An organisational approach to meta-governance: structuring reforms through organisational (re-)engineering

This article outlines an organisation theory approach to meta-governance by illustrating how public organisations may organise policy change and reform by (re-)designing organisational choice-architectures. First, it outlines an organisational approach to meta-governance and, second, it offers an illustrative case of meta-governance by examining how public innovation processes are shaped by organisational designs. Two arguments are proposed: (i) first, that public meta-governance is an accessible tool for facilitating policy change, and (ii) second, that meta-governance may be systematically biased by organisational structuring. Examining conditions for meta-governance is important since governments experience frequent criticism of existing inefficient organisational arrangements and calls for major reforms of the state. The contribution of this article is to suggest how an organisational approach to meta-governance might both explain meta-governance and make it practically relevant for solving societal challenges in the future.

Batalla de frames en la campaña electoral de abril de 2019. Engagement y promoción de mensajes de los partidos políticos en Facebook

Framing processes are one of the preferred objects of study in the area of Communication, despite the frequent criticism regarding their theoretical and methodological strength. This study follows the proposal of Matthes and Kohring (2008) of the detection of frames through statistical analysis of clusters that operationalize the components as defined by Entman (2003) using framing elements. This is applied to the study of the electoral campaign on Facebook of the main Spanish political parties in the election of 28 April 2019. All messages published on this social network during the 15 days of the electoral campaign were captured automatically. The use of four large frames by the parties was detected, corresponding to events and political questions, request for vote, the rival party, and media treatment. The parties used these frames to different degrees: from the institutional and positive campaign of the PSOE, to the campaign aimed at criticizing the ruling party of the main opposition party, the PP, through the inclination towards media treatment of Unidas Podemos, or a focus on their own events and proposals by Ciudadanos and Vox. A negative correlation was detected between the frames most used by the political formations as a whole and the level of user engagement on Facebook, although the use of frames by PSOE and Unidas Podemos showed a greater parallelism with the levels of interaction in this social network. Resumen Los procesos de enmarcado, encuadre o framing son uno de los objetos de estudio preferentes en el área de Comunicación, a pesar de las frecuentes y reputadas críticas sobre su solidez teórica y metodológica. En esta investigación se sigue la propuesta de Matthes y Kohring (2008) para la detección de frames mediante análisis estadístico de conglomerados que operacionaliza en elementos de enmarcado los componentes de la definición de Entman (1993). Se aplica al estudio de la campaña electoral que hicieron los principales partidos políticos españoles a través de Facebook en la convocatoria del 28 de abril de 2019. Se capturaron automatizadamente todos los mensajes publicados en esta red social en los quince días de campaña electoral, detectándose el uso de cuatro grandes frames por parte de los partidos: marco de eventos y cuestiones políticas, marco de petición de voto, marco del partido rival y marco del tratamiento mediático. Los partidos utilizaron en diferente medida estos marcos: desde la campaña institucional y en positivo del PSOE; a la campaña volcada en criticar al partido gobernante del principal partido de la oposición, el PP; pasando por la inclinación hacia el tratamiento mediático de Unidas Podemos, o a centrarse en sus propios actos y propuestas de Ciudadanos y Vox. Se detectó una correlación negativa entre los frames más empleados por las formaciones políticas en su conjunto y el nivel de engagement en Facebook, si bien la utilización concreta de los marcos por parte del PSOE y Unidas Podemos sí mostró cierto paralelismo con los niveles de interacción en esta red social.

Description of a new genus and species for a common and widespread Amazonian satyrine butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini)

We here propose a new monotypic butterfly genus Scriptor Nakahara & Espeland, n. gen. to accommodate a new species, S. sphenophorus Lamas & Nakahara, n. sp., described and named herein. Scriptor sphenophorus n. gen. and n. sp.is a relatively common and widespread butterfly species which is recovered as a member of the so-called “Splendeuptychia clade” in the nymphalid subtribe Euptychiina, based on our molecular phylogenetic analysis using a maximum likelihood approach. Nevertheless, its sister group is not confidently resolved in any analysis, supporting a relatively distant relationship to any described genus as well as our decision to establish a new monotypic genus. We further discuss the proposed taxonomy in the light of frequent criticism of the description of monotypic taxa, as well as emphasize the importance of incorporating multiple evidence when describing new genera, illustrated by reference to several recent generic descriptions in this subtribe.

Modernism and its Discontents: The Case of Cahiers d’Art and Surrealism in 1928

This paper discusses a 1928 polemic in Cahiers d’Art on the work Max Ernst to explore the relation of surrealism to modernism. The early reception of surrealism in Cahiers d’Art reflected the frequent criticism of surrealist painting by modernist critics, who derided it for its lack of attention to formal values and fondness for literary associations. In 1928, however, a discussion of Max Ernst’s recent work exceeded the bounds of formalist modernist criticism to address surrealism’s dissensual political position, providing a rare snapshot of the relation between modernist art and politics. Although the modernist criteria promoted by Cahiers d’Art, based on the ‘plastic quality’ of exemplary works, appeared above the vicissitudes of politics, it was contingent on an implicit agreement with the postwar political consensus. In this context, the formal inadequacy of surrealist painting could assume a political force as a manifestation of dissensus.

