scholarly journals Getting It Right: Canadian Conservatives and the “War on Science” [Preliminary Edition]

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (1a) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elyse Amend ◽  
Darin Barney
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Information Control ◽  
Economic Prosperity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
The Government

Critics have paid considerable attention to the Conservative government’s record on science and technology. Cuts to funding and resources in these sectors, numerous environmentally-questionable policies, and charges of information control over Canada’s scientific community have served as evidence for many that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government and its supporters mobilize an “anti-science” ideology and are engaged in a “war on science.” However, the government has continued to make financial and rhetorical investments into science and technology to promote economic prosperity and boost Canadian national identity based on “innovation.” This article investigates the claim that Canadian Conservatives are “anti-science,” and asks whether this label is an adequate appraisal of the Canadian Right’s disposition toward science, or is beneficial to discussions on science and the public interest.Les critiques ont porté une attention spéciale à la fiche du gouvernement conservateur sur la science et la technologie. Les compressions budgétaire dans l’allocation des ressources dans ces secteurs, les nombreuses politiques douteuse portant sur l'environnement, et les plaintes de contrôle de l'information sur la communauté scientifique canadienne ont servi comme preuve pour plusieurs que le gouvernement du premier ministre Stephen Harper et ses partisans mobilisent une idéologie «antiscience» et sont engagés dans une guerre contre la science. Cependant, le gouvernement a continué de faire des investissements financiers et rhétoriques dans la science et la technologie afin de promouvoir la prospérité économique et de renforcer l'identité nationale canadienne fondée sur «l'innovation». Cet article examine l’allégation que les conservateurs canadiens sont «antiscience» et se demande si celle-ci est une évaluation adéquate de la disposition du droit du Canada envers la science, ou est bénéfique pour les discussions sur la science et l'intérêt public.

scholarly journals Getting It Right: Canadian Conservatives and the “War on Science”

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elyse Amend ◽  
Darin Barney
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Information Control ◽  
Economic Prosperity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
The Government

Critics paid considerable attention to the Harper Conservative government’s record on science and technology. Cuts to funding and resources in these sectors, numerous environmentally-questionable policies, and charges of information control over Canada’s scientific community served as evidence for many that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government and its supporters held an “anti-science” ideology and were engaged in a “war on science.” However, the government continued to make financial and rhetorical investments into science and technology to promote economic prosperity and boost Canadian national identity based on “innovation.” This article investigates the claim that the Harper Conservatives were “anti-science,” and asks whether this label is an adequate appraisal of the Canadian Right’s disposition toward science, or is beneficial to discussions on science and the public interest.Les critiques ont porté une attention spéciale de l’ancien gouvernement conservateur sur la science et la technologie. Les compressions budgétaire dans l’allocation des ressources dans ces secteurs, les nombreuses politiques douteuse portant sur l’environnement, et les plaintes de contrôle de l'information sur la communauté scientifique canadienne ont servi comme preuve pour plusieurs que le gouvernement de l’ex premier ministre Stephen Harper et ses partisans ont mobilisé une idéologie «antiscience» et etaient engagés dans une guerre contre la science. Cependant, le gouvernement a continué de faire des investissements financiers et rhétoriques dans la science et la technologie afin de promouvoir la prospérité économique et de renforcer l'identité nationale canadienne fondée sur «l'innovation». Cet article examine l’allégation que les conservateurs canadiens sont «antiscience» et se demande si celle-ci est une évaluation adéquate de la disposition du droit du Canada envers la science, ou est bénéfique pour les discussions sur la science et l'intérêt public.

State contestations in constructions of 1Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-65
Author(s):  
Mary Varghese ◽  
Kamila Ghazali
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Public ◽  
Malaysian Population ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This article seeks to contribute to the existing body of knowledge about the relationship between political discourse and national identity. 1Malaysia, introduced in 2009 by Malaysia’s then newly appointed 6th Prime Minister Najib Razak, was greeted with expectation and concern by various segments of the Malaysian population. For some, it signalled a new inclusiveness that was to change the discourse on belonging. For others, it raised concerns about changes to the status quo of ethnic issues. Given the varying responses of society to the concept of 1Malaysia, an examination of different texts through the critical paradigm of CDA provide useful insights into how the public sphere has attempted to construct this notion. Therefore, this paper critically examines the Prime Minister’s early speeches as well as relevant chapters of the socioeconomic agenda, the 10th Malaysia Plan, to identify the referential and predicational strategies employed in characterising 1Malaysia. The findings suggest a notion of unity that appears to address varying issues.

