Civil servants as superior presidential spokespeople

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara Alaimo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Political Appointees ◽  
Type Design ◽  
The Press ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study investigated whether political appointees or civil servants are more effective spokespeople for the President of the United States. Design/methodology/approach A series of rare, detailed, confidential interviews were conducted with civil servants and political appointees who worked in public affairs for the U.S. Department of the Treasury under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as with reporters who interacted with the officials frequently. Findings The findings suggest that civil servants more effectively advance the President’s positions in the press than political appointees. Reporters place significantly less trust in information they receive from political appointees because they assume that appointees are politically motivated – a phenomenon this study calls the “appointee discount.” Appointees also have significantly less knowledge of the policies they are responsible for communicating. Civil servants are therefore positioned to more effectively shape media coverage on behalf of the President. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that the increased use of political appointees by modern Presidents may have been misguided. Further research should be conducted in other government agencies to confirm the findings. Practical implications The findings suggest that it would be in the interests of the President of the United States to use civil servants rather than political appointees as spokespeople for non-political policies. Originality/value This is the first study to investigate whether political appointees or civil servants better advance the interests of the President of the United States in the press.

A study of the functions of political appointees from a comparative perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 205789112110369
Author(s):  
Jun Makita
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
The United States ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Real ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Political Appointees

In this article, the functions of political appointees have been classified by an index on the relation between politics and bureaucracy. Based on that classification, the real states of four democracies, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Japan, have been examined. From this study, the causation consisting of the politico-administrative relation (concretely, the insider-outsider factor and the line-staff factor), the independent value, and the political appointees' functions (advice, decision-making and interface between politicians and civil servants), the dependent value, has been confirmed. Through this examination from a comparative perspective, a proposal of generalization about the political appointees' functions has been presented.

Sexist Acts in Sports: Media Reactions and Forms of Apologia

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet S. Fink ◽  
John F. Borland ◽  
Sarah K. Fields
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sports Media ◽  
Women In Sport ◽  
The Media ◽  
Practical Implications

Critical analysis of media coverage is vital as scholars have long suggested that what the media choose to cover and how they choose to cover it have incredible influence on audience perceptions. Therefore, how the media cover negative incidents and sexist comments relative to women in sport can illuminate the manner in which they reinforce or challenge the hegemonic nature of sport. This study critically examined the media’s reaction to 5 specific sexist incidents in sport from 2004 to 2007 and the reactions of the perpetrators themselves and their defenders as represented in the media. Articles (N = 278) covering the incidents from 5 large newspapers representing different areas of the United States were analyzed. Results indicated that there were 4 strategies of apologia (i.e., denial, bolstering, transcendence, and differentiation), and 2 other themes, silence and marginalized sexism, emerged. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

What will happen to the “American Dream”? Four scenarios for opportunity in the United States to 2035

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Millett
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alternative Possibilities ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – To further a dialog about the future of opportunities in America, this exercise imagines what life would be like in four alternative possibilities, or scenarios, emerging from now to the year 2035. Design/methodology/approach – The logical basis for these four possible futures is that technological, political, economic and social factors – and the decisions of voters and their leaders–will result in either many or few opportunities which will be available to many or few players. Findings – The central question is what scenario do we really want to live in and what decisions need to be taken to increase its likelihood of occurring? Conversely, which future is the most undesirable and what can we do to prevent it? Practical implications – The scenarios illuminate the choices that need to be explored now to better anticipate and react to the challenges of the future. Originality/value – By selecting just two ranges of conditions–opportunity and participation–the author is able to imagine futures that have elements of utopia and dystopia.

Off to a bad start: John Adams’s tussle over titles

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C Alexander
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Vice President ◽  
The United States ◽  
John Adams ◽  
The Press ◽  
First Session

From the first days, of the first session, of the first Congress of the United States, the Senate was consumed by an issue that would do immense and lasting political harm to the sitting vice president, John Adams. The issue was a seemingly unimportant one: titles. Adams had strong opinions on what constituted a proper title for important officers of government and, either because he was unconcerned or unaware of the damage it would cause, placed himself in the middle of the brewing dispute. Adams hoped the president would be referred to as, “His highness, the President of the United States of America, and Protector of the Rights of the Same.” The suggestion enraged many, amused some, and was supported by few. He lost the fight over titles and made fast enemies with several of the Senators he was constitutionally obligated to preside over. Adams was savaged in the press, derided in the Senate and denounced by one of his oldest and closest friends. Not simply an isolated incident of political tone-deafness, this event set the stage for the campaign against Adams as a monarchist and provided further proof of his being woefully out of touch.

