Political Choice

Author(s):  
Ben Epstein

Chapter 4 explains the concept of political choice, the second and most important phase of the political communication cycle (PCC). The political choice phase is the process in which political actors choose if and when to incorporate new information and communications technologies (ICTs) into their communication strategies. This chapter details the process that political actors or organizations go through when determining whether to innovate and helps to identify characteristics of those parties that are more likely to innovate earlier than others, known as innovativeness. Political choice is the behavioral component of the political communication cycle. These innovation decisions are the primary determinants regarding if and how ICT innovations are used to change political communication activity. Therefore, political choice is the most important phase of the PCC, differentiating political communication change from social and societal communication change more broadly.

Author(s):  
Ben Epstein

The Only Constant Is Change presents and tests the political communication cycle (PCC), a model describing how political actors and organizations make decisions about if, how, and when to innovate their political communication practices. Generally speaking, political communication goals have remained largely stable over time, but the strategies used to accomplish these goals have changed a great deal. The PCC describes the recurring process of political communication innovation through American political history. This model incorporates the technological, political, and behavioral factors influencing how and when changes in political communication activity take place. The PCC is made up of three phases that also serve as an organizational structure for the book. First is the technological imperative, which focuses on how new information and communications technologies (ICT) are developed and what types of ICTs may be more or less likely to be used to innovate political communication. Next, the political choice phase incorporates the behavioral processes embedded in how different types of actors choose whether to innovate or not. This phase is the most critical and is analyzed through case studies evaluating how campaigns, social movements, and interest groups have or have not changed their political communication activities over time. Finally, the stabilization phase encompasses the process of how once innovative techniques become the new status quo though the establishment of new norms, regulations, and institutions. The book explores these changes through historical and contemporary analysis, which offers important context and tools to understand political communication through history and today.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-170
Author(s):  
Darya I. Judina ◽  
◽  
Sergei A. Ivanov ◽  

The Internet as a special space for political activity and political communication is becoming more and more attractive to political actors. The intensification of political activity on the Internet leads to the increase of researchers’ interest. One of the prominent areas of this research is the analysis of the efficiency of communication strategies used by politically oriented communities on the Internet. The results of such assessment contribute to, in particular, characterizing the level and features of the political engagement of Internet users into political processes. To study these processes, a telephone survey of residents of St. Petersburg was conducted. St. Petersburg was chosen because it is one of the largest cities in Russia with high Internet coverage and a high level of political activity compared to other regions. The results showed that politically oriented communities effectively implement primary communication strategies — information and presentation. More than two-thirds of politically active Internet users in St. Petersburg noted that visiting the relevant resources helped them to understand the political situation, to define their attitude toward parties, politicians, social movements and organizations. At the same time, the strategy of supporting political identification has not yet worked for the majority of users. Perhaps this is a consequence of the fact that the majority of St. Petersburg citizens have not yet found appropriate political leaders and organizations. The authors found that the majority of Internet users display an interest in politics permanently, and not only during the pre-election period. The hypothesis that one of the factors of an efficient strategy of politically oriented communities is emphasizing anti-power positions was confirmed. The survey results also confirmed the high level of opposition views among Internet users.


1969 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen McNutt

The onslaught of information and communications technologies (ICTs), theburgeoning popularity of the Internet, and the ideology behind the new information economy has coalesced into a force that is fundamentally reshaping the contours of the Canadian political landscape. This reorganization of the state will profoundly impact women’s opportunities to participate in and alter conventional notions of citizenship. The establishment of electronic or e-government and the implications behind the development of the cyberstate promise to revolutionize Canadian governance and our traditional understandings of democracy. While there is the political possibility of shaping the emerging cyberstate as a vehicle of empowerment for women and marginalized others, there is also the prospect that Internet-facilitated government will exacerbate inequalities and impair women’s citizenship status.


Author(s):  
Cristina Cirtita-Buzoianu

This paper aims to analyze the image and identity of political actors during an electoral campaign, as these two elements are defining for political marketing in attracting and convincing voters. With that in mind we will monitor the image of the two candidates for the position of mayor in the 2012 electoral campaign in Bacău, as it appeared in the written local press. The analysis of the two politicians will be made from the perspective of two pre-established image indicators: the political and the human dimensions. Each of the two dimensions has sub indicators pre-established in order to validate the general mediatized image of the candidate. Regarding the political dimension we will measure the sub indicators: political communication, attitude towards corruption, interest for civil problems, the ability to negotiate and political project, while the human dimension has the following sub indicators: faith, empathy, morality, honesty, charisma, consistency and leadership. Thus, we will try to identify if there are major differences between the two dimensions, for the two candidates, from a quantitative as well as a qualitative perspective.