Political pressure mounts on Japanese media

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Media ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Near Term ◽  
The Government

Significance The issue of media independence has become a fraught one under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration, with perceptions rising among journalists and the public that the government is subjecting the media to political pressure. Critics of the administration speak of censorship and threats to freedom of expression. Japan's ranking in the World Press Freedom Index has fallen from 22nd in 2011-12, before Abe took office, to 61st in 2015. Impacts The government seems likely to try to marginalise the criticisms of constitutional scholars, like it marginalises its other critics. International media as well as domestic journalists are likely to feel some pressure from the authorities. In the near term, the issue is unlikely to destabilise the government, or derail passage of security legislation.

Israel may be heading for its third election in a year

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

Significance On October 23, President Reuven Rivlin passed on the task of forming the government to Benny Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White alliance, after incumbent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu failed. Neither the centre-left bloc nor the bloc of religious and right-wing parties (led by Netanyahu's Likud) has a majority without Yisrael Beiteinu, but so far Gantz and Netanyahu have failed to find an acceptable compromise despite pressure from Lieberman and Rivlin to form a unity administration. Meanwhile, Netanyahu himself faces an impending indictment on corruption charges. Impacts Consecutive rounds of elections will create a strain on the public finances. Netanyahu will refuse any power rotation deal where he is not given the premiership first. Another election, especially if coupled with an indictment, will accelerate a trend of public fatigue with Netanyahu.

Scandal at the Opera: Politics, the Press, and the Public at the Inauguration of the Budapest Opera House in 1884

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 88-107
Author(s):  
Markian Prokopovych
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Franz Liszt ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Bela Bartok ◽  
Minor Importance ◽  
Symbolic Politics ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Press ◽  
Opera House ◽  
The Government

On 2 January 2012, a mass demonstration took place in Budapest in front of the Opera House. The rally was the culminating event in a series of street protests that had shaken Hungary during the previous months when many inhabitants of the Hungarian capital, along with their co-nationals elsewhere, felt increasingly uneasy with the symbolic politics initiated by the government of Viktor Orbán and his center-right FIDESZ Party. In particular, the crowd that collected in front of what is still Hungary's most representative institution of culture, on the main boulevard Andrássy út, protested against the inauguration of the new constitution that had come into force the previous day. Despite opposition inside and outside of Hungary, the ruling political elite comprising the prime minister and his political entourage celebrated the new constitution—and themselves—at a gala event in the opera house. A number of other celebratory events in connection with Hungary's new constitution were also staged, among them a controversial exhibition of paintings in the National Gallery, located to date in the Buda Palace, meant to highlight the most important events in recent Hungarian history. Inside the opera house, Orbán and his political supporters listened to a collection of works by, among others, Franz Liszt, Ferenc Erkel, and Béla Bartók, but the composition of the program was a matter of minor importance on that day. Instead, as he and his government representatives congratulated each other that night on their party's achievements in power, the crowd outside the opera house jeered in reference to Hungary's fall in international economic rankings and the methods of rule that they saw as authoritarian, if not dictatorial, and appealed to a wider international community, for example, with slogans such as, “Hey Europe, sorry about my Prime Minister.”

scholarly journals Public Opinions and Concerns Regarding the Canadian Prime Minister’s Daily COVID-19 Briefing: Longitudinal Study of YouTube Comments Using Machine Learning Techniques

10.2196/23957 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. e23957
Author(s):  
Chengda Zheng ◽  
Jia Xue ◽  
Yumin Sun ◽  
Tingshao Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
Future Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
The Government

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provided updates on the novel coronavirus and the government’s responses to the pandemic in his daily briefings from March 13 to May 22, 2020, delivered on the official Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) YouTube channel. Objective The aim of this study was to examine comments on Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s COVID-19 daily briefings by YouTube users and track these comments to extract the changing dynamics of the opinions and concerns of the public over time. Methods We used machine learning techniques to longitudinally analyze a total of 46,732 English YouTube comments that were retrieved from 57 videos of Prime Minister Trudeau’s COVID-19 daily briefings from March 13 to May 22, 2020. A natural language processing model, latent Dirichlet allocation, was used to choose salient topics among the sampled comments for each of the 57 videos. Thematic analysis was used to classify and summarize these salient topics into different prominent themes. Results We found 11 prominent themes, including strict border measures, public responses to Prime Minister Trudeau’s policies, essential work and frontline workers, individuals’ financial challenges, rental and mortgage subsidies, quarantine, government financial aid for enterprises and individuals, personal protective equipment, Canada and China’s relationship, vaccines, and reopening. Conclusions This study is the first to longitudinally investigate public discourse and concerns related to Prime Minister Trudeau’s daily COVID-19 briefings in Canada. This study contributes to establishing a real-time feedback loop between the public and public health officials on social media. Hearing and reacting to real concerns from the public can enhance trust between the government and the public to prepare for future health emergencies.

