scholarly journals Disaster and Debate

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 516-544
Author(s):  
Alexandra Couto ◽  
Guy Kahane
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
National Disaster ◽  
Political Duty

Faced with a national tragedy, citizens respond in different ways. Some will initiate debate about the possible connections between this tragedy and broader moral and political issues. But others often complain that this is too early, that it is inappropriate to debate such larger issues while ‘the bodies are still warm.’ This paper critically examines the grounds for such a complaint. We consider different interpretations of the complaint—cynical, epistemic, and ethical—and argue that it can be resisted on all of these readings. Debate shortly after a national disaster is therefore permissible. We then set out a political argument in favor of early debate based on the value of broad political participation in liberal democracies and sketch a stronger argument, based on the duty to support just institutions, that would support a political duty to engage in debate shortly after tragedies have occurred.

Political Voice across Issues

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Seth Levine
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Economic Insecurity ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
Look Back

This chapter examines patterns of political participation more broadly across time and space. It directly compares people's likelihood of becoming active based on which political issues they consider most important. The data for this analysis are drawn from the American National Election Study data from the past three decades. The chapter asks: If we look back over the past thirty years, have the people who consider insecurity issues to be most important also been less likely to spend resources on politics than those who consider other issues to be most important? Have they been less likely to donate money to political organizations? And, if they are in the labor force, have they been less likely to volunteer as well? Moreover, do these differences remain even after we take into account other differences between the types of people who prioritize economic insecurity issues versus those who consider other issues to be most important?

Intercultural Dialogue and Human Rights

1998 ◽  
pp. 33-39
Author(s):  
Antonio Perez-Estevez
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal System ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Intercultural Dialogue ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Duty

Which political and juridical foundation can justify the transit from the Western, particular, to the universal? John Rawls tries to answer this question in his article, "The Law of Peoples," proposing a kind of contract or agreement. A first agreement should be attained among liberal-democratic societies on a few political and social issues such as human rights. Then this agreement can be widened to non-liberal/democratic but well organized hierarchical societies or those that satisfy the requisites of being peaceful, of having a reasonably well organized legal system, of admitting a measure of freedom-political and religious-and of admitting the right of emigration. These two groups of nations would belong to a Society of Nations with the juridical and political duty of fulfilling the few political issues that have been previously accepted. But Rawls' proposal overcomes neither eurocentrism nor western-centrism. It seems that the first circle of liberal democratic nations would decide which peoples satisfy the requirements of the 'well organized hierarchical societies.' This second circle of nations are only invited peoples; they are not supposed to contribute new proposals, but only to accept the proposals of the liberal-democratic nations. I present a new effort to attain human rights through a true universal dialogue in which the representatives of all cultures and peoples can equally speak, make proposals, and listen or accept the proposals of others.

scholarly journals Social Media and Youth Political Participation at the Time of Political Polarization: A Study on University Students in Indonesia during the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
. Wahyutama
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Conversation

<p>Some studies theorized social media as fostering youth political participation by facilitating the development of online participatory cultures (Jenkins, 2009). Online participatory cultures provide young citizens with opportunities to discuss and gain information about political topics, create capacity for action by promoting digital skills and norms for group interaction, and facilitate recruitment into civic and political life (Kahne et al., 2013). Against the backdrop of this discourse, this research aims to investigate social media and youth political participation in Indonesia’s context.  This project’s research questions ask: How politics is experienced by Indonesian youth and how social media is used by them to engage with political activities? To answer those questions, this research conducted a survey (n=265) and interviews (n=29) with students from three universities in Jakarta. This research adopted grounded theory approach in analysing the data.  This research revealed that social media in general provides affordances for youth to engage with activities related to political conversation and social-political campaign (as indicated by the findings that social media attracts more numbers of youth participating in these two categories of activity). Thus, this research in part support propositions advocated by the thesis of online participatory cultures that social media facilitates youth political participation.  However, under the specific context of ethnic and religious-based political polarization which happened during this research, this research also revealed that the salient form of social media use by youth is in fact monitoring political conversation. This activity is driven by the sense of “kepo” (the drive to asses how others are thinking, feeling, and responding to certain political issues) and has the effect on youth’s fear of social isolation (in the form of fear of breaking relationship with others). Eventually, this activity leads youth to the act of silence (in the form of refraining political expression on social media). In this case, this research (unintentionally) confirm the theory of spiral of silence proposed by Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann (1984).  Finally, this research contributes to the academic discourse by providing a critical insight into the way social media could lead its users to the process of spiral of silence i.e. by exacerbating the fear of social isolation obtained from the activity of social surveillance (in the form of monitoring political conversation).</p>

