scholarly journals Rhetorical uses of precise numbers and semi-magical round numbers in political discourse about COVID-19: Examples from the government of the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
pp. 095792652110131
Author(s):  
Michael Billig
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
British Government ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Round Numbers ◽  
Magical Power ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The 19Th Century

This paper examines how the British government has used statistics about COVID-19 for political ends. A distinction is made between precise and round numbers. Historically, using round numbers to estimate the spread of disease gave way in the 19th century to the sort precise, but not necessarily accurate, statistics that are now being used to record COVID-19. However, round numbers have continued to exert rhetorical, ‘semi-magical’ power by simultaneously conveying both quantity and quality. This is demonstrated in examples from the British government’s claims about COVID-19. The paper illustrates how senior members of the UK government use ‘good’ round numbers to frame their COVID-19 goals and to announce apparent achievements. These round numbers can provide political incentives to manipulate the production of precise number; again examples from the UK government are given.

scholarly journals Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in Japan. How was the “Blanket Testing Myth” Created?

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideaki Karaki ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Communication ◽  
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Jakob Disease ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

In 1986, after bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in the United Kingdom, over 183,000 cases have been confirmed to date. In 1996, the UK government announced that BSE may be transmitted to humans, causing variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Retrospectively, the measures taken by the UK government were appropriate and the number of new cases of both BSE and vCJD decreased. Because of the long incubation period between infection and the appearance of clinical symptoms in both BSE and vCJD, a long time was needed to determine the effects of these measures. The inappropriate risk communication, however, caused people to lose trust in the UK government, and fear spread. In Japan, a cow infected with BSE was found in 2001. Although no cattle showing BSE symptoms were found and the risk of BSE infection was low, fear again spread due to inadequate risk communication. To allay consumer anxieties, the government began testing all cattle at slaughter facilities. This, in turn, generated the "blanket testing myth" - the misunderstanding that BSE testing was the most important measure needed to maintain the safety of beef consumption.

Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 451-451
Author(s):  
Harold Ellis
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
The Other ◽  
New Graduates ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Medical Institutions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The 19Th Century

Nowadays well over half the new graduates coming out of the medical schools in the United Kingdom are women. Women are found in the highest ranks in the profession and are well represented on the Councils of the Royal Colleges and the other medical institutions. Yet it was only during the second half of the 19th century that a handful of dedicated women invaded what was until then an entirely male profession. Perhaps the most prominent of these was Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson, the first female to graduate in medicine in the UK.

UK government is preparing for an early election

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
General Election ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Significance Johnson's cabinet overhaul is the largest in decades, replacing 17 cabinet ministers from the previous government mostly with individuals who support Johnson’s hard-line stance on Brexit. Impacts Brussels could offer London a ‘Northern Ireland only’ backstop, but this will be rejected by the UK government. The government will likely pass legislation to protect EU citizens’ rights in the United Kingdom if there is a no-deal Brexit. The EU will only grant another extension if a deal is almost agreed, or if there is a UK general election or second Brexit referendum.

THE IDEA OF «COMMUNITY» IN THE GOVERNMENT CONCEPTS OF GALICIA OF THE XIX – BEGINNING OF THE XX CENTURY

2019 ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Liubomyr Ilyn
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Legal Studies ◽  
Legal Principle ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
The 19Th Century

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to analyze and systematize the views of social and political thinkers of Galicia in the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. on the right and manner of organizing a nation-state as a cathedral. Method. The methodology includes a set of general scientific, special legal, special historical and philosophical methods of scientific knowledge, as well as the principles of objectivity, historicism, systematic and comprehensive. The problem-chronological approach made it possible to identify the main stages of the evolution of the content of the idea of catholicity in Galicia's legal thought of the 19th century. Results. It is established that the idea of catholicity, which was borrowed from church terminology, during the nineteenth century. acquired clear legal and philosophical features that turned it into an effective principle of achieving state unity and integrity. For the Ukrainian statesmen of the 19th century. the idea of catholicity became fundamental in view of the separation of Ukrainians between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires. The idea of unity of Ukrainians of Galicia and the Dnieper region, formulated for the first time by the members of the Russian Trinity, underwent a long evolution and received theoretical reflection in the work of Bachynsky's «Ukraine irredenta». It is established that catholicity should be understood as a legal principle, according to which decisions are made in dialogue, by consensus, and thus able to satisfy the absolute majority of citizens of the state. For Galician Ukrainians, the principle of unity in the nineteenth century. implemented through the prism of «state» and «international» approaches. Scientific novelty. The main stages of formation and development of the idea of catholicity in the views of social and political figures of Halychyna of the XIX – beginning of the XX centuries are highlighted in the work. and highlighting the distinctive features of «national statehood» that they promoted and understood as possible in the process of unification of Ukrainian lands into one state. Practical significance. The results of the study can be used in further historical and legal studies, preparation of special courses.

