scholarly journals Clash or alliance

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-42
Author(s):  
Nina-Birke Glonnegger

Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" theory gained new topicality through actual events in the political world climate against the background of 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Along with those conflicts, Huntington's theses seem to be more current than ever before and became the focus of the public discourse, in which - it seems - the gap between supporters and adversaries gets bigger every day. This article aims to evaluate his theory within the context of actual political events in the field of international relations. The empirical attempt of this study will be the presentation and evaluation of conflict statistics regarding the conflict climate in the years 2000 and 2006 in order to confirm or disprove several aspects of the clash of civilizations hypothesis.

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Lynch

A decade ago, very few political scientists had either the opportunity or the incentive to engage with the political public in a direct, unmediated way. Today, there is a dense and eclectic ecosystem of political science and international relations-focused blogs and online publications, where good work can easily find an audience through social media. There are multiple initiatives dedicated to supporting academic interventions in the public sphere, and virtually every political or cultural magazine of note now offers a robust online section featuring commentary and analysis in which political scientists are well represented. This has transformed publication for a broader public from something exotic to something utterly routine. I discuss how these changes have affected individual scholars, the field of political science, and the political world with which we are engaged.


2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Saurette ◽  
Kelly Gordon

Abstract.This article analyzes the nature of contemporary anti-abortion discourse in Canada. Based on a rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis of the public discourse of a wide variety of influential actors, this study shows that contemporary anti-abortion discourse in Canada is quite different than the portrait offered by traditional accounts. Specifically, our analysis demonstrates that the new anti-abortion discourse aims at changing cultural values more than legislation; is explicitly framed as ‘pro-woman’; largely avoids appealing to religious grounds; and relies on a new ‘abortion-harms-women’ argument that has supplanted and transformed traditional fetal personhood arguments. The article argues that these findings are important as they provide a more accurate account of the political discourse surrounding one of the most contentious issues in politics today and because they illustrate broader ideological patterns that are increasingly characteristic of Canadian political discourse.Résumé.Cet article propose d'analyser la nature du discours contemporain sur l'anti-avortement au Canada. Fondée sur une analyse qualitative et quantitative rigoureuse du discours public d'une grande variété d'acteurs influents, cette étude démontre que le discours contemporain sur l'anti-avortement au Canada se distingue de manière caractéristique du portrait qu'il en a traditionnellement été donné. Notre analyse révèle en particulier que le nouveau discours sur l'anti-avortement vise plutôt à transformer les valeurs culturelles que la législation; qu'il est explicitement formulé comme étant « pro-femme »; qu'il évite de faire appel à des motifs religieux; et qu'il déploie un nouvel argument, « l'avortement-nuit-aux-femmes », qui évince et transforme les arguments traditionnels qui cherchaient à accorder le statut de personne au fétus. Cet article argumente alors que ces constats sont importants non seulement parce qu'ils permettent de brosser un tableau plus complet du discours politique qui touche à l'une des questions les plus controversée de la politique contemporaine, mais également parce qu'ils mettent en évidence des tendances idéologiques de plus en plus caractéristiques du discours politique au Canada.


PERSPEKTIF ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
Bhakti Satrio Wicaksono

This article aims to find out what happened to digital democracy regarding the Dildo account case. This research uses descriptive qualitative research research methods. The type of observation method used is the non-participation observation method. The non-participant observation method is the method that researchers chose in conducting this research. The results of the study show that the view of digital democracy can be seen from two perspectives, namely the government and the people's point of view. Political parody basically offers a new way of engaging in the political world. The Dildo case shows that not everyone can freely express their opinion on social media. The freedom to voice opinions, especially through cyberspace, still cannot be said to be free. This can be seen with how when the Dildo account voices humor and national issues that are close to the public, it still gets contra opinions from other parties. The conclusion of the research is that political parody basically offers a new way of engaging in the political world. Dildo case shows that not everyone can freely express their opinion in social media. The existence of internet technology in terms of statehood can be a double-edged knife, especially on social media where information is spread so fast. Parody or current humor is treated wisely and is not necessarily considered a dangerous thing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-197
Author(s):  
Stefan Wallaschek

