We have studied the differences between people debating on a program in apublic service-channel and a privately-owned channel. We have chosen thetwo biggest debate programs, Kvällsöppet in the privately-owned channelTV4 and Debatt in the public service-channel SVT 1. We have in aquantitative content analysis studied female and male, how many of each thatare participating, how long time they talk in the program and in what rolethey have in the debate. We have studied 10 episodes of Kvällsöppet thespring season 2010 and compared with Johanna Paulsson & Patrik Rosellstudy “30/70. A study of women and men who speak in SVT´s Debatt.” Fromthe same season. We have also investigated 10 episodes of each programfrom fall 2011, we wanted to see if there were any changes made during theyears. The results show that Kvällsöppet in the privately-owned channel ismore equal between the gender. The speaking time and the proportion ofparticipants is 45 percent women and 55 percent men in 2011 and 40/60 in 2010.The program Debatt in the public service channel got the result 40/60 fall in2011 and 30/70 in spring 2010. To study the women and man roles of theparticipants in the debate, we made the same classification as Paulsson &Rosell did. We divided the participants in different categories according totheir role in the debate program. The results shows that Kvällsöppet, is muchbetter on equal representation of the female and male gender.

There is strong support among scholars that ideas are important in shaping public policy. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the ideas present in the Swedish debate about privatization of education between 2003 and 2011 during different governments, and if Sweden has undergone an ideational shift where ideas of privatization are becoming more accepted not just among politicians but also among a wider base of actors. Framing theory and the concept of counter framing are used to categorize these ideas. A mixed methods approach is used where frames are first defined based on previous research about privatization of education, then identified in newspaper articles from three major Swedish newspapers, then quantified according to whether they are used by proponents or opponents of privatization and finally analyzed to investigate their content. We found that there had indeed been a change in which frames were used as well as how they were used between the years analyzed. This indicates that there has been an ideational shift towards market oriented ideas in Sweden which could be attributed to the change in government as counter framing was more common for proponents of privatization during a social democratic government and more common for opponents during a center-right government, however further research is needed to determine the validity of this correlation.

This paper examines coverage of the 1985-1986 Shah Bano Debate in three nonmainstream periodicals: the Organiser, Muslim India, and Manushi. I perform a close reading of these sources to problematize the image of the "Muslim woman" presented in mainstream Indian media at this time. Such an examination necessitates a discussion of women's right versus the rights of minority religious communities in India. I also examine the background to this debate, namely the Shah Bano judgment itself and the environment in which it occurred.

This thesis reflects research undertaken over the past eight years about the way in which the Bible has been brought to bear on a number of frameworks within the South African socio-historical context. It is argued that it is not at all surprising that the Bible would become a part of the dialogues of the church; the Bible remains the source of the Christian identity of the churches in South Africa in a very particular way. Nor is it really unexpected that the Bible would be influential in discussions on broader societal issues in South Africa. With ± 80% of the South African populace subscribing to the Christian faith, and with the most prominent strands of Christianity found in South Africa making so much of the role of the Bible in their lives of faith, it would be perplexing if the Bible had indeed not been a major feature in these debates. The Bible spoke and speaks to church and country in South Africa. Put differently, as a phenomenological formulation: the Bible is brought to speech, that is, is brought to communication within the closer ecclesiological precincts as well as the broader socio-political environment of South Africa, precisely because of the particular religious configurations that characterise church and culture locally. The following is thus, albeit retroatively, posed as a general research question running centrally through all the research essays under review here: How was the Bible brought to communication within different spheres of the South African society? A total of nine scholarly publications are included, although in fact they represent seven research outputs. In two cases the research was first published as chapters in books, and was then re-published in article format. The most important conclusions reached, are: that the Old Testament is a vastly under-utilised source for communicating Christian spirituality, a state of affairs for which ten reasons can been indicated; that literal Bible translations are more effective in engaging Bible readers, because they invite active, interpretative participation by the intended receivers; that the use of the Bible for political purposes, even for opposing political causes, always reduces the Bible to a rhetorical tool, namely to substantiate views being propagated; that the present government's communication on religious matters has been rhetorically ambivalent: while continued funding for university programmes of - by name - Biblical Studies, has been questioned in Parliament and elsewhere, the churches (for whom the Bible is central to their identity and as a motivational force) are called upon to support government's social relief programmes; that the editorial and other comment columns of newspapers offer a substantial, yet vastly under-utilised resource for preachers in their attempts to deliver contextually relevant sermons; that deliberate consideration given to persuasive variables are of substantial importance to preachers; most important, though, for the long term effectiveness of the Gospel message, is the perceived integrity of the preacher; that both the Old and New Testaments offer substantial resources for the enhancement of communication and the building of relationships between different church denominations, with the caveat, though, that texts should not be misinterpreted, as has been the case, since this undermines the integrity of such processes. The ways in which the Bible has been used in these different societal spheres are, thus, varied, yet seldom satisfactory. By indicating the problems and perspectives that have come to light through these research projects, a contribution may be made towards a more mature society in which religion plays a constructive role, and is, as a corollary, respected for what it is in its own right. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

