Academics Know Better (?): Scholars and Politics in Major Opinion Dailies During the 2015 Presidential Campaign in Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1267-1281
Author(s):  
Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Campaign ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Policy Alternatives ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
Good For ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Point Of Departure

What is the role of scholars when discussing activities of politicians during an election campaign? The article offers a study of articles and interviews conducted with academics in major opinion dailies Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna in the final weeks of the 2015 presidential campaign in Poland. Pielke’s categories of scientists – Honest Brokers of Policy Alternatives, Pure Scientists, Science Arbiters and Stealth Issue Advocates – are used as a point of departure to ask about the part played by scholars in media, to ‘enlighten’ and admonish readers they deem uninformed about what is good for them, or to serve a role closer to Burawoy’s Public Sociologist, who engages in dialogue with others. I conclude that given the election results, which surprised and disappointed most of these scholars, adopting the latter stance may prove a better strategy in convincing voters about the usefulness of scholarly expertise in their political choices.

The Role of Foreign Policy in the 2009 Campaign and the Black-Yellow Future

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 176-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Techau
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Foreign Minister ◽  
Presidential Campaign ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Bundestag Elections ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Angela Merkel

Foreign policy issues did not play a decisive role in the German general election campaign of 2009. While Chancellor Angela Merkel conducted a decidedly presidential campaign, her main rival, SPD Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, found it difficult to break out of his role as Merkel's partner in the Grand Coalition the two had led for four years. This was especially true with respect to issues on foreign policy, where both candidates had cooperated rather smoothly. Neither the issue of Afghanistan (despite the hotly debated Kunduz airstrike), nor the unresolved issues of the future of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty could antagonize the main political protagonists in Germany. The overwhelming foreign policy consensus among the mainstream political forces remained intact. Nevertheless, the changing international landscape and increased German responsibilities abroad will turn foreign policy into a relevant campaign issue, probably as early as 2013, when, presumably, the next Bundestag elections will be held.

scholarly journals The role of journalism in combating fake news: the case of the last day of the 2019 election campaign in Portugal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Lima Quintanilha ◽  
Gustavo Cardoso ◽  
Vania Baldi ◽  
Miguel Paisana
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Fake News ◽  
The Media ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Zero Effect ◽  
The Impact

This article reflects on the role of journalism in the deconstruction of fake news propaganda that came out in the media on the last day of the 2019 parliamentary election campaign in Portugal. We collected news items carried by the Portuguese media and contextualised this media coverage with regard to the impact of disinformation on confidence in the news with the help of data collated as part of the Digital News Report project. We found that journalistic scrutiny, aided by the characteristics of the Portuguese media system, might have contributed to a zero effect of this fake news on the election results, unlike what happened in elections in other countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom and Brazil.

Everybody Follows the Crowd?

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Obermaier ◽  
Thomas Koch ◽  
Christian Baden
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Bandwagon Effect ◽  
Political News ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Opinion Polls ◽  
Electoral Preferences

Abstract. Opinion polls are a well-established part of political news coverage, especially during election campaigns. At the same time, there has been controversial debate over the possible influences of such polls on voters’ electoral choices. The most prominent influence discussed is the bandwagon effect: It states that voters tend to support the expected winner of an upcoming election, and use polls to determine who the likely winner will be. This study investigated the mechanisms underlying the effect. In addition, we inquired into the role of past electoral performances of a candidate and analyzed how these (as well as polls) are used as heuristic cues for the assessment of a candidate’s personal characteristics. Using an experimental design, we found that both polls and past election results influence participants’ expectations regarding which candidate will succeed. Moreover, higher competence was attributed to a candidate, if recipients believe that the majority of voters favor that candidate. Through this attribution of competence, both information about prior elections and current polls shaped voters’ electoral preferences.

scholarly journals “Red Vienna” and the rise of the populist right

2021 ◽  
pp. 096977642110316
Author(s):  
Juergen Essletzbichler ◽  
Johannes Forcher
Keyword(s):  
Demographic Development ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Housing Costs ◽  
Ward Level ◽  
Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Municipal Housing