2013 ◽  
pp. 60-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Canongia ◽  
Raphael Mandarino

This chapter introduces the theme of cybersecurity, its importance in the actual scenario, and the challenges of the new Information Society, whose critical development factors are the technological revolution and innovation. The revolution that the information and communications technologies (ICTs) has already brought to modern society is, without doubt, more than visible and concrete, but the great challenge facing us is to harmonize two dimensions, the first relating to the culture of sharing, socialization, and transparency, and the second relating to the issues of security, confidentiality, and privacy. It gives a broad overview in tabular form of the national cybersecurity strategies of the developed countries, United States and United Kingdom, as well as describing a study case, Brazil, is taking its first steps on the path towards cybersecurity. The chapter ends by proposing a model, the key elements for formulating a Brazilian cybersecurity strategy.


Author(s):  
Christopher F. Karpowitz

A powerful tool for content analysis, DICTION allows scholars to illuminate the ideas, perspectives, and linguistic tendencies of a wide variety of political actors. At its best, a tool like DICTION allows scholars not just to describe the features of political language, but also to analyze the causes and the consequences those features in ways that advance our understanding political communication more broadly. Effective analysis involves helping academic audiences understand what the measures being used mean, how the results relate to broader theoretical constructs, and the extent to which findings reveal something important about the political world. This involves exploring both the causes and the consequences of linguistic choices, including by attending closely to how those texts are received by their intended audiences. In this chapter, the authors review ways in which DICTION has been used and might be used to better understand the role of political leadership, the meaning of democracy, and the effects of political language on the political behavior of ordinary citizens.


Author(s):  
Claudia Canongia ◽  
Raphael Mandarino

This chapter introduces the theme of cybersecurity, its importance in the actual scenario, and the challenges of the new Information Society, whose critical development factors are the technological revolution and innovation. The revolution that the information and communications technologies (ICTs) has already brought to modern society is, without doubt, more than visible and concrete, but the great challenge facing us is to harmonize two dimensions, the first relating to the culture of sharing, socialization, and transparency, and the second relating to the issues of security, confidentiality, and privacy. It gives a broad overview in tabular form of the national cybersecurity strategies of the developed countries, United States and United Kingdom, as well as describing a study case, Brazil, is taking its first steps on the path towards cybersecurity. The chapter ends by proposing a model, the key elements for formulating a Brazilian cybersecurity strategy.


Author(s):  
Wendy Faulkner ◽  
Merete Lie

Strategies of Inclusion Gender and the Information Society (SIGIS) was a European study exploring initiatives to include more women in the information society.1 This article summarises its main conclusions. The work started from the premise that overall more women than men are excluded from the information society, both as users and as designers of new information and communications technologies (ICTs). Our literature review (Sørensen & Stewart, 2002) confirmed that there is still a gender gap in terms of ownership of some ICT products and, to a lesser extent, in terms of access and use. Gender cuts across other dynamics in the digital divide—income, occupation and age being generally more significant than gender—with other factors (e.g., ethnic minorities, lone parent families) also intervening. Although the trend with respect to the use of ICT products is one of a closing gender gap, it is clear that diffusion alone is not sufficient to close the gap all together; inclusion efforts are still warranted in this area. By contrast, the literature review revealed a persistent and sizeable gender gap within computer specialisms and professions designing ICTs. The proportion of women entering computer science and engineering courses in most countries is static or in decline, in spite of sustained inclusion efforts. So, the overall picture across Europe is a contradictory one: optimistic with respect to what we call women and ICT (users), and pessimistic with respect to women in ICT (professionals).


Author(s):  
Güliz Uluç ◽  
Mehmet Yilmaz ◽  
Umit Isikdag

Internet forums and weblogs have been institutionalized as an integral part of the political communication system. Political candidates, interest groups, and other political actors increasingly employ the Internet as a communication tool. Weblogs and online discussion forums are recognized as new democratic meeting places. This chapter investigates the role of political blogs and forums in the 2007 presidential election in Turkey and focuses on the interaction between political actors and the citizens. The content of 270 top-rated blogs and 15 discussion forums posted between April and September of 2007 was analyzed. The findings indicate that blogs and forums function as enablers of political dialogue and facilitate political participation and civic interaction. The conclusion is drawn that blogs and forums have emerged as innovative modes of political communication in Turkey resulting in a broad interchange of diverse political opinions in the political arena.


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