Framed in ideas of cultural citizenship and acknowledging the importance of popular cultural sites for political participation, this short paper attends to a study of political discussions in the Swedish LGTB community Qruiser. The research is netnographic through online interviews, participant observations and content analyses. Preliminary results suggest an atmosphere that is geared rather towards conflict and dissent between participants than towards deliberation, opinion formation and consensus. This paper will therefore shortly discuss the results in light of Mouffe's (2005) normative lens of agonism and radical democracy.
The document summarizes literature on the political satire news show The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (TDS). It discusses how scholars debate whether TDS encourages critical thinking and political activism in its audience. Some argue TDS provides an informative critique of mainstream media and politics. Others argue the data is inconclusive or that TDS should be viewed as "fake news" and does not meaningfully contribute to political understanding or participation. The document also outlines the author's objectives and methodology to analyze how TDS' comedic narrative may limit its ability to promote critical thinking.
Dissertation presentation: POLITICAL SATIRE AND POLITICAL NEWS:ENTERTAINING,...Rutgers University
This document summarizes a dissertation presentation on the political satire show The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (TDS). It discusses two key questions: 1) How TDS uses its comedic narrative as a vehicle for political news and 2) How TDS's audience decodes its messages. It reviews literature on TDS promoting critical thinking and political activism. The presentation analyzes TDS episodes and compares its coverage to mainstream media. It finds TDS has limited potential for multiple interpretations and its audience tends to accept the preferred reading without negotiation. Further research could explore audience decoding of non-comedic TDS segments.
The goal of this paper is to present the evolution of populism in Poland
using the examples of two political parties: the “Samoobrona” (“Self-Defense”)
political party of Andrzej Lepper (a populist party which garnered most support in
the first decade of the 21st century) and the “Kukiz ‘15” movement – the dark horse
of the last Polish parliamentary elections. Both of these groups superbly illustrate
the demagogy characteristic of populism, linked with an affirmation of the people
(nation) which in turn would not be possible without the anti-establishment stance
of the political leaders and the electorate. A comparison of these two examples allows us to monitor the transformations occurring in populist groups over the last
few years, especially in the age where the Internet is employed as a vital means of
communication. The paper presents the alternative conceptualizations of the idea
of populism, and moves on to employ the N. Baar scheme (2009) and secondary
and primary data (data obtained from the “Barometr Wyborczy” voting advisory
application), and press releases to draft various types of correspondence between
these two cases, which makes it possible to identify new, interesting characteristics
of populism.
This document summarizes the field of political communication. It outlines the history and development of political communication as an area of study from Aristotle to modern times. It then reviews contemporary scholarship in political communication, including prominent journals, topics studied like new media, presidential rhetoric, and public deliberation. Themes, theories, concepts, methods, and theorists in political communication research are also summarized.
A World Where Everything Can Be Called Anything ElseMark Olson
This honors thesis examines how political words have taken on different and sometimes irreconcilable meanings depending on who uses them. The document provides examples like how socialism is defined differently by those on the right versus those who consider themselves socialists. It argues that political ideas remain contested in a way that concepts in the physical sciences do not, allowing different meanings of words to coexist in competition within the marketplace of ideas.
This document provides a research proposal that aims to analyze the differences in electoral success between Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) movement in the Netherlands between 2006-2010. While both parties emerged as new right-wing populist forces, only Wilders' PVV was able to secure seats in the 2010 election, winning 24 seats, while Verdonk's TON failed to win any. The proposal seeks to understand why one populist party succeeded while the other failed by examining their campaigns, leadership styles, issue positioning, and popularity over time. The theory section provides background on definitions of populism and how Wilders and Verdonk fit
This document provides a research proposal that aims to analyze the differences in electoral success between Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) movement in the Netherlands between 2006-2010. While both parties emerged as new right-wing populist forces, only Wilders' PVV was able to secure seats in the 2010 election, winning 24 seats, while Verdonk's TON failed to win any. The proposal seeks to understand why one populist party succeeded while the other failed by examining their campaigns, leadership styles, issue positioning, and popularity over time using theories of populist party success and failure.
This document provides background information and proposes to study why Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) was successful in the 2010 Dutch general election while Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) party failed to win any seats. It discusses populism as a political approach and analyzes whether Wilders and Verdonk can be considered populist leaders based on key characteristics identified in previous research. The research aims to explain the differences in electoral outcomes for these two new right-wing populist parties that emerged in the Netherlands between 2006-2010 and were initially both polling well.
The document summarizes literature on the political satire news show The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (TDS). It discusses how scholars debate whether TDS encourages critical thinking and political activism in its audience. Some argue TDS provides an informative critique of mainstream media and politics. Others argue the data is inconclusive or that TDS should be viewed as "fake news" and does not meaningfully contribute to political understanding or participation. The document also outlines the author's objectives and methodology to analyze how TDS' comedic narrative may limit its ability to promote critical thinking.
