Search results for "Politics"

Digital Trace Data in the Study of Public Opinion

2016

In this article, we examine the relationship between metrics documenting politics-related Twitter activity with election results and trends in opinion polls. Various studies have proposed the possibility of inferring public opinion based on digital trace data collected on Twitter and even the possibility to predict election results based on aggregates of mentions of political actors. Yet, a systematic attempt at a validation of Twitter as an indicator for political support is lacking. In this article, building on social science methodology, we test the validity of the relationship between various Twitter-based metrics of public attention toward politics with election results and opinion pol…

POLITICS, ACTIVISM AND TROLLING ON THE RUSSIAN INTERNET

2020

In the years that have passed since the social media powered protest movement of 2011-2012, the Russian government has dramatically expanded its restrictions on the Internet, while simultaneously consolidating its grip on traditional media. The Internet, which long provided a space for alternative media and free speech to blossom, is becoming increasingly restricted by a growing corpus of legislation and expanding state surveillance. With legally ill-defined prohibitions on, e.g., offending the feelings of religious believers, propagating 'non-traditional family values' and disseminating 'extremism' in place, online freedom of speech in Russia is at threat. Meanwhile, the Russian state cont…

Election Campaigning Online

2005

This article presents an integrated quantitative analysis of the functional, formal and content-related aspects of German political party websites during the 2002 National Elections. The analysis is guided by the normalization hypothesis of cyberspace, which infers a transfer of ‘real-world’ features of politics to the Internet. Results provide empirical evidence of a limited normalization in German e-campaigning: indeed, German party websites primarily serve information functions while neglecting interactive features. Yet, no overall gap in professionalism is found between major and minor parties analysed. Finally, online campaigning is dominated by a high level of self-referentiality but…

2020

While previous communication and media research has largely focused on either studying privacy as personal boundary management or made efforts to investigate the structural (legal or economic) condition of privacy, we observe an emergent body of research on the political underpinnings of privacy linking both aspects. A pronounced understanding of the politics of privacy is however lacking. In this contribution, we set out to push this forward by mapping four communication and media perspectives on the political implications of privacy. In order to do so, we recur on Barry’s (2002) distinction of the political and the politics and outline linkages between individual and structural dimensions…

2020

The current media environment is primarily characterised by a large amount of information and, in contrast, rather fragmented audience attention. This is especially true for social media, particularly Facebook, which have become important news sources for many people. Journalists cannot help but publish content on Facebook if they want to reach the part of their audience that mainly—or even only—consumes news there. On Facebook, journalists are at the mercy of the algorithm that determines the visibility of their content. Because user engagement is a crucial factor in the algorithm, concerns have been raised that journalists are abandoning their normative quality standards to make the news …

Towards a critical understanding of data visualisation in democracy: a deliberative systems approach

2021

Data and data visualisations – in the forms of graphs, charts and maps – are becoming an increasingly important feature of social, public and political life. Yet within existing scholarship, the democratic significance of data visualisations has thus far received minimal attention. This article offers a first systematic attempt to make sense of and scrutinise the role of data visualisation in democracy. We apply deliberative systems theory in the analysis of three original case studies to elucidate how data visualisation can integrate into the overall anatomy of democracy, and to normatively assess how data visualisation contributes towards key democratic ideals. Conclusively, we highlight …

A learning model for the dual evolution of human social behaviors

2003

In this work we modelize, with an abstract mathematical model by computer simulation, the processes that have made to appear in the world a strong duality between orient and occident, by combining changes in conditions of initialization, natural system and the opposition gregarious/individualism of the social behaviors. Finally we present a statistical study of the influence of the repression adaptability, resignation and recycling on the ecological destruction and social evolution. This model can help us to analyze if the current capitalist globalization can be stopped, changed or regulated, and if it is possible to overcome it towards a Free Scientific Society.

Nuorten yhteiskunnallinen osallistaminen kulttuuri- ja vapaa-ajan toiminnan kautta

2020

Nuorten osallistumisen ja osallisuuden lisäämisestä on tullut tärkeä yhteiskunnallinen tavoite, jota yritetään edistää erilaisten ohjelmien ja projektien kautta. Tarkastelemme artikkelissa osallistamista tutkimalla nuorille vuosina 2017­–2018 suunnattua kulttuuri- ja vapaa-ajan toimintaa Keski-Suomessa. Tutkimme, miten kulttuuriin liittyvällä toiminnalla pyritään edistämään nuorten laajempaa yhteiskunnallista osallistumista ja osallisuutta. Olemme haastatelleet 15 projekteissa työskentelevää tai vapaaehtoisena toimivaa henkilöä, ja analysoineet aineistoa osallistumisen kulttuurisen, sosiaalisen, taloudellisen ja poliittisen ulottuvuuden kautta. Tulosten mukaan nuorten osallistumista tutkitt…

The United Nations and the European Union

2019

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) are expressions of a rules-based global order. The EU has enshrined support to the UN in its security strategies, and its priorities indicate an engagement in a wide range of UN programs and activities to maintain the rules-based order and adapt it to face internal and external challenges. The EU and its member states are the largest contributors to the UN budget. Following the adoption of the Lisbon treaty, the EU has increased its representation at the UN, gaining enhanced observer status in the General Assembly. However, because of the intergovernmental nature of the forum, only its member states have the right to vote. This has led sch…

Paths of hybridization among journalism, politics, and public sector communication in Italy

2021

This article argues that in Italy there is a new problematic relationship among journalism, politics, and public sector organizations due to the permanence of some traditional features in the informative context as well as to the success of infotainment logic and to the pervasive use of social media. In the new hybrid digi-tal ecosystem, a redefinition of the social role of information is necessary to un-derstand the perspectives for journalism and public sector communication. Info-tainment and politainment enhance the hybridization of Italian public sector communication formats and styles mainly on social media platforms. This process has consequences on interactions and overplays between …