On August 19, 1991, government hard-liners overthrew the Soviet Union for a period of 72 hours. Boris Yeltsin, the President of Russia, staged a protest on the steps of the Russian White House, where he gave speeches against the coup d'etat, releasing these speeches for dissemination between the hard-liners and the masses gathered to support Yeltsin. Yeltsin 's protest created a constituted identity amongst the people gathered who became part of the protest against the government. This created a confrontation between the two publics, where the state message developed a narrative involving a glorified past to which they wished to return, while the counter-public created a counter-narrative that argued a future of continued reforms would benefit the people of Russia and the Soviet Union. In the end, the counter-narrative achieved stronger approval from the masses, essentially replacing the state's narrative with its own. As a result, the hard-liners lost their grab for power, and Yeltsin emerged the winner in an ideological struggle for the future of the Russia and the Soviet Union.

This thesis examines the relationship between the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front Government and the media in the provincial state of West Bengal, India, during the thirty four years (1977-2011) period when the party was in government. The main aim of the thesis is to investigate the relation between the CPI (M) led Left Front Government and the media in West Bengal (1977-2011), the role of the media in stabilising or destabilising the Left Front Government, the impact of neoliberalism on the Left Front Government and their relation with the media, the role of the media in communicating developmental policies of the LFG to the public and finally the role which the mainstream and the party controlled media played in the public sphere. These questions are addressed through document research of CPI (M)’s congress and conference reports, manifestos, press releases, pamphlets, leaflets, booklets; and interviews with the CPI (M) leadership and the Editors and Bureau Chiefs of the key newspapers and television channels in West Bengal. The findings are contextualised within a broader discussion of the political and historical transitions India and West Bengal have gone through in this period (chapter 4). This is the first study looking at the relationship between the media and the CPI (M) led Left Front Government over a period of thirty four years (1977-2011). The thesis finds that neoliberalism in India had considerable effects on the CPI (M), the media and their relationship. The research finds a continuous effort from the mainstream and the party-controlled media to dominate the public sphere leading debates in order to seek some form of political consensus in order to govern. The media in West Bengal were politically divided between the left and the opposition. The research finds that this generated a market for political advertisements and political news contributing to a politically polarised media market in West Bengal that assisted in generating revenue for the media. The findings also suggest that the media contributed to rather than played a determining role in destabilising the Left Front Government. Finally the research finds that the CPI (M) had an arduous relation with the media since 1977 when the party decided to participate in the parliamentary democracy. The LFG and the mainstream media entered into an antagonistic relationship post 1991 contributing to a politically polarised media market in West Bengal.

Conditioning theory and research have contributed substantially to a more complete understanding of a variety of social processes including attitude formation, consumer behavior, and interpersonal attraction. The goal of this thesis was to illuminate further another frequently investigated social process, voting behavior.

The September 11, 2001 Jihadists attack on the West and the subsequent wars on terrorism indicate that war may be a permanent condition of life in the contemporary world. This implies that to understand contemporary society, culture and communication requires an understanding of war because war could perhaps provide a perspective through which to understand the world. The aim of this study is to provide such a perspective and to critically explore the link between war and communication. However, in approaching a study of war one is confronted with a pervasive pacifist anti-war ideological bias. To overcome the bias the study adopts a critical strategy: firstly it deconstructs the taken for granted assumptions about the positive value of peace and then it reconstructs and traces the contours of a Western tradition of philosophical thought that considers war as being an integral and formative aspect of human identity and communication. Chapter 2 uncovers the limitations of the pacifists' discourse on war. Chapter 3 traces the Western tradition originating in Heraclitus that considers war as formative experience of being human. Chapter 4 traces war and killing as formative of language and communication. Using these insights a careful reading and interpretation of how war informs the thought and functions in the texts of selected social theorists of the twentieth century. Chapter 5 traces war as an agonistic structure in the works of Johan Huizinga on the role of play and in the political theory of Carl Schmitt. Chapter 6 explores the idea of war as a model of society in the works of Foucault. Chapter 7 investigates the central influence of real and imagined war on Marshall McLuhan’s theory of the media. Chapter 8 explores the way war structures the thought of Lyotard on the postmodern condition. Chapter 9 concludes by drawing implications on how a perspective on war contributes to development of communication theory and understanding life in the postmodern condition. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. Communication )

Thesis (DLitt (African Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / This study deals with research that has been conducted within three government departments (Education, Health and Social Development) that form part of the social needs cluster in the Province of the Eastern Cape. Five portfolio committee members were interviewed in each department (six in the department of Health). Reproaches (failures and challenges of service delivery and policy implementation) were developed using information obtained from the “policy and budget speeches” of the afore-mentioned departments. In response to these reproaches, committee members had to give accounts (responses, explanations and/or reason-giving). Four types of accounts (concession, excuse, denial and justification) which are typical political accounts have proved to be quite popular and focus has been given to them in the analysis. The focus on the analysis of the accounts was given to effectiveness, argumentation (reasons or arguments that are tendered in support of the accounts to establish the amount of persuasiveness) and politeness. The conclusions of the findings in the interviews were focused on three elements: 􀂃 The interviewee: The analyses of the interviewees were discussed with regard to the accounts together with the number of arguments given. Each reproach was analyzed within an overview of the type of account with regard to three criteria: effectiveness, argumentation and politeness. The analyses of the interviewees were discussed individually with the help of tables of each interviewee. The focus was on the accounts of justification and excuses. The interview was judged on two parameters: i. The number of accounts each interviewee has used with regard to the three criteria above. ii. A comparison was made to establish the relative merit of the interviewees among themselves. 􀂃 The reproach: various reproaches in the three departments were discussed separately with regard to the number of accounts and arguments in each reproach. The focus was mainly on the accounts of justification and excuse. A summary was given of the various reproaches with the four major types of accounts. The same criteria of effectiveness, argumentation and politeness were used. Judgment was given on the reproach or reproaches which have shown the most attention in the interviews with regard to the total number of accounts which have been used. 􀂃 The account: various justifications and excuses which have been used in the interactions were discussed with regard to effectiveness, argumentation and politeness. The judgment was made as to which type of account was mostly favored by the interviewees. Implications of the research were discussed with regard to a comparative overview of the political accounts in reproaches with specific attention to the type and frequency of the account as well as possible reasons for this type of preferred account. Four types of accounts have been used consistently in the interviews and among these four types, justifications (36.6%) and excuses (46.1%) are generally favored by all politicians who were involved in the interviews. These accounts are quite popular among politicians because they work in their favor as they are employed to reframe the consequences of the act with the ultimate aim of changing negative perceptions about the policies of the department and/or government (justifications) and to deny any responsibility and/or causal link between the politician and the undesirable outcome of the policy and thereby implying that there is no need for reproach (excuse).