Dissertation presentation: POLITICAL SATIRE AND POLITICAL NEWS:ENTERTAINING,...Rutgers University
This document summarizes a dissertation presentation on the political satire show The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (TDS). It discusses two key questions: 1) How TDS uses its comedic narrative as a vehicle for political news and 2) How TDS's audience decodes its messages. It reviews literature on TDS promoting critical thinking and political activism. The presentation analyzes TDS episodes and compares its coverage to mainstream media. It finds TDS has limited potential for multiple interpretations and its audience tends to accept the preferred reading without negotiation. Further research could explore audience decoding of non-comedic TDS segments.
The goal of this paper is to present the evolution of populism in Poland
using the examples of two political parties: the “Samoobrona” (“Self-Defense”)
political party of Andrzej Lepper (a populist party which garnered most support in
the first decade of the 21st century) and the “Kukiz ‘15” movement – the dark horse
of the last Polish parliamentary elections. Both of these groups superbly illustrate
the demagogy characteristic of populism, linked with an affirmation of the people
(nation) which in turn would not be possible without the anti-establishment stance
of the political leaders and the electorate. A comparison of these two examples allows us to monitor the transformations occurring in populist groups over the last
few years, especially in the age where the Internet is employed as a vital means of
communication. The paper presents the alternative conceptualizations of the idea
of populism, and moves on to employ the N. Baar scheme (2009) and secondary
and primary data (data obtained from the “Barometr Wyborczy” voting advisory
application), and press releases to draft various types of correspondence between
these two cases, which makes it possible to identify new, interesting characteristics
of populism.
This document summarizes the field of political communication. It outlines the history and development of political communication as an area of study from Aristotle to modern times. It then reviews contemporary scholarship in political communication, including prominent journals, topics studied like new media, presidential rhetoric, and public deliberation. Themes, theories, concepts, methods, and theorists in political communication research are also summarized.
A World Where Everything Can Be Called Anything ElseMark Olson
This honors thesis examines how political words have taken on different and sometimes irreconcilable meanings depending on who uses them. The document provides examples like how socialism is defined differently by those on the right versus those who consider themselves socialists. It argues that political ideas remain contested in a way that concepts in the physical sciences do not, allowing different meanings of words to coexist in competition within the marketplace of ideas.
This document provides a research proposal that aims to analyze the differences in electoral success between Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) movement in the Netherlands between 2006-2010. While both parties emerged as new right-wing populist forces, only Wilders' PVV was able to secure seats in the 2010 election, winning 24 seats, while Verdonk's TON failed to win any. The proposal seeks to understand why one populist party succeeded while the other failed by examining their campaigns, leadership styles, issue positioning, and popularity over time. The theory section provides background on definitions of populism and how Wilders and Verdonk fit
This document provides a research proposal that aims to analyze the differences in electoral success between Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) movement in the Netherlands between 2006-2010. While both parties emerged as new right-wing populist forces, only Wilders' PVV was able to secure seats in the 2010 election, winning 24 seats, while Verdonk's TON failed to win any. The proposal seeks to understand why one populist party succeeded while the other failed by examining their campaigns, leadership styles, issue positioning, and popularity over time using theories of populist party success and failure.
This document provides background information and proposes to study why Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) was successful in the 2010 Dutch general election while Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) party failed to win any seats. It discusses populism as a political approach and analyzes whether Wilders and Verdonk can be considered populist leaders based on key characteristics identified in previous research. The research aims to explain the differences in electoral outcomes for these two new right-wing populist parties that emerged in the Netherlands between 2006-2010 and were initially both polling well.
This document summarizes and critiques the current public debate around free speech, which has become polarized between defenders of unfettered free speech and promoters of civility. The author argues that the debate has lost sight of the important ideal of positive free speech as meaningful civic participation. While powerful institutions setting speech rules is problematic, civility, respect and inclusion are essential for rational discourse. The public debate also wrongly focuses only on rules rather than whether open debate and consideration of diverse views actually occurs.
This document discusses the history of political communication research. It covers the early scholarship from thinkers like Walter Lippmann who studied how the media shapes public perceptions. It also discusses the development of propaganda and different theories around media effects. Key theories mentioned include the two-step flow model and research showing limited to moderate media effects. The document concludes by discussing social scientific research methods used in political communication research like content analysis, experiments, and surveys.
The document discusses Rita Verdonk and Geert Wilders, two right-wing populist politicians in the Netherlands. Both founded their own political parties after leaving the VVD party. While early polls showed Verdonk as potentially successful, Wilders was able to secure seats in the 2010 election while Verdonk failed to win any. The document analyzes whether and how Wilders and Verdonk can be characterized as populist politicians based on definitions of populism, and explores possible explanations for their differing electoral outcomes.
This document discusses the merger between media and politics through political satire and humor. It explores how shows like The Daily Show and South Park engage with political issues and can both increase and decrease political knowledge and engagement among viewers. While some research has found these shows may foster cynicism and decrease voting, other research shows they can help viewers better understand politics in a entertaining way and gain basic knowledge to then further engage with more traditional news coverage. The blending of hard news and infotainment is also discussed, with some news organizations experimenting with incorporating more humorous or satirical elements into their programming.