This thesis argues for an intellectual history approach to understanding the Scottish constitutional debate as a process of political and ideological change, with implications for understanding the ideological basis of current Scottish politics. It justifies and outlines a methodological approach based on the insights of Quentin Skinner and the 'Cambridge School' in the 'history of ideas'; utilises this methodology to provide an intellectual history of the Scottish constitutional debate from the Scottish National Party (SNP) victory in the 1967 Hamilton by-election to the devolution referendum of 1979; and outlines the implications of this approach for the historiography of the debate, our understanding of contemporary Scottish politics, and the development of a more historically sensitive political science. It theorises and develops a concept unique to this thesis, that of the 'discourse community', traces the substantive creation of the Scottish discourse community in the 1967-1979 period, and argues for the methodological usefulness of this concept in examining the debate as a process of intellectual/ideological change. Overall, the thesis argues that a Skinnerian intellectual history approach to the Scottish constitutional debate contributes to a fuller, more historically sensitive historiography of the period, challenging current historiographical understanding of the constitutional debate and of Scottish political development; delineates the development of a Scottish discourse community between 1967-1979; and has implications for our understanding of current Scottish politics, in particular highlighting that the conceptualisation of 'left wing' Scotland is an ideological construction and suggesting a more critical approach to such perceptions of, and contemporary claims for, a post-devolution 'new politics'.

This thesis reflects research undertaken over the past eight years about the way in which the Bible has been brought to bear on a number of frameworks within the South African socio-historical context. It is argued that it is not at all surprising that the Bible would become a part of the dialogues of the church; the Bible remains the source of the Christian identity of the churches in South Africa in a very particular way. Nor is it really unexpected that the Bible would be influential in discussions on broader societal issues in South Africa. With ± 80% of the South African populace subscribing to the Christian faith, and with the most prominent strands of Christianity found in South Africa making so much of the role of the Bible in their lives of faith, it would be perplexing if the Bible had indeed not been a major feature in these debates. The Bible spoke and speaks to church and country in South Africa. Put differently, as a phenomenological formulation: the Bible is brought to speech, that is, is brought to communication within the closer ecclesiological precincts as well as the broader socio-political environment of South Africa, precisely because of the particular religious configurations that characterise church and culture locally. The following is thus, albeit retroatively, posed as a general research question running centrally through all the research essays under review here: How was the Bible brought to communication within different spheres of the South African society? A total of nine scholarly publications are included, although in fact they represent seven research outputs. In two cases the research was first published as chapters in books, and was then re-published in article format. The most important conclusions reached, are: that the Old Testament is a vastly under-utilised source for communicating Christian spirituality, a state of affairs for which ten reasons can been indicated; that literal Bible translations are more effective in engaging Bible readers, because they invite active, interpretative participation by the intended receivers; that the use of the Bible for political purposes, even for opposing political causes, always reduces the Bible to a rhetorical tool, namely to substantiate views being propagated; that the present government's communication on religious matters has been rhetorically ambivalent: while continued funding for university programmes of - by name - Biblical Studies, has been questioned in Parliament and elsewhere, the churches (for whom the Bible is central to their identity and as a motivational force) are called upon to support government's social relief programmes; that the editorial and other comment columns of newspapers offer a substantial, yet vastly under-utilised resource for preachers in their attempts to deliver contextually relevant sermons; that deliberate consideration given to persuasive variables are of substantial importance to preachers; most important, though, for the long term effectiveness of the Gospel message, is the perceived integrity of the preacher; that both the Old and New Testaments offer substantial resources for the enhancement of communication and the building of relationships between different church denominations, with the caveat, though, that texts should not be misinterpreted, as has been the case, since this undermines the integrity of such processes. The ways in which the Bible has been used in these different societal spheres are, thus, varied, yet seldom satisfactory. By indicating the problems and perspectives that have come to light through these research projects, a contribution may be made towards a more mature society in which religion plays a constructive role, and is, as a corollary, respected for what it is in its own right. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