scholarly journals Social Media and Youth Political Participation at the Time of Political Polarization: A Study on University Students in Indonesia during the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
. Wahyutama
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Spiral Of Silence ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Conversation

<p>Some studies theorized social media as fostering youth political participation by facilitating the development of online participatory cultures (Jenkins, 2009). Online participatory cultures provide young citizens with opportunities to discuss and gain information about political topics, create capacity for action by promoting digital skills and norms for group interaction, and facilitate recruitment into civic and political life (Kahne et al., 2013). Against the backdrop of this discourse, this research aims to investigate social media and youth political participation in Indonesia’s context.  This project’s research questions ask: How politics is experienced by Indonesian youth and how social media is used by them to engage with political activities? To answer those questions, this research conducted a survey (n=265) and interviews (n=29) with students from three universities in Jakarta. This research adopted grounded theory approach in analysing the data.  This research revealed that social media in general provides affordances for youth to engage with activities related to political conversation and social-political campaign (as indicated by the findings that social media attracts more numbers of youth participating in these two categories of activity). Thus, this research in part support propositions advocated by the thesis of online participatory cultures that social media facilitates youth political participation.  However, under the specific context of ethnic and religious-based political polarization which happened during this research, this research also revealed that the salient form of social media use by youth is in fact monitoring political conversation. This activity is driven by the sense of “kepo” (the drive to asses how others are thinking, feeling, and responding to certain political issues) and has the effect on youth’s fear of social isolation (in the form of fear of breaking relationship with others). Eventually, this activity leads youth to the act of silence (in the form of refraining political expression on social media). In this case, this research (unintentionally) confirm the theory of spiral of silence proposed by Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann (1984).  Finally, this research contributes to the academic discourse by providing a critical insight into the way social media could lead its users to the process of spiral of silence i.e. by exacerbating the fear of social isolation obtained from the activity of social surveillance (in the form of monitoring political conversation).</p>

scholarly journals (Social) Media isn’t the message, networked people are: calls for protest through social media

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Lapa ◽  
Gustavo Cardoso
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Institutional Responses ◽  
The World ◽  
The Media

In recent years, protests took the streets of cities around the world. Among the mobilizing factors were the perceptions of injustice, democratization demands, and, in the case of liberal democracies, waves of discontentment characterized by a mix of demands for better public services and changes in the discredited democratic institutions. This paper discusses social media usage in mobilization for demonstrations around the world, and how such use configures a paradigmatic example of how communication occurs in network societies. In order to frame the discussion, social media appropriation for the purposes of political participation is examined through a survey applied online in 17 countries. The ways in which social media domestication by a myriad of social actors occurred and institutional responses to demonstrations developed, it is argued that, in the network society, networked people, and no longer the media, are the message.

Het strijdpunt als besluitvormingstype in de Belgische politiek

Res Publica ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-550
Author(s):  
Wilfried Dewachter
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Single Issue ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
Direct Election ◽  
Political Decision Making

Within the Belgian political system political issues are hard to deal with. The institutions do not provide a problem-solving mechanism : no ref erendum, no direct election of a one-party cabinet. Moreover, electoral campaigns usually involve a lot of heterogeneous issues and almost never focus upon a single one. Active political participation of citizens is, by definition, selective and, compared with electoral participation, limited, although, the number of people taking part in a political demonstration is sometimes considerable. An investigation of the Belgian political elite shows that active political participation, sparked off by a single issue, can be considered as one of the most polyarchie types of political decision-making in Belgium. This involves an increase of tension and conflict, a slowing down of the process of decision-making and a selective accessibility to this type of participation. Belgian politicians try to avoid these difficulties by either opting for non-decision or consociational politics.