Rogers Brubaker argues that language and religion both unite and divide communities through personal identification and claims to resources, but that they differ in important ways. Specifically, he claims that religious pluralism is more robust than linguistic pluralism in Western countries, as religion has become more individualized while language remains politicized. However, the author critiques Brubaker for only focusing on Western immigration and Islam, failing to address conflicts over language in other parts of the world. The author also questions whether Brubaker underestimates the intertwined relationship between culture, language, and religion in forming national identities.
The document discusses extremist and populist parties in Central and Eastern Europe and their foreign policy outlooks. It begins by defining extremism and populism, noting the overlap but also distinctions between the two. It then identifies specific parties in several countries that fall into the categories of extremist, populist, or those that flirt with extremism. The document analyzes these parties' positions on issues like the European Union, Turkish accession to the EU, and U.S. power. Overall, it finds that extremist parties strongly oppose these, while populist parties have more varied stances. The document concludes by arguing that domestic politics often drive foreign policy positions more than the reverse.
The document provides background information on the Black Lives Matter movement and discusses its use of social media. It was founded in 2012 after Trayvon Martin's killer was acquitted. The movement has expanded to over 38 chapters across the US and Canada. It maintains active presences on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to spread its message and encourage followers to use the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. The document then lists research questions about how the movement utilizes social media and identifies itself before outlining the research methods and presenting preliminary results analyzing the movement's Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Defining political communication, political coverage & realitynadia naseem
The document discusses various topics related to political communication including defining political communication, political coverage, and whether news reflects reality. It defines political communication as the process by which information spreads and influences politics through leaders, media and citizens. Political coverage focuses on the president, political parties, elections and gaffes. While news is meant to report society faithfully, in reality news does not reflect all of reality due to gatekeeping, agenda-setting and framing effects. Social media has become an important tool for political engagement and influencing elections.
This document provides an outline for a paper that will investigate how media outlets cover stories about female suicide bombers. The paper aims to examine how western media reports on female suicide bombers compared to male bombers, and to understand discrepancies in coverage. The methodology will involve reviewing secondary sources on the topic, gathering primary source news articles from western and alternative outlets like Al Jazeera, and analyzing patterns in how gender influences portrayal. The paper acknowledges limitations like potential bias in some Arab news sources and the large volume of articles to review.
Putting Inequality in its Place: Rural Consciousness and the Power of Persp...JJ Widener
This article examines the concept of "rural consciousness" and how it structures how rural residents think about politics in Wisconsin. Through observations of conversations in rural communities, the author finds that rural residents see themselves as facing deprivation relative to urban areas due to decisions made by out-of-touch political elites. This perspective leads rural residents to favor limited government, even if that stance seems at odds with their economic self-interest. The study suggests moving beyond explanations that pit interests against values, and considering how group perspectives shape political understandings.
This document summarizes Carl Schmitt's view of friendship and the political as outlined in his work The Concept of the Political. Schmitt uses the language of friendship to define the political distinction as between friend and enemy. For Schmitt, a friend is someone who one is willing to fight and kill enemies alongside with, where an enemy is any stranger that poses an existential threat. This breaks from traditional views of friendship in political theory which emphasize moral and psychological components. Schmitt argues the potential for war, not war itself, defines the political realm and constitutes the power relationships within a political community. The summary establishes how Schmitt diverges from prior uses of friendship in political thought to enforce a distinction between politics and ethics.
This document provides an introduction and literature review for a study analyzing the language used in the Leveson Inquiry. The inquiry investigated phone hacking by the News of the World newspaper and broader ethics issues in the British press. The study aims to identify ideological positions conveyed by three main witness groups - journalists, politicians, and victims. It acknowledges these groups may have had vested interests in portraying certain ideologies around free speech versus privacy. The introduction establishes the context and background of the Leveson Inquiry and outlines two main research questions around the ideological foundations of the inquiry and how different witness groups conveyed separate ideologies.
[Craig a. smith,_kathy_b._smith]_the_white_house_spassttom
The chapter provides an overview of theories of presidential leadership advanced by political scientists since Richard Neustadt's 1960 book Presidential Power. Neustadt argued that presidential power is the power to persuade rather than relying on formal powers. However, his approach overlooked the rhetorical dimensions of persuasion and focused more on bargaining. More recent theories have emphasized the presidency's rhetorical nature but have not fully examined persuasion. The chapter proposes studying presidential leadership rhetorically by examining how political contexts invite rhetorical choices with political consequences.
This document summarizes a research paper that examines the complex relationship between access to direct democracy initiatives and public protest in U.S. states. The paper analyzes whether direct democracy provides an incentive to reduce protests by giving citizens an alternative avenue for political participation, or whether it acts as a deterrent by educating citizens and making protests more effective. The document reviews literature on this topic, including studies of Switzerland that found protests were less common among those who participated in direct democracy initiatives. It aims to explore this relationship and its nuances using U.S. data to better understand how to encourage voter participation and efficacy.
