35 Aircraft Acquisition Discourse to Study Incivility in Question Period

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Accountability ◽  
The People ◽  
Canadian Politics ◽  
The Government

The main objective behind the parliamentary practice of Question Period is to ensure that the government is held accountable to the people. Rather than being a political accountability tool and a showcase of public discourse, these deliberations are most often displays of vitriolic political rhetoric. I will be focusing my research on the ways in which incivil political discourse permeates the political mediascape with respect to one instance in Canadian politics - the acquisition of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. I believe that incivility in the political discourse of Question Period must be understood within the mechanics of the contemporary public sphere. By interrogating the complexities of how political discourse is being mediatized, produced and consumed within the prevailing ideological paradigms, I identify some of the contemporary social, cultural and political practices that produce incivility in parliamentary discourse.

scholarly journals The Lesson from the Modern American Federalism: A Challenge to Effective Public Policy Performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geiguen Shin
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Federal System ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Policy Performance ◽  
The Past ◽  
State And Local ◽  
American Federalism

Abstract Contemporary U.S. federalism particularly since the late1960s has evolved over the course of pluralism alternating exercisable governmental powers between the federal and state governments. The complexity of the power relationship has been observed in a variety of policies during the past quarter-century as has the discussion of whether or not contemporary U.S. federalism has developed in a way that increase effective public policy performance. Focusing mainly on the period of the past 50 years of U.S. federalism history, this article suggests that federalism dynamics have not exercised either constant liberal or conservative influence on public policy performance. Instead, this article suggests that the clear functional responsibility between the federal government and state and local governments have characterized contemporary U.S. federalism-more federal responsibility for redistribution and more state and local responsibility for development, which in turn increased public policy performance. This feature has been quite substantial since 1970s. As a result, this article suggests that despite the increased complexity of the U.S. federal system, it has evolved in such an appropriate way that would increase the efficiency of federal system by dividing a clear intergovernmental responsibility on major policy platforms.

An Appeal to the People: Politeness Strategies in the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Maiden Speech

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Nadia Anuar ◽  
Nurizah Md Ngadiran
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Speech ◽  
Political Upheaval ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The People ◽  
Politeness Strategies

The use of politeness strategies has received increasing attention in the political discourse as a powerful persuasion tool. These strategies became critical for the newly appointed prime minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, to convince Malaysians that he is qualified to lead the country during a political upheaval and global pandemic. Thus, the objectives of this paper are to identify the types and frequency of the politeness strategies used by Muhyiddin Yassin in his maiden speech as the eighth prime minister of Malaysia. Two categories of politeness strategies based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) were examined, which are negative strategies and positive strategies. The speech text was obtained from the official website of Prime Minister’s Office and was translated to English for analysis. The translated speech was subsequently checked for validity. Document analysis was used to analyse the translated speech text to determine the types and frequency of the politeness strategies. The analysis revealed that positive politeness strategies were significantly used (88%) compared to negative politeness strategies (12%). The most dominantly used positive politeness strategy was “notice and attend to the receiver’s need, interest, or want” while “use of exaggeration”, “seek agreement”, and “avoid disagreement” were the least used strategy. In contrast, “question” and “giving deference” were identified to be the most frequently used negative politeness strategy. The present study extends our knowledge on the use of politeness strategies in a political speech in an Asian setting, which is notably lacking in the literature.

Secular Evolution in the Philippines

2017 ◽  
pp. 154-182
Author(s):  
David T. Buckley
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Secular Evolution ◽  
The People ◽  
Health Legislation

How has the Philippines’ benevolent secularism withstood challenges brought on by authoritarian rule and religious pluralization over the past quarter century? This chapter documents the role of religious-secular and interfaith partnerships in steering institutional change in Philippines in two periods: the “People Power” Revolution against the Marcos dictatorship and more recent contention over reproductive health legislation. Religious-secular and interfaith alliances helped topple the Marcos regime, and more recently have alleviated some tensions related to reproductive health legislation. The chapter traces elite alliances through field interviews and records of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, and then documents similar consensus in public opinion data.

Who are ‘the people’?

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 666-690
Author(s):  
Olga Pasitselska ◽  
Christian Baden
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Diverse Populations ◽  
Clear Definition ◽  
Ideological Discourse ◽  
The People ◽  
Dispersed Media ◽  
Conflict Narratives

Abstract As expressions without clear definition but with strong normative charging, empty signifiers play an important role in political discourse. Uniting diverse populations under a common banner and endowing political demands with self-evident legitimacy, they constitute a potent tool for rallying support for political action. Among empty signifiers, one particularly versatile construct are ‘the people’ as bearers of ultimate political legitimacy. In this paper, we investigate how ‘the people’ are constructed in propagandistic conflict narratives during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, imbuing the concept with different meanings in the pursuit of competing political ends. We show how ‘the people’ are constructed as democratic sovereign, enduring nation, moral humans or dispersed media publics, each time summoning different kinds of legitimacy and using different strategies to construct encompassing consensus and marginalize dissent. We discuss implications for the study of ideological discourse, populism and political communication.

Anthropology and Public Policy in Alaska

1982 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
Kerry Feldman ◽  
Steve Langdon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The People ◽  
The Future ◽  
High Level

This special issue of Practicing Anthropology includes seven papers which cover a broad spectrum of anthropological practice in Alaska, but share a common orientation toward public policy. We have chosen to focus on anthropology and public policy in Alaska for several reasons. First, there appears to be a high level of anthropological involvement in and impact on Alaskan public policy compared to other regions of the United States. Second, that involvement and influence is not limited to one or two topics but ranges over a variety of issues. Finally, we feel that because of the nature of contemporary Alaska—its size, small population, ethnic diversity, present economy, and youth as a state—public directions taken at this time will be crucial to the future of the people who are presently residents of Alaska. A sense of that urgency as well as of the powerful forces at work comes through in a number of the articles.

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