The Popularization of Political Communication

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-34
Author(s):  
Diego Ceccobelli

This article presents and adopts a new definition of the popularization of political communication, which is defined as a strategic communicative action through which political actors try to create new connections with those citizens who do not still know, follow and support them and to emotionally strengthen the political bond with their current sympathizers. Second, a comparative analysis of the Facebook pages of the main political leaders of 31 countries shows that the popularization of political communication is a relevant phenomenon on Facebook, while a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) indicates that the presence of a presidential system, a high digitalization of the media system, and a high level of trust in political institutions are three sufficient conditions for a “pop” communication on Facebook. Finally, the article identifies and discusses its main properties and development under the current hybrid media system.

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-87
Author(s):  
Nina Gorenc

The research behind this paper is set in the context of the 2016 US presidential election that has come to symbolize the post-truth era. We conducted a literature review on the 2016 election, with the aim to better understand the impact of computational propaganda on the election outcome and on the behaviour of voters. The paper opens with a definition of post-truth society and related concepts such as fake news and computational propaganda. It explores the changes of political communication in a digital environment and analyses the role of social media in the 2016 election. It probes into phenomena such as the trivialization of politics and the loss of credibility of political actors, which are both common in post-truth societies. The reviewed literature seems to indicate that social media have become strong actors on the political stage, but so far not the predominant source of political information and influence on the behaviour of voters. The paper makes two important contributions. Firstly, drawing on the concept of post-truth society, it analyses the role of computational propaganda in the 2016 presidential election, and secondly, it attempts to explain the paradox of general political apathy on one hand, and increased political activism on the other. These are some of the challenges we are now facing, and in order to be able to cope with them it is important to acknowledge and understand them.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-143
Author(s):  
Daniel Pires Vieira ◽  
Valmir Emil Hoffmann ◽  
Cleidson Nogueira Dias ◽  
José Márcio Carvalho

Destination competitiveness models reached a development level in which all the characteristics that somehow influence competitiveness were mapped, whereas without identifying which factors are decisive for competitiveness (Crouch, 2011). We used the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) technique, adopting the domestic and international tourist inflows as criteria variables for identifying which competitiveness dimensions are decisive for Brazilian sun and sand destinations. Our results suggest that Access, Cultural Aspects, Local Economy, and Business Capacity dimensions have a greater influence on destination performance. In addition, the results indicate that it is not necessary to have a high level of development in a large number of dimensions in order to achieve higher performance. Results provide practical guidance for sun and sand destinations management.


Author(s):  
Demissie Damite Degato

The traditional approach to innovation assessment has mainly focused on the economic outcomes and failed to capture the ecological and social dimensions of sustainability. By giving high attention to the role of specific kind of innovation (technological innovation), there is little empirical work on whether combining different kinds of innovation leads to progress in social-ecological sustainability in developing countries. The sustainability orientation in the assessment of innovation performance becomes increasingly important for achieve successful transformation towards sustainability. The research question of this study is under what condition or combination of conditions the intervention for innovation reconciles the trade-offs between socioeconomic and ecological performance and thus improve progress towards sustainability in poor countries. Combing concepts and methods from literature on strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR), value chain upgrading, sustainability, and technological capability, this study identifies different mechanisms and conditions for building innovation capacity and then empirically evaluates the relationship between the degree of innovation capacity and the progress towards social-ecological sustainability by taking four cases from Ethiopia. The data for this study is collected using key informant interviews, focus group discussion, and biodiversity and innovation scorecard questionnaire. Mixed methods combing comprehensive fuzzy evaluation, biodiversity scorecard and qualitative comparative analysis are used for analysis. The study found that combing value chain innovation and green governance innovation either with technological upgrading or innovation platform learning are sufficient conditions for achieving social-ecological sustainability. We also found that innovation in green governance and in value chain are necessary conditions for sustainability. By developing and applying fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model for measuring innovation capacity and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis for identifying necessary and sufficient conditions for sustainability, this study made an important methodological contribution to existing literature.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-170
Author(s):  
Darya I. Judina ◽  
◽  
Sergei A. Ivanov ◽  