This document analyzes media commentary surrounding celebrity feminism. It discusses existing negative discourses around feminism, including portrayals as man-hating, unattractive, and lacking humor. It also discusses concerns about the appropriation and commercialization of feminism. The study uses discourse analysis to examine how six celebrities who declared or denied feminism were portrayed in online media. It finds discourses were polarized, often gendered, and revealed media biases in portraying feminism.
An Analysis Of The Representation Of Democratic Citizenship Inlegal2
This document analyzes how three widely used American civics textbooks depict democratic participation. The analysis finds that while the textbooks emphasize the importance of active citizenship, they provide only shallow and unsubstantiated discussions of participation that are undermined by their characterization of democratic institutions. The textbooks define key terms like democracy and citizenship but fail to meaningfully connect participation to institutions. They primarily portray participation as voting and communicating with representatives, without exploring the full range of participatory methods or explaining why participation is necessary for democratic governance. This implicit ambivalence towards participation reflects limited theories of representative democracy.
This document summarizes the debate around how to define and classify hybrid regimes that hold elections but restrict civil liberties. It discusses how scholars initially viewed regimes as either democratic or authoritarian (Section 1). It then explains how Fareed Zakaria coined the term "illiberal democracies" to describe stalled transitions in the 1990s that held elections but abused civil liberties (Section 2). The document analyzes criticisms of this term from scholars like Levitsky, Collier and Way, who argue it diminishes the definition of democracy (Section 3). Lastly, it discusses how understanding hybrid regimes is important for studying modern democratic trends.
This was a talk to George Washington University students about how the process of government and politics is becoming 'mediatised'. By that I mean that the process of creating and implementing policies, as well as reporting and deliberating upon politics, is becoming saturated in an unprecedented volume and variety of sources, platforms and content creators. This creates a kind of networked politics. This has good aspects and bad.
This document discusses key questions about the study and teaching of political communication. It examines what constitutes political communication, who is studied, when and where it occurs, how it is studied, and why it is studied. It argues that the field could broaden its focus beyond U.S. presidential rhetoric and elections to study other levels of government, international contexts, and historical periods. It also calls for more attention to context, ethics, civic virtue, and progress in the study and teaching of political communication.
The expressive turn of citizenship in digital late modernityJakob Svensson
This document discusses citizenship and political participation in digital late modernity. It argues that expressive rationality, where people engage in politics through cultural production, identity management, and information sharing, is increasingly important. With individualization and fragmented cultural frameworks in late modern society, traditional representative democracy is facing challenges, as seen in low voter turnout. However, new online spaces allow for new forms of political participation outside of formal politics, through activities like joining groups, signing petitions, and voicing opinions. These arenas reflect how political engagement has become part of individual identity projects in late modernity.
This document summarizes and critiques the current public debate around free speech, which has become polarized between defenders of unfettered free speech and promoters of civility. The author argues that the debate has lost sight of the important ideal of positive free speech as meaningful civic participation. While powerful institutions setting speech rules is problematic, civility, respect and inclusion are essential for rational discourse. The public debate also wrongly focuses only on rules rather than whether open debate and consideration of diverse views actually occurs.
This document discusses the history of political communication research. It covers the early scholarship from thinkers like Walter Lippmann who studied how the media shapes public perceptions. It also discusses the development of propaganda and different theories around media effects. Key theories mentioned include the two-step flow model and research showing limited to moderate media effects. The document concludes by discussing social scientific research methods used in political communication research like content analysis, experiments, and surveys.
The document discusses Rita Verdonk and Geert Wilders, two right-wing populist politicians in the Netherlands. Both founded their own political parties after leaving the VVD party. While early polls showed Verdonk as potentially successful, Wilders was able to secure seats in the 2010 election while Verdonk failed to win any. The document analyzes whether and how Wilders and Verdonk can be characterized as populist politicians based on definitions of populism, and explores possible explanations for their differing electoral outcomes.
This document discusses the merger between media and politics through political satire and humor. It explores how shows like The Daily Show and South Park engage with political issues and can both increase and decrease political knowledge and engagement among viewers. While some research has found these shows may foster cynicism and decrease voting, other research shows they can help viewers better understand politics in a entertaining way and gain basic knowledge to then further engage with more traditional news coverage. The blending of hard news and infotainment is also discussed, with some news organizations experimenting with incorporating more humorous or satirical elements into their programming.
Rogers Brubaker argues that language and religion both unite and divide communities through personal identification and claims to resources, but that they differ in important ways. Specifically, he claims that religious pluralism is more robust than linguistic pluralism in Western countries, as religion has become more individualized while language remains politicized. However, the author critiques Brubaker for only focusing on Western immigration and Islam, failing to address conflicts over language in other parts of the world. The author also questions whether Brubaker underestimates the intertwined relationship between culture, language, and religion in forming national identities.
The document discusses extremist and populist parties in Central and Eastern Europe and their foreign policy outlooks. It begins by defining extremism and populism, noting the overlap but also distinctions between the two. It then identifies specific parties in several countries that fall into the categories of extremist, populist, or those that flirt with extremism. The document analyzes these parties' positions on issues like the European Union, Turkish accession to the EU, and U.S. power. Overall, it finds that extremist parties strongly oppose these, while populist parties have more varied stances. The document concludes by arguing that domestic politics often drive foreign policy positions more than the reverse.