scholarly journals Learning to Detain Asylum Seekers and the Growth of Mass Immigration Detention in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Smita Ghosh ◽  
Mary Hoopes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Component ◽  
Immigration Detention ◽  
Important Shift

Drawing upon an analysis of congressional records and media coverage from 1981 to 1996, this article examines the growth of mass immigration detention. It traces an important shift during this period: while detention began as an ad hoc executive initiative that was received with skepticism by the legislature, Congress was ultimately responsible for entrenching the system over objections from the agency. As we reveal, a critical component of this evolution was a transformation in Congress’s perception of asylum seekers. While lawmakers initially decried their detention, they later branded them as dangerous. Lawmakers began describing asylum seekers as criminals or agents of infectious diseases in order to justify their detention, which then cleared the way for the mass detention of arriving migrants more broadly. Our analysis suggests that they may have emphasized the dangerousness of asylum seekers to resolve the dissonance between their theoretical commitments to asylum and their hesitance to welcome newcomers. In addition to this distinctive form of cognitive dissonance, we discuss a number of other implications of our research, including the ways in which the new penology framework figured into the changing discourse about detaining asylum seekers.

Media coverage of the unfolding crisis of domestic terrorism in the United States, 1990–2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 2046147X2199601
Author(s):  
Diana Zulli ◽  
Kevin Coe ◽  
Zachary Isaacs ◽  
Ian Summers
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Television News ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Domestic Terrorism ◽  
Definitional Uncertainty

Public relations research has paid considerable attention to foreign terrorist crises but relatively little attention to domestic ones—despite the growing salience of domestic terrorism in the United States. This study content analyzes 30 years of network television news coverage of domestic terrorism to gain insight into four theoretical issues of enduring interest within the literature on news framing and crisis management: sourcing, contextualization, ideological labeling, and definitional uncertainty. Results indicate that the sources called upon to contextualize domestic terrorism have shifted over time, that ideological labels are more often applied on the right than the left, and that definitional uncertainty has increased markedly in recent years. Implications for the theory and practice of public relations and crisis management are discussed.

Exploiting a Crisis: Abortion Activism and the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Kate Hunt
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Medical Procedure ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Global Crisis ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Movement Organizations

How do social movement organizations involved in abortion debates leverage a global crisis to pursue their goals? In recent months there has been media coverage of how anti-abortion actors in the United States attempted to use the COVID-19 pandemic to restrict access to abortion by classifying abortion as a non-essential medical procedure. Was the crisis “exploited” by social movement organizations (SMOs) in other countries? I bring together Crisis Exploitation Theory and the concept of discursive opportunity structures to test whether social movement organizations exploit crisis in ways similar to elites, with those seeking change being more likely to capitalize on the opportunities provided by the crisis. Because Twitter tends to be on the frontlines of political debate—especially during a pandemic—a dataset is compiled of over 12,000 Tweets from the accounts of SMOs involved in abortion debates across four countries to analyze the patterns in how they responded to the pandemic. The results suggest that crisis may disrupt expectations about SMO behavior and that anti- and pro-abortion rights organizations at times framed the crisis as both a “threat” and as an “opportunity.”

NCSS notable trade book lesson plan: the girl who buried her dreams in a can

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-126
Author(s):  
Takisha Durm
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
The United States ◽  
Elementary Grades ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Future Date

PurposeThe Girl Who Buried Her Dreams in a Can, written by Dr Tererai, profiles a cultural, yet global experience of the power of believing in one's dream. Through this study of the similarities and differences of how children in the United States and abroad live and dream of a better life, this lesson seeks to enhance students' understandings of the power and authority they possess to effect change not only within their own lives but also in the lives of countless others in world. After reading the text, students will work to create vision boards illustrating their plans to effect change within their homes, schools, communities, states or countries. They will present their plans to their peers. To culminate the lesson, the students will bury their dreams in can and collectively decide on a future date to revisit the can to determine how far they have progressed in accomplishing their goals.Design/methodology/approachThis is an elementary grades 3–6 lesson plan. There was no research design/methodology/approach included.FindingsAs this is a lesson plan and no actual research was represented, there are no findings.Originality/valueThis is an original lesson plan completed by the first author Takisha Durm.

1. Text of United States Note to the Far Eastern Commission on a Japanese Peace Treaty, Released to the Press, November 24, 1950.

1951 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 242-243
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
General Statement ◽  
The Press ◽  
States Government ◽  
Far Eastern

There is given below a brief general statement of the type of treaty envisioned by the United States Government as proper to end the state of war with Japan. It is stressed that this statement is only suggestive and tentative, and does not commit the United States Government to the detailed content or wording of any future draft. It is expected that after there has been an opportunity to study this outline, there will be a series of informal discussions designed to elaborate on it and make clear any points which may be obscure at first glance.

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