Poverty, social exclusion and civic engagement

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eldin Fahmy
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Civic Life ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Democratic Principle ◽  
Full Participation ◽  
The Uk

Although political equality is a basic democratic principle, citizen participation in political and civic life remains highly unequal. This chapter sheds new light on social inequalities in political participation by examining the relationship between poverty and participation in political and civic life in the UK today. Whether using subjective measures, low income, deprivation, or the combined PSE approach, this chapter shows that poverty is associated with lower levels of participation in politics and lower levels of associational activity amongst UK adults. Civic and political participation is known to be strongly associated with positive perceptions of political efficacy. This chapter confirms these findings. Moreover, it shows that people experiencing poverty are also somewhat less positive about their ability to influence local decisions and political issues than better-off respondents. Taken together these findings point to the continued exclusion of people experiencing poverty from full participation in political and civic life. Beyond voting, political participation is an uncommon experience for many in the UK. Reducing inequalities in participation (including socio-economic inequalities that underpin them) should be prioritised in ensuring that rights to an equal say in political decisions are realised in practice.

Testimony as Political Argument

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 72-92
Author(s):  
Mátyás Szalay
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Scientific Language ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Illegal Migrants ◽  
Original Meaning ◽  
It Support ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The One

On the one hand, when compared with the ‘original meaning’ of politics in the Classical or Christian thought, contemporary liberal democracies in general understand politics in a reduced sense. On the other hand, however, democratic debates constantly allow for opening new horizons of interpreting politics. One way to radically renew politics is accepting authentic testimonies as political arguments. To illustrate this point, I offer the reflective analysis of a concrete case concerning the hotly debated topic of migrants in Europe: a Benedictine monastery receives and hosts illegal migrants in Hungary. This example deserves our interest for – when not tendentiously misinterpreted – it can neither be classified as an argument of the conservative approach to migrants nor does it support the liberal reading of the events. It implies, at the same time, a positive and a negative critique to both approaches by simply going beyond the usual political categories. In order to see how testimony works as a political argument I undertake three steps: 1) Instead of defining testimony, I show through a phenomenological analysis three characteristics of the given example that are both, essential and relevant for political discourse: a) the essentially indeterminate meaning of testimony; b) self-exposure and self-sacrifice; c) the particular political message of authentic testimony. In the next step, I offer a brief analysis of contemporary political discourse to highlight those aspects concerning which authentic testimonies may transform the meaning of politics: a) mediatization; b) lack of authenticity and credibility; c) technical scientific language; d) impersonal approach to political issues. As a third step, I unite these two analysis by asking what counts as a political argument in general and whether and how testimonies can function as political arguments. In my conclusion, I distinguish two types of politics according to their attitude towards testimony: one that is open to authentic testimonies and one that rejects them. By showing some fatal consequences of the latter option I argue for recovering some of politics’ original meaning.

scholarly journals Urban youth and social networks in Mozambique: the political participation of the helpless connected

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 251-265
Author(s):  
Dércio Tsandzana
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Ideal Tool ◽  
The One

In the last 10 years, studies on political participation through social networks have marked the debate in the field of media studies. In Mozambique, particularly, and in the world, in general, youth represent the galvanizing centre that finds in the use of social networks an almost ideal tool of expression about their frustrations due to their situation of blatant social misery – unemployment and constant life uncertainty to which youth are exposed. With this article, we intend to analyse the role of social networks, specifically Facebook, in the political and social engagement of urban youth in Mozambique, considering a timeline that covers the last four years, 2014 to 2017. As a result, it is concluded that, despite the expansion of social networks in recent years, they cannot yet be considered as spaces for effective political participation by youth, due to the fact that the internet is less comprehensive, on the one hand, and the weak youth interest in political issues in Mozambique, on the other.

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