The document provides background information on the Black Lives Matter movement and discusses its use of social media. It was founded in 2012 after Trayvon Martin's killer was acquitted. The movement has expanded to over 38 chapters across the US and Canada. It maintains active presences on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to spread its message and encourage followers to use the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. The document then lists research questions about how the movement utilizes social media and identifies itself before outlining the research methods and presenting preliminary results analyzing the movement's Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Defining political communication, political coverage & realitynadia naseem
The document discusses various topics related to political communication including defining political communication, political coverage, and whether news reflects reality. It defines political communication as the process by which information spreads and influences politics through leaders, media and citizens. Political coverage focuses on the president, political parties, elections and gaffes. While news is meant to report society faithfully, in reality news does not reflect all of reality due to gatekeeping, agenda-setting and framing effects. Social media has become an important tool for political engagement and influencing elections.
This document provides an outline for a paper that will investigate how media outlets cover stories about female suicide bombers. The paper aims to examine how western media reports on female suicide bombers compared to male bombers, and to understand discrepancies in coverage. The methodology will involve reviewing secondary sources on the topic, gathering primary source news articles from western and alternative outlets like Al Jazeera, and analyzing patterns in how gender influences portrayal. The paper acknowledges limitations like potential bias in some Arab news sources and the large volume of articles to review.
Putting Inequality in its Place: Rural Consciousness and the Power of Persp...JJ Widener
This article examines the concept of "rural consciousness" and how it structures how rural residents think about politics in Wisconsin. Through observations of conversations in rural communities, the author finds that rural residents see themselves as facing deprivation relative to urban areas due to decisions made by out-of-touch political elites. This perspective leads rural residents to favor limited government, even if that stance seems at odds with their economic self-interest. The study suggests moving beyond explanations that pit interests against values, and considering how group perspectives shape political understandings.
This document summarizes Carl Schmitt's view of friendship and the political as outlined in his work The Concept of the Political. Schmitt uses the language of friendship to define the political distinction as between friend and enemy. For Schmitt, a friend is someone who one is willing to fight and kill enemies alongside with, where an enemy is any stranger that poses an existential threat. This breaks from traditional views of friendship in political theory which emphasize moral and psychological components. Schmitt argues the potential for war, not war itself, defines the political realm and constitutes the power relationships within a political community. The summary establishes how Schmitt diverges from prior uses of friendship in political thought to enforce a distinction between politics and ethics.
This document provides an introduction and literature review for a study analyzing the language used in the Leveson Inquiry. The inquiry investigated phone hacking by the News of the World newspaper and broader ethics issues in the British press. The study aims to identify ideological positions conveyed by three main witness groups - journalists, politicians, and victims. It acknowledges these groups may have had vested interests in portraying certain ideologies around free speech versus privacy. The introduction establishes the context and background of the Leveson Inquiry and outlines two main research questions around the ideological foundations of the inquiry and how different witness groups conveyed separate ideologies.
[Craig a. smith,_kathy_b._smith]_the_white_house_spassttom
The chapter provides an overview of theories of presidential leadership advanced by political scientists since Richard Neustadt's 1960 book Presidential Power. Neustadt argued that presidential power is the power to persuade rather than relying on formal powers. However, his approach overlooked the rhetorical dimensions of persuasion and focused more on bargaining. More recent theories have emphasized the presidency's rhetorical nature but have not fully examined persuasion. The chapter proposes studying presidential leadership rhetorically by examining how political contexts invite rhetorical choices with political consequences.
This document summarizes a research paper that examines the complex relationship between access to direct democracy initiatives and public protest in U.S. states. The paper analyzes whether direct democracy provides an incentive to reduce protests by giving citizens an alternative avenue for political participation, or whether it acts as a deterrent by educating citizens and making protests more effective. The document reviews literature on this topic, including studies of Switzerland that found protests were less common among those who participated in direct democracy initiatives. It aims to explore this relationship and its nuances using U.S. data to better understand how to encourage voter participation and efficacy.
This document analyzes media commentary surrounding celebrity feminism. It discusses existing negative discourses around feminism, including portrayals as man-hating, unattractive, and lacking humor. It also discusses concerns about the appropriation and commercialization of feminism. The study uses discourse analysis to examine how six celebrities who declared or denied feminism were portrayed in online media. It finds discourses were polarized, often gendered, and revealed media biases in portraying feminism.
An Analysis Of The Representation Of Democratic Citizenship Inlegal2
This document analyzes how three widely used American civics textbooks depict democratic participation. The analysis finds that while the textbooks emphasize the importance of active citizenship, they provide only shallow and unsubstantiated discussions of participation that are undermined by their characterization of democratic institutions. The textbooks define key terms like democracy and citizenship but fail to meaningfully connect participation to institutions. They primarily portray participation as voting and communicating with representatives, without exploring the full range of participatory methods or explaining why participation is necessary for democratic governance. This implicit ambivalence towards participation reflects limited theories of representative democracy.
