scholarly journals One moment, please: Can the speed and quality of political contact affect democratic health?

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 460-484
Author(s):  
Nikki Soo ◽  
James Weinberg ◽  
Katharine Dommett

Contact between politicians and their constituents is the cornerstone of democracies globally but an area of scholarship that remains relatively underdeveloped. Political contact can help convey authority, provide legitimacy and facilitate governance. This article goes beyond the assumption that representatives need to communicate more with the public and suggests, instead, that the quality of contact matters. Focusing on four processes by which citizens can contact their representatives (face-to-face, by letter, email or social media), we employ an experimental vignette methodology to test whether the character and timeliness of politicians’ responses to citizen communication affects two indicators of democratic health: (a) the latter’s satisfaction with political contact and (b) their likelihood to re-contact representatives. Our findings provide evidence that personalised communication and to a smaller extent, speed of response, can influence citizen satisfaction and their likelihood of re-engagement. This suggests politicians can improve these indicators of democratic health by adjusting the style of political contact and communication.

Author(s):  
John Gastil ◽  
Laura Black

The discipline of communication encompasses a broad spectrum of humanistic, interpretive, and social scientific approaches to studying public deliberation. Early work engaged Habermasian theories of the public sphere, and rhetorical scholarship has foregrounded the deliberative threads running back to the discipline’s earliest history in ancient Greece. The bulk of contemporary work, however, has examined the dynamics of deliberation, particularly in the context of face-to-face discussions and dialogues in small groups. These studies have revealed the importance of narrative and dialogic exchanges during deliberation, as well as the critical role of facilitation and the maintenance of deliberative norms. Research has also assessed the practical consequences of participating in deliberation. The discipline’s practical orientation has led some scholars to seek ways to optimize deliberative designs to maximize simultaneously the quality of their decision outputs and their civic impacts on participants.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Aditya Majdi

Public perception of immigration content at the TPI East Jakarta Class I Immigration Office is very important in determining the quality of information and understanding of immigration provided to the public by focusing on social media Instagram. With some literacy regarding public perceptions it can produce a public view of immigration content that has been disseminated through social media Instagram TPI Class I Immigration Office, East Jakarta. This can be used as study and learning material in seeing some of the shortcomings that must be addressed by the TPI East Jakarta Class I Immigration Office regarding public perceptions of immigration content. With the descriptive qualitative research method, it explains that there are still gaps or shortcomings of immigration content disseminated through social media Instagram TPI Class I Immigration Office, East Jakarta. So it is very necessary to make several further research studies related to public perceptions of immigration content so as to harmonize understanding between the information provider and the recipient of the information.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-291
Author(s):  
Krystian Dudek

The functioning of politicians in the public space is connected with the necessity of building and managing the image, presenting opinions, views, reporting activities and building relations with the electorate in order to mobilise it to electoral activity. The key to success is to reach voters effectively. Among many communication tools available, the importance of the Internet and social media in particular is constantly growing. It takes over other communication channels’ functions and enables direct contact with the voter. However, in order to use the potential of the most popular social media in Poland – Facebook – and effectively manage the image, one needs to know its character and rules governing this environment. Unfortunately, politicians’ knowledge on this subject proves to be rather poor, which translates into the quality of their communication with voters. Research has proved that politicians who know how to use this tool achieve much greater reaches (regardless of the number of those entitled to vote) and build stronger relationships with voters, which translates into the electorate’s behavior during the elections.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
Rahmadhani Ayu Harvianti ◽  
Oji Kurniadi