The article analyses the discursive appeal to solidarity in the mass media during the unfolding of Europe’s migration crisis. Solidarity was claimed by numerous actors in the public discourse to legitimise political decisions and mobilise public opinion. While it seems that the call for solidarity was shared by many actors, media studies show the ‘partisan journalism’ of media outlets. Thus, the political orientation of media outlets influences their coverage of public debates. Hence, to what extent do different quality newspapers cover the same solidarity claims in times of crisis? In order to answer this question, the crisis coverage of two German and two Irish newspapers with centre-left and centre-right political orientations is examined via the discourse network methodology. Germany is selected due to high political parallelism and a strong affectedness by the crisis, while Ireland is selected because of low political parallelism and a weak affectedness by the migration crisis. The findings demonstrate that partisan journalism persists during Europe’s migration crisis. Especially German party actors are present in both countries, underpinning the central position of Germany. Regarding the appeal to solidarity, political solidarity claims prevail in all four newspapers, indicating the political-institutional asymmetry in the Common European Asylum System. The study contributes to the strategic framing of concepts in public debates and demonstrates that the left-right distinction of media outlets is hardly affected by the migration crisis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 94-106
Author(s):  
Билјана [Biljana] Ристовска-Јосифовска [Ristovska-Josifovska]

The Balkan wars and the projections about Macedonia (Macedonian view) The main focus of this paper is the time just before and during the Balkan Wars (1912– 1913), analyzed through the public writings of the Macedonian emigrants in Russia. We focus on their attitude, opinions and interpretations of the political events, as well as the reactions to the decisions of the great powers – as an expression of the Macedonian view to the Balkan Wars and the projections about Macedonia. In this context it is interesting to see whether they concern the national question and how they articulate the opinions on reception of the results of the Balkan Wars.The attention of the Macedonians was pointed almost exclusively to the national problem and the Balkan Wars, even after the beginning of the World War I. They were engaged in find­ing a solution for the Macedonian national question and the realization of the idea for national state. At the same time they were displaying in the Russian public their understanding of the political events and their attitude: warning about the possible partition, demanding a support for foundation of a Macedonian state and protesting against the partition.But, besides the organized intellectuals in emigration, the Macedonian national question remained at the margins of the interests of the great powers of Europe or has been used as a tool for solving other political questions. The appeals of the Macedonian intellectuals were not enough influential and Macedonia entered in World War I with all the consequences: the confirmation of the borders from the separation and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. This very difficult and complicated period lasted up to the foundation of the national state in World War II at the territory of today’s Republic of Macedonia. Wojny bałkańskie i wizje Macedonii (perspektywa macedońska) W artykule – na podstawie analizy publicznych wystąpień macedońskich emigrantów w Rosji, ich poglądów politycznych, opinii i interpretacji wydarzeń politycznych, jak również reakcji na decyzje wielkich mocarstw – podjęto zagadnienia związane z okresem wojen bał­kańskich 1912–1913 i ukazano macedońską perspektywę kwestii macedońskiej. Zaprezento­wano też ważne problemy odnoszące się do sposobu traktowania spraw narodowych i sposobu artykułowania stanowisk wobec następstw tych wojen.Uwaga Macedończyków, nawet po wybuchu I wojny światowej, kierowała się niemal wyłącznie na kwestie narodowe i wojny bałkańskie. Ich zaangażowanie sprowadzało się do poszukiwania rozwiązań spraw narodu macedońskiego i prób urzeczywistnienia idei wła­snego państwa. Środowiska emigrantów prezentowały przed rosyjską opinią publiczną swoje rozumienie zachodzących wydarzeń politycznych, by zapobiec podziałowi terytorium, a jed­nocześnie poszukiwać wsparcia dla koncepcji utworzenia państwa macedońskiego.Macedońska kwestia narodowa, podejmowana przez pozostającą na emigracji inteligencję macedońską, pozostawała na marginesie zainteresowań wielkich mocarstw europejskich lub była wykorzystywana instrumentalnie do rozwiązywania innych problemów politycznych. Apele intelektualistów macedońskich nie wywarły wpływu na sytuację międzynarodową. Macedończycy przystąpili do I wojny światowej z wszystkimi tego konsekwencjami – za­twierdzonymi granicami podzielonego terytorium. Ten trudny i skomplikowany okres trwał aż do utworzenia państwa narodowego w czasie II wojny światowej na obszarze obecnej Re­publiki Macedonii.


Author(s):  
Anuschka Tischer

Anuschka Tischer starts out with the historical analyses of the book by elaborating the dialectic of war discourses and international order in early modernity: according to Tischer, nearly every prince in early modern Europe came up with a ‘just reason’ when going to war. Whereas the theory of international law represented academic opinions, the political justifications offered the official view which fed into the public discourse. By referring to a general international law in their war declarations (and counter-declarations), the belligerent parties shaped the pattern of today’s modern international law. However, the early modern justifications represented the political and social values of pre-revolutionary Europe. While international law was regarded as universal, the European Christian powers distinguished between wars in and outside of Europe. The chapter reveals the contradictions inherent in this distinction by analysing how princes in early modern Europe justified their wars, which norms and orders were accepted, and how far international law was the result of elaborate discussions and power politics. Tischer’s findings are picked up by Hendrik Simon in his contribution on the nineteenth-century discourse of war and international order.