This document summarizes the debate around how to define and classify hybrid regimes that hold elections but restrict civil liberties. It discusses how scholars initially viewed regimes as either democratic or authoritarian (Section 1). It then explains how Fareed Zakaria coined the term "illiberal democracies" to describe stalled transitions in the 1990s that held elections but abused civil liberties (Section 2). The document analyzes criticisms of this term from scholars like Levitsky, Collier and Way, who argue it diminishes the definition of democracy (Section 3). Lastly, it discusses how understanding hybrid regimes is important for studying modern democratic trends.
This was a talk to George Washington University students about how the process of government and politics is becoming 'mediatised'. By that I mean that the process of creating and implementing policies, as well as reporting and deliberating upon politics, is becoming saturated in an unprecedented volume and variety of sources, platforms and content creators. This creates a kind of networked politics. This has good aspects and bad.
This document discusses key questions about the study and teaching of political communication. It examines what constitutes political communication, who is studied, when and where it occurs, how it is studied, and why it is studied. It argues that the field could broaden its focus beyond U.S. presidential rhetoric and elections to study other levels of government, international contexts, and historical periods. It also calls for more attention to context, ethics, civic virtue, and progress in the study and teaching of political communication.
The expressive turn of citizenship in digital late modernityJakob Svensson
This document discusses citizenship and political participation in digital late modernity. It argues that expressive rationality, where people engage in politics through cultural production, identity management, and information sharing, is increasingly important. With individualization and fragmented cultural frameworks in late modern society, traditional representative democracy is facing challenges, as seen in low voter turnout. However, new online spaces allow for new forms of political participation outside of formal politics, through activities like joining groups, signing petitions, and voicing opinions. These arenas reflect how political engagement has become part of individual identity projects in late modernity.
It is a far way from porto alegre to helisngborg 1Jakob Svensson
This document provides an abstract and introduction to a case study examining civic committees established in Helsingborg, Sweden to increase civic engagement through deliberative democracy. The committees aimed to facilitate conversations between citizens, politicians, and officials to address declining participation in traditional representative democracy. However, implementing deliberative democracy within municipal representative institutions presented challenges. Late modern cultural shifts like individualization and fragmentation have contributed to declining civic participation. Deliberative democracy theory posits citizens are motivated by communication rather than just self-interest, and could revitalize engagement if incorporated into existing political structures.
Media access and exposure as determinants of the political Alexander Decker
This document summarizes a study that examined the relationship between media access and exposure on the political knowledge of undergraduates in Southwestern Nigeria. The study found that exposure to electronic media like television predicted higher political knowledge among respondents compared to print media. Most respondents preferred television as their main source of political information. The study recommended that governments and media organizations collaborate to increase youth access to print media and ensure broadcast media adhere to professional standards.
The document is a preface and introduction to a master's thesis examining undocumented immigrant mobilizations in New York City and Amsterdam. It discusses three case studies - New York Dreamers, the Kinderpardon movement in the Netherlands, and the Wij Zijn Hier movement in Amsterdam. The thesis aims to analyze the extent to which the urban environment facilitates active mobilization of undocumented immigrants by comparing the organizational structures, strategies, and outcomes of the three cases.
Fishkin proposes deliberative democracy as a solution to include the general public in politics and policy formation in a thoughtful way. He argues that current methods manipulate public opinion for special interests rather than representing the public's considered views. Fishkin's concept of "deliberative polls" uses random selection and moderated discussions to shift participants' views toward more informed, refined opinions. Experiments in various countries found that deliberative polls helped address difficult public issues. However, questions remain about feasibility in societies with strong conflicts or partisanship.
Argumentative Essay On Political PolarizationAngie Lee
The document discusses political polarization in America and its effects. It argues that polarization has decreased effective political discussion as solutions are no longer debated, and people are boxed into their respective parties unwilling to acknowledge other views. This isolates moderate voters. The document questions how members of Congress can properly represent all constituents given polarization. It suggests they must protect, fight for, and listen to all views, which is the only way they can be truly effective representatives.
Jürgen Habermas was concerned with how public opinion shapes political power and policy in democracies. He defined the public sphere as a virtual community where private citizens assemble and generate opinions to affirm or challenge state affairs. However, Habermas argued that the public sphere has been degraded by mass media that manipulate public opinion for commercial and political interests rather than engage in rational critical discourse. Propaganda and advertising techniques infiltrate people's lives and shape them to suit power systems, threatening the ideal public sphere.
Similar to What Kind of Cultural Citizenship? Dissent and Antagonism when Discussing Politics in an Online Gay Community (9)
The meeting summarized the following key points:
1) Students and faculty agreed program meetings should be held twice yearly, with students able to influence the agenda.
2) Issues raised by students included a lack of communication, concerns about course content and structure, and a desire for an introduction week.
3) The program director agreed with students on several proposed changes, such as ensuring two teachers per course and offering more electives and research opportunities.
4) Actions were identified to address the issues, including circulating meeting minutes and reporting back on progress at the next meeting.