This thesis analyzes how the American political system presents specific rhetorical constraints for independent and third party candidates who are "othered" by the system. To better understand how independent candidates overcome these constraints, the rhetoric of two such recent candidates, Charlie Crist and Joe Lieberman, is analyzed using ideographic criticism. These two candidates were originally affiliated with one of the two major political parties, but changed their party affiliation to run as Independent candidates. To facilitate their transition to independent candidates, both politicians used popular American political ideographs such as "the people," "freedom," and "unity" to maintain their allegiance to America and their constituencies, while separating their political ideology from their prior party affiliation. The ideographic analysis reveals that independent candidates can create nuanced changes in the meanings of popular ideographs to transcend partisan interpretations and create a positive perception of political "otherness." / bvy Cara Poplak. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This study asks whether and how the presidential inaugural address influences American audiences. The current study explores how the 2017 Presidential Inaugural Address of Donald Trump influences audiences. Two areas were studied: Candidate image and the state of the nation. I hypothesized that participants who watched the address would have different attitudes regarding candidate image and the state of the nation compared to non-viewers. I also hypothesized that viewers of the address who voted for Donald Trump would respond differently to candidate image and the state of the nation when compared with those who did not vote for Trump. With one exception, none of the findings was significant. That is, attitudes of inaugural address viewers and non-viewers were similar, and attitudes of those who voted for the president and those who did not vote for the president were also similar. The exception was noted between those who voted for the candidate and oppositional voters: Those who voted for Donald Trump reported the nation is headed "in the right direction" while dissenters disagreed.

Zugl.: Berlin, Univ., Diss., 2006

The September 11, 2001 Jihadists attack on the West and the subsequent wars on terrorism indicate that war may be a permanent condition of life in the contemporary world. This implies that to understand contemporary society, culture and communication requires an understanding of war because war could perhaps provide a perspective through which to understand the world. The aim of this study is to provide such a perspective and to critically explore the link between war and communication. However, in approaching a study of war one is confronted with a pervasive pacifist anti-war ideological bias. To overcome the bias the study adopts a critical strategy: firstly it deconstructs the taken for granted assumptions about the positive value of peace and then it reconstructs and traces the contours of a Western tradition of philosophical thought that considers war as being an integral and formative aspect of human identity and communication. Chapter 2 uncovers the limitations of the pacifists' discourse on war. Chapter 3 traces the Western tradition originating in Heraclitus that considers war as formative experience of being human. Chapter 4 traces war and killing as formative of language and communication. Using these insights a careful reading and interpretation of how war informs the thought and functions in the texts of selected social theorists of the twentieth century. Chapter 5 traces war as an agonistic structure in the works of Johan Huizinga on the role of play and in the political theory of Carl Schmitt. Chapter 6 explores the idea of war as a model of society in the works of Foucault. Chapter 7 investigates the central influence of real and imagined war on Marshall McLuhan’s theory of the media. Chapter 8 explores the way war structures the thought of Lyotard on the postmodern condition. Chapter 9 concludes by drawing implications on how a perspective on war contributes to development of communication theory and understanding life in the postmodern condition. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. Communication )

This thesis explores the implications of the Internet for democracy, re-evaluating the various claims and counter-claims that have been made for the Internet's democratic potential. Based on a framework to measure democracy that emphasises popular control and political equality, it assesses whether the Internet gives a greater and more representative share of the population the opportunity to participate in the political process by focusing on use of the Internet to contact political representatives. The analysis combines secondary analysis of population surveys with original data collected in two online surveys from more than 14,000 users of successful contact facilitation platforms in the UK (WriteToThem.com) and Germany (Abgeordnetenwatch.de) that enable sending messages to representatives. The results show that in both countries the Internet in general has only marginally increased the number of people engaged in contacting. At the same time, contact facilitation platforms as specific online applications have attracted large numbers of people who have never before contacted a representative. While all online means of contacting primarily amplify traditional participatory biases, such as for gender and education, they can at least selectively engage traditionally under-represented parts of the population, for example young people or low-income groups. The processes that shape these patterns are identified by developing a basic theory of contacting and using the similarities and differences between the findings for the two countries. It demonstrates not only that participation continues to be dominated by traditional determinants that cannot be completely overcome by technology, but also that Internet applications can shape participation patterns – if designed to appropriately adapt to the context in which they operate, which is rarely the case. This highlights the need to think carefully about how online platforms can be used, building on the – albeit limited – gains identified here, to strengthen them as a means of ensuring democratic participation.