Africa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan

AbstractIn Niger, there is an increasing rejection ofpolitik(a term with highly pejorative connotations): that is, party politics and the politics of democracy, characterized by personal rivalries and power struggles between clans and factions. But there is a direct link (albeit not a causal one) between the social perceptions of intra-familial rivalries and the social perceptions of political rivalries. The archetypical relationship among thebaab-izey(children of one father but different mothers) is characterized by competition and jealousy. This is a product of the latent rivalry that pits co-wives against each other. Polygamy is clearly at odds with a number of received ideas and clichés about ‘the African family’ as primarily a locus of support and solidarity. Such formal social norms may reign in public situations, but in private de facto practical norms give rise to subtle discriminations and the omnipresence of more or less hidden conflicts within the family. The same is true for the political microcosm of Niger. While the public norm of the concern for the public good is supposed to regulate political behaviours, rivalry and jealousy are structural components of the political world. Thebaab-izeypattern is frequently used in reference to politicians. Political conflicts are above all personal/factional conflicts in which friends and supporters are implicated, and are rivalries of proximity. In the familial space as in the political space, ‘magico-religious entrepreneurs’ (i.e. experts in the occult) are merely an ‘accelerator’ of these conflicts: they reinforce suspicions about the familial or political entourage, which, in turn, intensify rivalries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-166
Author(s):  
Waikeung Tam

Political blogs have played an increasingly more important role in Hong Kong politics. However, research on this topic remains scarce. This analysis examines how political bloggers in Hong Kong used their blogs to participate in politics through a detailed content analysis of 960 political blog articles published on two major news websites – House News Bloggers and Speak Out HK – during the 2014 Umbrella Movement. This study found that “soapbox” stood out as the most popular function hereof, as political bloggers on both ends of the political spectrum actively used their blogs to influence the legitimacy of the Umbrella Movement in the public discourse. A substantial number of blog articles from House News Bloggers also included the functions of “transmission belt,” “informing readers,” and “mobilising political action.” Finally, only a small proportion of the articles from House News Bloggers and Speak Out HK included the function of “conversation starter.”


2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoav Hammer

Modern advertisements contain little information and expose few arguments. They rarely describe the product and its usage or compare it to similar products. Yet, advertisements convey many messages—they attach meaning to products, suggest values, and spread a particular view of life. Advertisements create a failure in the democratic process; through advertising, commercial corporations intervene in the democratic discourse. Citizens are intensively exposed to the consumerist worldview while alternative points of view are scarcely presented in the communicative sphere.But commercial corporations are not legitimate participants in the public discourse in a democracy since they do not represent the political support of citizens. Presently, courts grant advertisements freedom of speech protection based on the importance of providing information for viewers. But by doing this, courts ignore the value suggesting messages prevalent in modern advertisements.For many years the law in the domain of campaign finance has restricted the speech of corporations in order to prevent distortion of the political discourse prior to elections. Similarly, we should allow the State to intervene to repair the failure in the public discourse created by advertisements. The law regarding informative messages and value-suggesting messages contained in advertisements should treat each separately, and advertisers should not be permitted to convey messages of the latter.


1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-16
Author(s):  
Eugene J. Cornacchia

Many political science instructors often look for ways to increase the amount of writing in their courses without over-burdening either themselves or their students. The following practical suggestions, none particularly new or innovative, are nonetheless useful for including more writing in undergraduate political science courses. I have successfully used these assignments for several years and they are generally enthusiastically received by students.The underlying theory in my approach is that students are better able to cope with writing when the assignments are briefer and varied, though more frequent. Furthermore, it may be more productive to focus on what students are saying rather than on how they say it (MacAllister, 1982; Sommers, 1982). Adopting such an approach is not to advocate grammatical anarchy. Rather, it recognizes that good, grammatically correct, effective writing must be taught to college students in a manner that is sensitive to their prior experiences and capabilities.A journal is much like a diary (Fulwiler, 1987). In it, students record their thoughts, observations, and feelings about the political world or specific course material. Students may be asked to write about questions or problems they discover in their readings, current political events, or they may be asked to reflect on issues or questions raised in class. The instructor can pose a specific question, or students may be permitted to write about anything (political) they choose.


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