The document summarizes research on mobile communication for development (M4D) conducted by Dr. Jakob Svensson and Dr. Caroline Wamala at Karlstad University. It notes that mobile phone adoption has grown rapidly, especially in developing regions which now dominate global mobile phone use. The university has helped establish M4D as an academic field by organizing the first three international conferences on the topic. The document then outlines some areas of M4D research including mHealth, mMoney, mLivelyhood, and mLearning. It also discusses issues of mobile phone use and gender equality as well as strategies to address the gender digital divide.
Social Media and the Disciplining of VisibilityJakob Svensson
This document summarizes a research paper about how social media usage relates to power dynamics and participation among activists in Stockholm, Sweden. The researcher conducted ethnographic and online observations of activists fighting to save a local public bathhouse. While social media made it easier to spread information and mobilize support, it also disciplined activists by pushing them to constantly update their online presence and participate in both online and offline events. The constant connectivity inherent in social media led activists to feel obligated to respond immediately to posted information. Therefore, social media both enabled participation but also exerted a new form of social power by disciplining activists through demands of constant online visibility and responsiveness.
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What Kind of Cultural Citizenship? Dissent and Antagonism when Discussing Politics in an Online Gay Community
1. What Kind of Cultural Citizenship?
Dissent and Antagonism when Discussing Politics in an Online Gay Community
Jakob Svensson
Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden
jakob.svensson@kau.se
Abstract: Framed in ideas of cultural citizenship and acknowledging the importance of popular cultural sites
for political participation, this short paper attends to a study of political discussions in the Swedish LGTB
community Qruiser. The research is netnographic through online interviews, participant observations and
content analyses. Preliminary results suggest an atmosphere that is rather geared towards conflict and
dissent between participants than towards deliberation, opinion formation and consensus. The paper will
therefore discuss the results in light of Mouffe's (2005) normative lens of agonism and radical democracy.
Keywords: Agonism, Cultural Citizenship, Political Participation, Radical Democracy, Social Media
1. Introduction
This short paper is theoretically framed in ideas of cultural citizenship as developed by Hermes (2006). Non
outspokenly political popular cultural sites, such as fan and net communities, may become sites for political
participation (see for example Graham 2009; Svensson 2010; Andersson 2013). Thus, if aiming at
understanding the political, it would be wrong to exclusively focus on realms of institutionalized politics.
The research project this paper is based on studying political discussions in the Swedish LGTB (Lesbian,
Gay, Trans- and Bisexual) community Qruiser. The research is netnographic through online interviews,
participant observations in, and content analyses of, political discussions on Qruiser forums and most
popular political clubs during November 2012. Preliminary results suggest an atmosphere that is rather
geared towards conflict and dissent between participants than deliberation, opinion formation and
consensus. The expressive and conflictual political participation will therefore be discussed in light of
Mouffe's (2005) normative lens of agonism and radical democracy.
2. A Cultural Theoretical Perspective
A cultural theoretical perspective implies a focus on processes of meaning-making. Culture can be
understood as a set of values and beliefs that inform and motivate our behaviour (Castells 2009: 36), helping
us to understand our practices and providing them with meaning. Media and communication platforms are
important for such meaning-making (Thompson 2001/1995).
Drawing on the sense-making participant, culture in Hermes' (2006) theorizing of cultural citizenship is
connected to the blurring of public and private spheres, reminding us that citizenship is practiced in many
different places. Popular culture offers images and symbols that evoke emotion that we use when negotiating
civic identities (Dahlgren 2009: 137). It would thus be wrong to confine the political exclusively to the realm of
institutionalized politics (Carpentier 2011: 39-40). As political communication researchers, we should also
attend to popular culture when trying to understand contemporary citizenship, not the least to online sites in
our digital and late modern age (see Svensson 2011). General research on online communities has shown
that interaction changes because of the possibility of anonymity, automatic archiving and access to a range
of different communities (Kozinets 2011: 100). Still, we know little about the extent and how internet users
participate in nonpolitical online groups to discuss politics (Wojcieszak & Mutz 2009: 41). Therefore we need
to study how and why popular cultural sites engage citizens in political discussions and how participants
make their participation meaningful here.
There have been some studies of popular cultural sites from a political participatory perspective. Graham
(2009) found more deliberative qualities in political discussions on docu-soap fan-pages in comparison to
discussions on respected journals comment fields. Svensson (2010) studied discussions on ice-hockey fan-
pages and found that social capital was produced here. Andersson (2013) studied political discussions in a
youth community - based on music preferences and clothing style - and found that users were exposed to
opposing political views, something that socialized them into “politically confrontational team players” (my
translation: politiskt konfrontativa medspelare).
2. At least 100 million participate regularly on online communities today (Kozinets 2011: 10). One of these
communities is Qruiser, the biggest LGTB community in Sweden. Qruiser is primarily used for flirting, dating
and maintaining friendships. But there are also possibilities for political discussions in so-called forums and
clubs, even though clubs are mostly used to display preferences on the user's profile page rather than to
discuss. Hence, there are many opportunities for Qruiser users to engage in political discussions with each
other.