Abstract. Ecotransport Indonesia is still fresh with diverse activities, from walking, public transportation, and cycling. The thing that is most crowded with the people of Bandung is cycling. Based on this phenomenon, the problem in this research is formulated as follows: (1) How does ecotransport plan a communication campaign program about reducing personal transportation? (2) How does ecotransport choose media as a publication tool? (3) Why does ecotransport use a persuasive approach in the communication campaign to reduce personal transportation? Researcher using qualitative case studies. Data collection techniques used in this study were interviews with key informan, observation, and literature. The results of this study are: The results obtained from this research are (1) the planning of the campaign carried out by determining the issues raised, one of which is in the discipline of driving, setting goals to provide education about environmentally friendly transportation or by other names Ecotransport, determining the message delivered to the public, this audience from Ecotransport which is not only focused on the community but also on the government as well and the strategy used is communication that is done face-to-face and persuasive through social media but still not maximized. (2) Media publications include conducting talk shows on the radio, in addition to making e-posters uploaded through social media. (3) The use of face-to-face communication to provide clear explanations will protect the environment. Abstrak. Ecotransport Indonesia ini terbilang masih fresh dengan kegiatan yang beraneka ragam, dari berjalan kaki, transportasi umum dan bersepeda. Hal yang paling ramai diikuti oleh masyarakat kota Bandung adalah bersepeda. Berdasarkan fenomena ini, masalah dalam penelitian ini dirumuskan sebagai berikut: (1) Bagaimana ecotransport merencanakan program kampanye komunikasi tentang pengurangan transportasi pribadi? (2) Bagaimana ecotransport memilih media sebagai alat publikasi? (3) Mengapa ecotransport menggunakan pendekatan persuasif dalam kampanye komunikasi untuk mengurangi transportasi pribadi? Peneliti menggunakan studi kasus kualitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah wawancara dengan informan kunci, observasi, dan studi pustaka. Hasil yang diperoleh dari penelitian ini adalah (1) perencanaan kampanye yang dilakukan adalah menentukan isu yang diangkat salah satunya adalah dalam disiplin berkendara, penyusunan tujuan untuk memberikan edukasi mengenai transportasi ramah lingkungan atau dengan nama lain Ecotransport, menentukan pesan yang disampaikan kepada khalayak publik, khalayak dari Ecotransport ini yang tidak hanya terfokus kepada masyarakat saja melainkan kepada pemerintah juga dan strategi yang digunakan adalah komunikasi yang dilakukan secara face-to-face dan persuasive melalui media sosial dan hasilnya belum maksimal. (2) Media publikasi yang dilakukan yaitu melakukan talkshow di radio, selain itu dengan membuat e-poster yang diunggah melalui media sosial. (3) Penggunaan komunikasi secara tatap muka ini untuk memberikan penjelasan yang jelas akan menjaga lingkungan sekitar.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Mazlina Mustapha ◽  
Foong Sook Hwa

The purpose of Audit Oversight Board (AOB) is to oversee the external auditors who audit the listed companies. Its establishment is expected to improve the quality of the audited financial statements and to increase the confidence of the public on the quality of the services provided by the auditors. This study explores how the establishment of audit oversight board affects the auditors in Malaysia. As the study is exploratory in nature with limited studies being carried out on AOB, face-to-face interviews were conducted with the external auditors. The findings show that the establishment of AOB affects the job of external auditors, especially on the documentation and training costs, which vary across audit firms of different sizes. There are opinions that the increased pressure on the external auditors is not solely due to the establishment of AOB, but it is also due to the revised accounting standards and other regulations. The study also finds that the external auditors’ reliance on the internal auditors is not affected by the establishment of AOB. In addition, regardless of whether the internal audit department is in-house or outsourced, it will not affect the reliance of external auditors on the internal auditors work.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-423
Author(s):  
Antonio Amuza

The need for authenticity is a latent manifesto of Romanians who seem overwhelmed by a constant wave of inauthenticity, prejudices, and stereotypes in an environment that makes it more difficult for us to adhere to a genuine development as individuals, but also as a society. Public opinion reveals itself under the impact of the desired authenticity to cope with galloping globalism, which turns us into bystanders of our own lives. More specifically, in a world where we have become accustomed to our ideas being very aesthetically packed, the characteristics of the products for which we show a certain interest, the quality of the services we want and the values we so ardently adhere to, the need to be sure that we receive exactly what we have been mentally longing for becomes a purpose in itself. Thus, the more common and plentiful the values we are exposed to, along with the risk that they may be prebuilt, the greater the possibility for people to develop the need for a guarantee of compliance with the promises made by these values – a need for authenticity. I hope that my paperwork can contribute to further research in terms of arousing the interest of those who are looking to better understand why globalism can affect both public opinion and authenticity. Otherwise, we will find ourselves in the position of talking about black swans whenever the public opinion is different from the minority that we are part of. In a world of social media, the article talks about vocal minorities and the silent majority.