Modernism and its Discontents: The Case of Cahiers d’Art and Surrealism in 1928

This paper discusses a 1928 polemic in Cahiers d’Art on the work Max Ernst to explore the relation of surrealism to modernism. The early reception of surrealism in Cahiers d’Art reflected the frequent criticism of surrealist painting by modernist critics, who derided it for its lack of attention to formal values and fondness for literary associations. In 1928, however, a discussion of Max Ernst’s recent work exceeded the bounds of formalist modernist criticism to address surrealism’s dissensual political position, providing a rare snapshot of the relation between modernist art and politics. Although the modernist criteria promoted by Cahiers d’Art, based on the ‘plastic quality’ of exemplary works, appeared above the vicissitudes of politics, it was contingent on an implicit agreement with the postwar political consensus. In this context, the formal inadequacy of surrealist painting could assume a political force as a manifestation of dissensus.

Does Protest “Distract” Athletes from Performing?: Evidence from the National Anthem Demonstrations in the National Football League

While there is a long tradition of activism within sport, a frequent criticism of athlete protest is that it is a “distraction” that hinders on-field performance. In 2017, in the midst of widespread demonstrations against racial injustice in the U.S. among players in the National Football League (NFL), the sports community reprised the “it’s a distraction” refrain. Using data drawn from multiple sources, we first explore which factors related to players’ likelihood of protesting. Then, using a series of analyses at the player-game level (n=19,051) and the team-game level (n=512), we tested the assertion that protest is detrimental to individual and team performance. The results of this study allow us to better understand factors that may constrain professional athletes’ participation in protest and challenge a common form of rhetoric used to discourage athlete activism.

LECTURERS’ POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN EFL CLASSROOM WITH MULTICULTURAL BACKGROUND

The choice of words used by the lecturer such as politeness strategies in the classroom interaction is very important, not only for controlling the classroom but also for the process of acquiring the language itself. This study aimed to investigate lecturer’s politeness strategies in criticizing teaching performance of students with multicultural backgrounds in a microteaching class. This qualitative study was conducted with the students from multicultural backgrounds. The subject of this study was a lecturer who taught Microteaching. The findings of this study showed that there were four most frequent criticism strategies used by the lecturer: demand for change, indicating standard, advice about change and other hint. In addition, the highest proportion of politeness strategies applied by the lecturer was occupied by positive politeness, off-record strategy, bald on record, and negative politeness. It implied that the lecturer mostly applied positive politeness in criticizing the students, in order to save the students’ face, get closer and give more positive feedback to help students develop their teaching performance. The facts also proved that students’ multicultural background did not affect too much lecturer’s decision in applying politeness strategies, yet it needed to be very careful in delivering them. Keywords: politeness strategies, criticism, multicultural backgrounds

Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova

This chapter presents case studies of three of the Eastern Partnership states that all share similar positions on the European-Orientalist Cultural Gradient but have pursued Europeanization projects of different strengths. Belarus is a weak-moderate Europeanizer that claims to be intrinsically European according to its own idiosyncratic criteria, and despite frequent criticism from European institutions for its autocratic ways. Ukraine has become famous as the home of people who have twice put their lives on the line in the name of European values (in the Orange Revolution and the EuroMaidan), but whose leaders have trouble realizing the promise of Europeanization. Moldova’s unique historical and contemporary relationship with Romania has spurred it to a strong pursuit of Europeanization, though like Ukraine, cultural and economic factors threaten those ambitions. Detailed case studies explicate the different paths toward Europeanization for each of the three states.

The Conflicting Purposes of Australian Anti-Discrimination Law

The underlying rationale for prohibiting discrimination continues to be subject to significant debate. This debate leads to a lack of clarity with respect to the kinds of harms anti-discrimination law is designed to prevent and the kinds of behaviours it is designed to capture. A frequent criticism of the Australian courts’ approach to discrimination law is that it fails to grapple with the underlying purpose of anti-discrimination law. The consequence of this failure is a jurisprudence that is underdeveloped. This paper makes a different argument. This article argues that the Australian courts can and do give a purposive interpretation to anti-discrimination law but the purpose that the courts draw on lacks an underpinning coherence or consistency. This paper will make this argument by considering three recent Australian appellate court decisions on disability discrimination to consider the different ways in which the court exhibits an understanding of the purpose of anti-discrimination law.

Oświata and Ameryka-Echo

This chapter focuses on the unique public role of Ameryka-Echo as an educational newspaper, whose mission became spreading of self-education and improvement. It traces the Positivist ideology of the “cult of knowledge,” which Paryski imported from Poland and advocated among the immigrants in America. Paryski's mission drew frequent criticism from the intellectual elites in Polonia, who accused him of manipulating the reading public for his own financial profit and providing the immigrants with low-brow literature. However, Ameryka-Echo's readers wholeheartedly embraced its educational mission. Time and again they referred to the newspaper as their school or university, praised it, and credited it with providing them with solid source for reading, information, and general knowledge.