While research on the spatial variation in populist right voting focuses on the role of “places left behind”, this paper examines the spatial distribution of populist right voting in one of the fastest growing capital cities of Europe, Vienna. Combining detailed electoral data of the 2017 national elections at the statistical ward level and the location of municipal housing units, the paper examines why the populist right “Austrian Freedom Party” (FPOE) performs better in the former bulwarks of socialism, in the municipal housing areas of “Red Vienna”. The paper links the socio-demographic development of Vienna and its municipal housing policy with election results and explores three possible reasons for elevated FPOE shares in municipal housing areas: rising housing costs pushed an increasing number of socially and economically vulnerable into the municipal housing sector and so increased the FPOE voter pool in those areas; European Union accession and changes in regulation allowed foreign citizens to apply to and obtain municipal housing flats triggering a backlash from Austrian municipal housing residents; and municipal housing is located in disadvantaged neighbourhoods further enhancing the FPOE voter pool. The paper demonstrates that higher FPOE vote shares in areas with high municipal housing shares are due primarily to higher shares of formally less educated residents, neighbourhood context and they are marginally elevated in those municipal housing areas experiencing a larger influx of foreign residents.

Masks and Emasculation: Populist Crisis Rhetoric and the 2020 Presidential Election

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110112
Author(s):  
Meredith Neville-Shepard
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Rhetorical Analysis ◽  
Presidential Campaign ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Preventative Measure ◽  
Litmus Test

This essay illustrates how Donald Trump engaged in what I call “populist crisis rhetoric” throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and coinciding 2020 U.S. presidential campaign cycle. By performing a critical rhetorical analysis of textual fragments surrounding how Trump addressed the preventative measure of mask-wearing, I show how he rejected the role of comforter-in-chief and instead opted for the role of victim-in-chief. Specifically, turning the bare face into a litmus test of Trump loyalism, his rhetoric suggested that masks threatened masculinity and functioned as a form of anti-choice bodily oppression.

Pearls From Bones: Relics, Chortens, Tertons and the Signs of Saintly Death in Tibet

Numen ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Martin
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Religious Culture ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Devotional Practice ◽  
Cultural Pattern ◽  
Other Substances ◽  
Critical Links ◽  
Point Of Departure

AbstractAlthough there has been much work, in recent years, on the sacrum of Christianity, and some important studies have appeared on Buddhist relic cults and related facets of Buddhism, so far very little has been written on Tibetan Buddhist relics. This paper, while offering some material for a historical perspective, mainly seeks to find a larger cultural pattern for understanding the interrelationships of a complex of factors active in Tibetan religious culture. Beginning with problems of relic-related terms and classifications, we then suggest a new assessment of the role of the Terton ('treasure revealer'). Then we discuss 'miracles' in Tibet, and the intersection of categories of 'signs of saintly death' and relics. Much of the remaining pages are devoted to those items that fall within both categories, specifically the 'pearls' that emerge miraculously from saintly remains and images that appear in bodily or other substances connected with cremations. After looking at a number of testimonials on these miraculous relics, we examine the possibility that these items might be 'deceitfully manufactured', looking at a few Tibetan polemical writings which raise this possibility. In the conclusion, we suggest that there are some critical links between three spheres of Tibetan religiosity: 1. sacrum which are not relics, 2. relics, and 3. signs of sainthood. Finally, we recommend an approach to religious studies that takes its point of departure in actual practices, and particularly the objects associated with popular devotional practice.

Ethnicity and Voting Patterns in South Africa

1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Lever
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Categorical Data ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Party Choice ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
Electoral Behaviour ◽  
Log Linear ◽  
Published Research

There is some controversy concerning the role of ethnicity in South African electoral behaviour. Since the society is segmented on ethnic lines it is to be expected that ethnicity would play a crucial role in affecting political choices. Some writers have gone so far as to suggest that ethnicity is the only significant factor affecting voting preferences. The controversy arose at a time when Goodman's method of log-linear analysis for hierarchical models had not yet been developed. This method provides the most powerful tool available for the multivariate analysis of categorical data. A re-analysis of previously published research using Goodman's method shows that ethnicity is not the only significant factor having a bearing on voting preferences. The first four-way table of voting preferences in South Africa is presented. The order of importance of the variables affecting party choice is: (1) ethnicity (2) socio-economic status (3) age of the voter. The recursive model suggested by the analysis explains approximately 98 per cent of the data.