F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward P. Randviir ◽  
Samuel M. Illingworth ◽  
Matthew J. Baker ◽  
Matthew Cude ◽  
Craig E. Banks

The Royal Society of Chemistry held, to our knowledge, the world’s first Twitter conference at 9am on February 5 th, 2015. The conference was a Twitter-only conference, allowing researchers to upload academic posters as tweets, replacing a physical meeting. This paper reports the details of the event and discusses the outcomes, such as the potential for the use of social media to enhance scientific communication at conferences. In particular, the present work argues that social media outlets such as Twitter broaden audiences, speed up communication, and force clearer and more concise descriptions of a researcher’s work. The benefits of poster presentations are also discussed in terms of potential knowledge exchange and networking. This paper serves as a proof-of-concept approach for improving both the public opinion of the poster, and the enhancement of the poster through an innovative online format that some may feel more comfortable with, compared to face-to-face communication.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
Desi Yunita ◽  
Bintarsih Sekarningrum

This activity is intended to increase public awareness about why water resilience is important. Efforts to improve community water resilience done by providing educational content containing messages on water resilience through booklets, posters, animations, or short videos about how to increase water resilience practically by the community. So that the message of this water resilience campaign is spread to the wider community, these educational media are disseminated online via social media or shared directly when done face-to-face virtually. The method of dissemination through dissemination through social media or virtual presentations is chosen so that the message can be received appropriately while maintaining health protocols. So, even though it is still hit by a pandemic, the public can still be invited to participate in this activity. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-337
Author(s):  
Nada Abdelkader Benmansour

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze citizens’ and expatriates’ satisfaction with public service delivery in Qatar, one of the world’s highest per capita incomes countries. Design/methodology/approach The author uses a 2017 survey conducted in Qatar among both Qatari and expatriates’ respondents. The scientifically grounded sample consisted of 1,356 respondents, who were 18 years of age and older. The data were collected through a face-to-face survey. The focus was on citizen satisfaction with basic public services such as education, health, roads and infrastructure, water and electricity and government services. The author uses logit and regression analysis to estimate the determinants of satisfaction. Findings Expatriates hold more positive feelings about local public services than citizens. The highest levels of satisfaction are with government offices and the lowest levels of satisfaction are with independent schools. The dispersion by municipality is less significant as there is no municipality where citizens and expatriates are totally satisfied with all the public services provided. Research limitations/implications Qatar has one of the fastest population growth and highest migrant population which makes the question of the satisfaction with public services unique. And, since the blockade on Qatar in May 2017 and the environment of economic restriction, the issue becomes even more critical. Originality/value Until now, there have been no empirical studies published analyzing the level of satisfaction with public services in Qatar for citizens and for expatriates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 810-810
Author(s):  
Tsuann Kuo

Abstract In 2017, Taiwan established Dementia Action Plans 2.0 to respond to the World Health Organization's call to increase dementia awareness and support for dementia carers. However, efforts have not yet been made to educate and increase dementia literacy on the younger generations. This paper addressed the outcomes to increase knowledge and information about dementia and caregiver resources to university students. 93 students participated in a two-day workshop on dementia literacy, followed by two months of advocacy in Taichung City, Taiwan. Students were divided into 14 advocacy groups and the outcome reports were categorized qualitatively using content analysis. The results showed that students were from nine departments and over one-quarter having a dementia loved one in the family. Four innovative categories were developed, including (1) dementia literacy for students and the public; (2) dementia friendly action plans; (3) dementia caregiver’s advocacy and (4) reducing dementia stereotypes. Highlights included students using social media to promote dementia literacy, face-to-face experiences to inform public education, dementia education on early onset dementia and using diverse bio-psycho-social angels to evaluate dementia. Students expanded advocacy to many social media, innovations and target areas, including Facebook, Instagram, Google spreadsheet, stickers, postcards, illustration of children’s books and public announcement. This paper revealed that younger generations used many advocacy methods that were thinking outside of the box. In conclusion, dementia is no longer an elder’s business but young adults can bring technological, inter-generational and cultural innovations into fulfilling the goals of Dementia Global Action Plans.


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