3. Political Discussions on Qruiser
The study of political discussions on Qruiser primarily took place during November 2012. November 1st
the
community had 109153 active members. According to member statistics 72 percent of these defined
themselves as male and 72 percent defined themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual. The majority of the
members are between 20 and 40 years old with an average age of 33. 72 percent of the members are based
in Sweden and only 17 percent defined themselves as in a relationship, underlining Qruiser's dating function.
During November participant observations of political discussions were conducted. All discussion threads
started from November 1st
to 20th
under the tag Politics, Society & the World (my translation: Politik,
Samhälle & Världen) were followed and postings downloaded until November 25th
. 76 different threads were
started during this period by 31 different nicknames, containing 2853 postings. All thread starters and
recurrent posters in these threads were invited to participate in online interviews. Not everyone agreed to
participate. I currently conduct interviews with 30 different nicknames as well as reflective field notation
documenting observations, feelings and experiences when I participated in discussions as well as now
during the analysis phase.
Resonating with Andersson's (2013) study, the political discussions on Qruiser's forum were very
confrontational, perhaps due to the opposing political views represented and perhaps also due to the
possibilities of anonymity. In interviews participants talked about the discussions as a competition, not
against team-players (as in Andersson's study) but against opponents. Hence, instead of seeking consensus
– to understand each other – participants sought conflict. As it seemed, they actively tried to misinterpret
each other's postings in order to attack, and use unflattering labels on each other. Participants have revealed
that they are rather motivated to debate in general, improve their debate skills and impress an imagined
audience of lurkers, than to understand or learn from other participants and seek some kind of agreement on
how to understand an issue. This is how they made their participation meaningful. One illustrative example
was when posting a question on how to understand the concept of anti-Semitism in a thread on the
Israel/Palestine conflict. I was the labeled as leftist and anti-Jew, questioning anti-Semitism - something I did
not do in the posting. Among other things I was also accused of being particularly ignorant for an academic.
This was a disturbing experience, something which made me dislike the general tone of the discussions as
well as certain participants. In a way I could understand the harsh tone, since I myself sometimes felt an
urge to “bust” or attack participants I felt had treated me unfairly. A preliminary conclusion is thus that conflict
was the defining character of the political discussions on Qruiser.
4. Discussion – Political Discussions as agonistic or antagonistic?
To understand these preliminary results, this paper makes use of the perspective of radical democracy as
outlined by Laclau & Mouffe (1985) and Mouffe (2005). This perspective is contested especially by
deliberative democrats (see for example Dryzek 2000). However the results above clearly show that
deliberation was not at stake on Qruiser, but rather conflict. Conflict is a central concept in radical democracy
and important for understanding political participation. A common understanding of the political refers to the
organization of human co-existence (see for example Dewey 1927; Arendt 1998/1958). Political participation
from a radical democratic perspective thus has to do with conflicts over resources and between interests in
the organization of society. According to Mouffe (2005), we should not be mislead to believe that consensus
on this division ever could be fully achieved. Furthermore, participation - being based in processes of
identification - will always entail the identification of an Other in contrast to an Us (Laclau & Mouffe 1985:
136). However, by outlining a normative concept of agonism - in contrast to antagonism - Mouffe (2005)
seeks to establish the Other, not as an enemy to be destroyed, but as an adversary to be acknowledged. In
this way the perspective of radical democracy offers us a norm to measure the preliminary findings against.
The question then becomes if the Other was conceived of as enemy or an adversary in political discussions
on the Qruiser forum?
In contrast to Andersson's (2013) study of a youth community - who concluded that political discussions were
conflictual, yet agonistic and friendly - the discussions on Qruiser were rather antagonistic. The positioning of
3. the Other was to a surprisingly large extent done using the the discourse of left and right and then
associating opinions from the extreme versions of these positions to the Other. By associating to the Other
extremist characteristics and opinions, the Other could also be treated as someone not worthy of
acknowledgement. For example if positioned as belonging to the left – you could also be accused for
defending the regime in North Korea - and someone who defends the North Korean regime cannot be taken
seriously and should thus shut up. Similarly participants positioned belonging to the right often had to answer
for the behaviour of neo-Nazi groups et cetera.
The question I ask myself is thus what kind of cultural citizenship is thriving here? While it is easy to become
horrified by the conflictual and antagonistic character of the civic participation on Qruiser's forum for political
discussions, preliminary interview results reveal a conception of the forum as a locus for training debate
skills, a place where the absence of political correctness is liberating, providing an outlet for political
frustration. The interviewed participants seem to have a general political interest and their participation spans
from letting off steam on Qruiser to more deliberative style of participation in recognized political
associations. Hence, we can not judge the sophistication of participants civic practices by only attending to
Qruiser forum discussions. And while many participants dismissed Others as not worth to listen to, there was
an imagined audience of lurkers that seemed to be important for making participating on Qruiser forum
discussions meaningful. A preliminary conclusion then, while antagonistic and rude, the Qruiser forum also
provided a training ground for debate skills and an outlet for political frustration, things that are also important
for a vital democracy.
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