The Internet as a special space for political activity and political communication is becoming more and more attractive to political actors. The intensification of political activity on the Internet leads to the increase of researchers’ interest. One of the prominent areas of this research is the analysis of the efficiency of communication strategies used by politically oriented communities on the Internet. The results of such assessment contribute to, in particular, characterizing the level and features of the political engagement of Internet users into political processes. To study these processes, a telephone survey of residents of St. Petersburg was conducted. St. Petersburg was chosen because it is one of the largest cities in Russia with high Internet coverage and a high level of political activity compared to other regions. The results showed that politically oriented communities effectively implement primary communication strategies — information and presentation. More than two-thirds of politically active Internet users in St. Petersburg noted that visiting the relevant resources helped them to understand the political situation, to define their attitude toward parties, politicians, social movements and organizations. At the same time, the strategy of supporting political identification has not yet worked for the majority of users. Perhaps this is a consequence of the fact that the majority of St. Petersburg citizens have not yet found appropriate political leaders and organizations. The authors found that the majority of Internet users display an interest in politics permanently, and not only during the pre-election period. The hypothesis that one of the factors of an efficient strategy of politically oriented communities is emphasizing anti-power positions was confirmed. The survey results also confirmed the high level of opposition views among Internet users.


wisdom ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Emil Ordukhanyan

In modern world various transformations have an impact on social and political processes of the society. Even cultural changes somehow depend on these transformations. Therefore, social and political phenomena need new approaches for their study, where the political culture has its proper relevance. The article explores the theoretical and methodological foundations of political culture based on the analysis of foreign and Armenian scholars works. The behavioral, psychological, comparative and other approaches as well as methods of political culture analysis are examined. In a result of generalization of theoretical approaches and summarizing the outcomes obtained from a comparative analysis of political culture methodologies, we can define political culture as the aggregate of political ideas, knowledge, traditions and values; as a whole of political participation and behavior models; as a relatively stable link between political consciousness and socialization, between stages and levels of political communication tools and political institutions, which defines the political process and which is expressed through the political discourse.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Matthias Duller

Abstract Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this article presents a systematic comparison of differences in the institutional success of sociology in 25 European countries during the academic expansion from 1945 until the late 1960s. Combining context-sensitive national histories of sociology, concept formation, and formal analyses of necessary and sufficient conditions, the article searches for historical explanations for both successful and inhibited processes of the institutionalization of sociology. Concretely, it assesses the interplay of political regime types, the continuous presence of sociological prewar traditions, political Catholicism, and the effects of sociological communities in neighboring countries and how their various combinations are related to more or less well-established sociologies. The results can help explain adversary effects under democratic conditions as well as supportive factors under nondemocratic conditions.


Author(s):  
Ran Wei ◽  
Larry Zhiming Xu

The ongoing revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs) has fundamentally transformed the landscape of democracy and the way people engage in politics. From the configuration of media systems to the decision-making of the voting public, the changes have permeated through almost every level of society, affecting political institutions, political actors, citizen groups, and mass media. For each aspect, a synopsis of classical and emergent political communication theories, contemporary and contentious political issues, and cutting-edge research adds to the discussion of new media. The discussion is unfolded with an account of research of new media effects on politics in international setting and cross-cultural contexts with insights of how Western theories and research apply (or fail to) in international contexts.


Author(s):  
Kevin Kalomeni ◽  
Claudius Wagemann

This chapter examines qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), which strives to bridge the methodological rift between case study-based research and quantitative studies. QCA belongs to the broader family of configurational comparative methods (CCMs). From an analytical perspective, QCA can be distinguished from quantitative approaches. The emphasis shifts from covariance to the analysis of set relations. Being strongly tied to a profound theoretical and conceptual reasoning which is typical for comparison in general, the analysis of set relations is based on three steps: first, a score is attributed to a social phenomenon (representing either a dichotomous or a graded set membership), usually in relation to other phenomena. Second, necessary conditions are defined. Third, through the help of a truth table analysis, (combinations of) sufficient conditions are analysed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bear F. Braumoeller

Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) has become one of the most prominent methods in the social sciences for capturing causal complexity, especially for scholars with small- and medium- N data sets. This research note explores two key assumptions in fsQCA’s methodology for testing for necessary and sufficient conditions—the cumulation assumption and the triangular data assumption—and argues that, in combination, they produce a form of aggregation bias that has not been recognized in the fsQCA literature. It also offers a straightforward test to help researchers answer the question of whether their findings are plausibly the result of aggregation bias.


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