Byelorussian Nationalism and Western Russianism: the Problem of Confrontation

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 161-168
Author(s):  
Alexander D. Gronsky
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
The Government ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Relationship

The article examines the relationship between Western Russianism (Zapadnorusizm) and Byelorussian nationalism. Byelorussian nationalism is much younger than Western Russianism, finally shaping only in the end of the 19th century. Before 1917 revolution Byelorussian nationalism could not compete with Western Russianism. The national policy of the Bolsheviks contributed to the decline of Western Russianism and helped Byelorussian nationalism to gain stronger positions. However, Byelorussian nationalists actively cooperated with the occupation authorities during the Great Patriotic war. That caused distinctly negative attitude of Byelorussians towards the movement and collaborators. Currently, Byelorussian nationalism is supported both by the opposition and by the government. Western Russianism has no political representation, but is supported by the majority of Byelorussian population.

Reasons for the Onset of the Uniat Clergy’s Movement Towards Orthodoxy in the Russian Empire in the Beginning of the 19th Century

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 293-317
Author(s):  
Protopriest Alexander Romanchuk
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Latin Church ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Church Service ◽  
The 19Th Century

The article studies the system of pre-conditions that caused the onset of the uniat clergy’s movement towards Orthodoxy in the Russian Empire in the beginning of the 19th century. The author comes to the conclusion that the tendency of the uniat clergy going back to Orthodoxy was the result of certain historic conditions, such as: 1) constant changes in the government policy during the reign of Emperor Pavel I and Emperor Alexander I; 2) increasing latinization of the uniat church service after 1797 and Latin proselytism that were the result of the distrust of the uniats on the part of Roman curia and representatives of Polish Catholic Church of Latin church service; 3) ecclesiastical contradictions made at the Brest Church Union conclusion; 4) division of the uniat clergy into discordant groups and the increase of their opposition to each other on the issue of latinization in the first decades of the 19th century. The combination of those conditions was a unique phenomenon that never repeated itself anywhere.

The ‘Pillared-Privatisation’ of Pension Provision in the European Union: The Case of the United Kingdom

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Ring ◽  
Roddy McKinnon
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
World Bank ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Means Testing ◽  
The Road ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
National Governments

Across the European Union, national governments are re-assessing the institutional mechanisms through which pension provision is delivered. This articles sets the debate within the wider context of the ‘pillared’ structural analysis often adopted by international institutions when discussing pensions reform. It then sets out a detailed discussion of developments in the UK, arguing that the UK is moving towards a model of reform akin to that promoted by the World Bank – referred to here as ‘pillared-privatisation’. The themes of this model indicate more means-testing, greater private provision, and a shift of the burden of risk from the government to individuals. An assessment is then made of the implications of UK developments for other EU countries. It is suggested that while there are strong reasons to think that other countries will not travel as far down the road of ‘pillared-privatisation’ as the UK, this should not be taken as a ‘given’.

Sources of the recognition of belligerent status

1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (192) ◽  
pp. 111-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Zorgbibe
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
The State ◽  
Sovereign Power ◽  
Equal Status ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
Unilateral Action ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
The 19Th Century

“Whenever a large organized group believes it has the right to resist the sovereign power and considers itself capable of resorting to arms, war between the two parties should take place in the same manner as between nations…” This statement by de Vattel in the 19th century seemed destined to take its place as a part of positive law, constituting part of what was known as recognition of belligerency, tantamount to the recognition by the established government of an equal status for insurgents and regular belligerents. When a civil war became extensive enough, the State attacked would understand that it was wisest to acknowledge the existence of a state of war with part of the population. This would, at the same time, allow the conflict to be seen in a truer light. The unilateral action of the legal government in recognizing belligerency would be the condition for granting belligerent rights to the parties. It would constitute a demonstration of humanity on the part of the government of the State attacked and would also provide that government with prospects for effective pursuit of the war. By admitting that it was forced to resort to war, it would at least have its hands free to make war seriously.

Private Dentistry after COVID-19 – A Clinician’s Personal Experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reginald O’Neill
Keyword(s):  
Dental Care ◽  
Private Practice ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Dental Practice ◽  
Health Practice ◽  
Dental Services ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

Face to face dental care in the UK was largely suspended from March until June and beyond is very limited still in many cases. Both NHS and Private dental services in the four nations of the United Kingdom aligned with the government in lockdown and dental emergencies could be accessed face to face in specific urgent centres only (UDC’s). Return to dental practice has been challenging for the profession with a lack of clarity from regulators and a gulf between financial support of private practice (almost none) and National Health practice (at 100% of their contact value pre-COVID). Dramatic changes to the provision of dental care are likely to persist and the COVID crisis may precipitate significant change to both private and NHS dental services.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document