De politicus, de diplomaat en de deskundige in het veiligheidsbeleid

Res Publica ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-58
Author(s):  
Louis Tobback
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
The Political ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
European Continent ◽  
The Public ◽  
Defence Policy ◽  
The Government

Who makes decisions concerning defence policy in Belgium? Not the public opinion, because otherwise there would be no Cruise missiles.Not the Parliament, because the parliamentarians only ratify international treaties. Not the Minister of Foreign Affairs, because the Minister of Defence makes decisions without contacting Foreign Affairs. Even the Government as a whole and the Prime Minister do not much take care about the defence policy. The so-called experts concerning defence policy are the militaries, the diplomats and the NATO-bureaucrats.Yet, the political problems with respect to the Atlantic Alliance and the division of the European continent, wilt constrain the politicians to reconsider the basic options of the policy.

scholarly journals Information control by public punishment: The logic of signalling repression in China

2020 ◽  
pp. 0920203X2096301
Author(s):  
Lotus Ruan ◽  
Jeffrey Knockel ◽  
Masashi Crete-Nishihata
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
Information Control ◽  
State Repression ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government ◽  
Intermediary Liability

When does repression of online expression lead to public punishment of citizens in China? Chinese social media is heavily censored through a system of intermediary liability in which the government relies on private companies to implement content controls. Outside of this system the Chinese authorities at times utilize public punishment to repress social media users. Under China’s regulatory environment, individuals are subject to punishment such as fines and detention for their expressions online. While censorship has become more implicit, authorities have periodically announced cases of repression to the public. To understand when the state escalates from censoring online content to punishing social media users for their online expressions and publicizes the punishment, we collected 468 cases of state repression announced by the authorities between 1 January 2014 and 1 April 2019. We find that the Chinese authorities most frequently publicize persecutions of citizens who posted online expression deemed critical of the government or those that challenged government credibility. These cases show more evidence of the state pushing the responsibility of ‘self-regulation’ further to average citizens. By making an example of individuals who post prohibited content even in semi-public social media venues, the state signals strength and its determination to maintain authority.

scholarly journals Participation of Members of the Public in the Development of a Provisional Government Reform in the Local Self-Government Sphere

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
Evgeniy D. Neverov ◽  
◽  
Radomir V. Mamtsev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Municipal Government ◽  
Government Reform ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

The paper considers the prerequisites and general trends in the development of local government in Russia during the Provisional Government and the issue of participation of the organized public in the reform activities of the Provisional Government, aimed at reorganizing the system of local government. The victory of the February Revolution raised the question of how the government in the center and in the localities will work. Provisional Government took a course towards building an updated system of municipal government and indicated this in the Declaration of March 3, 1917. On March 23 Counsel on the reform of local government and administration under the Ministry of the Interior was formed. It was engaged in legal support of the local government reform. Experienced zemstvo and city actors, as well as notable representatives of the scientific community, took part in the work of the Counsel, thanks to which the Provisional Government managed to achieve certain success in the formation of the beginnings of a new Russian civil society, built on a system of full-fledged realization of the rights and freedoms of citizens through local authorities. However, due to the slowness and certain actual problems, the reorganization was not finished.

scholarly journals Public or private corruption?

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-51
Author(s):  
Blendi Kajsiu
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Public Office ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government ◽  
Private Corruption

This is a summary of some of the main arguments and findings of the book ¿Corrupción pública o privada? La dimensión ideológica de los discursos anti-corrupción en Colombia, Ecuador y Albania (Bogotá: Tirant lo Blanch, 2020). The book compares the official anti-corruption discourses of president Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) in Colombia, president Rafael Correa (2007-2017) in Ecuador and prime minister Edi Rama (2013-present) in Albania. It shows that although these three countries face very similar levels and perceptions of corruption their governments articulate this phenomenon differently due to their distinct ideological positions. While the neoliberal governments of Santos and Rama defined corruption primarily as abuse of public office and locate it mainly in the public sector, or in its interaction with the private one, the government of Rafael Correa, which embraced the 21st Century Socialism, defined corruption primarily as a problem of the private sector that captures and distorts the public sector. 

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