This thesis attempts to develop an approach to the New Testament which does justice to the New Testament as both sacred scripture of Christianity and historical human document. Based on the Lutheran and German Existentialist hermeneutical tradition language is viewed as the bearer of meaning rather than as a pointer to meaning which is to be found behind the text. This approach is relevant for the discussion of neo-Barthian as well as post-modem hermeneutics. It demands a consistent application of historical criticism, leading to a hermeneutical theology rather than the ruling of theology over against biblical interpretation. The first main part of the thesis is dedicated to the development of a theological theory of language. The thesis starts with an assessment of the Barth-Bultmann debate, where the underlying differences in their respective theories of language are analysed. It proceeds to a critical discussion of Rudolf Bultmann's hermeneutical theory, in the course of which Bultmann's theology and hermeneutics are identified as leading to a theocentric personalism. In addition, his hermeneutics are found to have important deficits in the underlying theory of language namely to ignore the role language plays as the bearer of meaning. In order to develop a theological theory of language which is based on the assumption that language is the bearer of meaning while avoiding Bultmann's shortcomings, the argument will follow the further development of existentialist hermeneutics and enter a discussion with the later Heidegger, Gadamer and Ricoeur. As a result, the concept of Christianity as Struggle for Language will be introduced. Here, Christianity and the New Testament in particular is understood as the continuing endeavour to translate the Christian kerygma so that it is meaningful in present discourse. The second part of the thesis is dedicated to the application of the main thesis to selected texts from John's Gospel, namely the hymn underlying the prologue John 1:1-18, the Nicodemus-discourse John 3:1-21 and the final prayer John 17.

This thesis examines the public character of television and the various ways it works as communication. Drawing on a case study of recent British current affairs programmes dealing with mental health issues it explores the interplay between television form and content. The first part acknowledges television as the pivotal medium of the contemporary public sphere and situates its various organisations of language and imagery at the heart of programme makers' attempts to produce meaningful and entertaining programmes. Against the grain of those who see television as an arational technology, a case is made for its relevance as a vocal space for all citizens. However, in the historical context of British broadcasting, the differential distribution of communicative entitlements entreats us to view access to discursive space as a principle which soon runs up against its limits. The second half of this thesis explores the shortcomings of this system in relation to `expert' and lay people's access to a public voice on mental health issues. The recent transition from the asylum to Community Care invites an intermingling of voices in which the authority of this or that brand of professional knowledge cannot be taken for granted. The re-entry of ex-mental patients into the community also provides programme makers with opportunities to promote new forms of social solidarity based on `thick descriptions' of the person rather than the patient. The case-study presented here suggests however, that participation in televised forms of debate and argumentation does not match the promises of post-modem rhetoric. Despite the airing of new voices and the presentation of new controversies, British television's treatment of mental illness continues to revolve around established hierarchies of knowledge and a depiction of the (ex-)mental patient as less than a fully cognizant citizen. Visual techniques play a crucial role in this process. By recycling familiar images of madness as dangerous and unpredictable, people with a history of schizophrenic illness remain enmeshed in a web of psychiatric 'otherness' which undermines their credibility as speakers.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, August, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

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