Determinants of U.S. Exports to China

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Bosworth ◽  
Susan M. Collins
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Initial Point ◽  
The United States ◽  
Market Size ◽  
Gravity Equations ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Eu

This paper examines U.S. goods trade with China, focusing on the performance of exports. Throughout the analysis, we explore whether U.S. trade is unusual by contrasting it with trade from Japan and the EU-15.1 The issue is examined from three perspectives: the commodity composition of exports, the role of multinational corporations (MNCs), and the determinants of trade as specified in a formal “gravity model.” As an initial point of departure, we show that the commodity composition of U.S. exports to China is similar to the pattern of exports to the world as a whole, and that the operations of U.S. MNCs have only minor implications for trade with China. Consequently, we emphasize the estimation of a set of “gravity equations” that explore the role of market size and distance from the United States. Distance exerts a surprisingly large effect on trade. Finally, although exports to China may be a small share of U.S. GDP, they are relatively substantial compared to U.S. exports to other countries. In other words, the measure of U.S. trade performance in China is distorted by the low level of its exports to all countries. We present evidence that the United States underperforms as an exporter relative to a peer group of high-income European countries and Japan.

Drag resistance: Necropolitics, queer survival and a Balkan counterpublics

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Anna
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Cultural Events ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
Financial Crisis Of 2008 ◽  
Political Scene ◽  
Drag Queens

Taking the murder of Greek HIV+ and queer activist Zak Kostopoulos as its starting point – an exercise of necropolitical power in broad daylight – this article explores the work of drag queens in Greece and their aesthetic/political choices. It interprets their performances as tactics of survival and resistance and as creative responses to queer trauma. The role of queerfeminist spaces, cultural events and collectives also is examined as a response to the increasing right-wing turn in the country’s political scene – itself the result of the financial crisis of 2008. It imports José Esteban Muñoz’s disidentifications and counterpublics, Elizabeth Freeman’s erotohistoriography and Achille Mbembe’s necropolitics into the Greek/Balkan context and analyses the particular configurations and intersections of sexualities, genders, statehood, race, class and religion in Greece. It then examines disidentifications and counterpublics as empowering practices of community forming, offering glimpses of a queer Balkan counterpublics and the tools employed towards its making (humour, parody, reclaiming, disidentification, mourning and embodied pleasures).

scholarly journals Europa som utopi og dystopi hos Antonio Muñoz Molina

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (108) ◽  
pp. 92-111
Author(s):  
Hans Lauge Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Society ◽  
The Other ◽  
Illegal Immigrants ◽  
Cultural Identities ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
Antonio Munoz Molina ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Eu

Utopian and Dystopian Representations of Europe in Antonio Muñoz Molina:How does a modern European society like the Spanish one reflect upon the experience of having dead bodies of illegal immigrants washed up on the nice clean beaches prepared for English, German and Danish tourists? How do such experiences affect the dominant national discourse, which identifies itself with the EU as a global centre of modernity? How do these experiences affect the Spanish citizen’s understanding of the character of this modernity? And what kind of narratives does it take to bridge the gap between the image of the democratic, open and human-rights oriented European Community created by official discourse and these traumatizing experiences? Taking its point of departure in two books written by one of Spain’s greatest novelists, Antonio Muñoz Molina, the article aims to investigate the role of literature as an actor in the creation and negotiation of cultural identities. The hypothesis is that literary discourse has got the unique capacity to offer the reader the image of him- or herself as another and to present the other as a self through its aesthetic strategy, thereby contributing to the reader’s appropriation of textual experiences as his or her own. In this process, the different aspects of reality, the dark and brighter sides of European history and the rise of modern, globalized society become mediated and dialogized.

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