The Elective Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) of 2007 that took place in Polokwane remains an important event since 1994 (Fikeni 2009). The economic policy of the ANC and candidature of Mbeki and Zuma for the presidency contributed to the growing of factionalism in the ruling party that culminated in the 2007 conference. The study investigates and analyses the development of factions and ideological contestations that seemed to punctuate the ANC towards its 2007 National Congress that took place in Polokwane. It examines the roots and causes of factionalism in the ANC with a specific focus on the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM). It also investigates the extent to which the conservative policies such as Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) contributed in the divisions and factionalism prior the 2007 polokwane conference. The study departs from the premise that history of the ANC is riddled with factionalism and ideological contestations that have been well documented. Furthermore, the political infighting within the ANC impacts on governance structures and the local government level. The study seeks to demonstrate the effects of the 2007 power contestations between Zuma and Mbeki on the NMBM. To this effect, the study demonstrates how the leadership contestations in the ruling party impacted on the service delivery in the city. For the purposes of analyzing and making sense of the nature of power plays within the ANC it draws from the theories of factionalism to illustrate that the link between the growing of factionalism and the one party dominant system.

Bibliography: pages [156]-159. / I have written this dissertation as an empirical study of the African National Congress' (ANC) 1994 election campaign in South Africa's Western Cape Province. Primarily, I address one overriding question: what are the principal reasons for and ramifications of the AN C's inability to win control of the province? I begin by exploring key factors concerning the history, demographics, electoral system and pre-campaign voter attitudes of the province that may have influenced how the party developed and implemented its strategy. I describe the evolution of the campaign, including strategic decisions made before and during its execution, and analyze the content of appeals to voters. I then assess the extent to which the above factors may have affected the campaign and examine the election results. I conclude by offering plausible implications of this case for future ANC campaigns in the Western Cape.

This study sought to determine if the use of negative and aggressive reporting descriptors of female political candidates by the media influences the perception of candidate credibility and voter support. Other researchers have found that female politicians are more likely than male politicians to be subjected to negative and aggressive reporting descriptors during political campaigns by the news media. Two hypotheses were addressed in the study. Hypothesis one predicted that negative and aggressive reporting descriptors of female politicians would result in lower perceptions of candidate credibility in terms of competence and character as compared to neutral descriptors of female politicians. Hypothesis two predicted that negative and aggressive reporting descriptors of female politicians would result in reduced voter support as compared to neutral reporting descriptors of female politicians. An experimental design was employed to test the hypotheses. One experimental group was exposed to a five minute radio news program with negative and aggressive reporting descriptors of a female political candidate while the second experimental group was exposed to the same news reports with neutral reporting descriptors. Both hypotheses were tested utilizing a two-tailed t-test. Results showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups on the perception of candidate credibility in terms of competence. The data would indicate that negative and aggressive reporting descriptors have a detrimental effect on female politicians in terms of perceptions of expertise. The data did not show a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of candidate support. The results show that female politicians, who are already less likely to have access to political experience, are further hindered in terms of perceptions of competence by the negative and aggressive reporting descriptors used by the media.

This thesis employed a Historical-Critical method using rhetoric and framing theory to examine the 2008 Proposition 2: Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act campaigns. The Californians for Humane Farms (HSUS) and Californians for SAFE Food (CSF) were the respective proponent and opponent coalitions analyzed in this thesis. The analysis examined sixteen campaign artifacts that were examples of how the proposition was communicated to California's voting populous. In Conjunction with the appeals and frames, the message strategies were analyzed as to how they allowed the HSUS and CSF to effectively communicate with voters. By using rhetoric and framing 4 theory this analysis was able to distinguish which rhetorical appeals effectively supported the campaigns. The analysis showed that the HSUS was successful with their campaign because of well-executed rhetorical appeals that created a concise message about animal confinement and animal cruelty issues.

The objective of this thesis is to make a comparative study of President Nixon’s use of television during his two presidential campaigns. Specific emphasis will be placed on Nixon’s use of television in both of the political campaigns. The final objective of this thesis is to record for future researchers one presidential candidate’s use of television, in two political campaigns for the presidency. One of the campaigns he lost by a narrow margin of the vote, and the second one he won by a small percentage of the popular vote. The accomplishment of the objectives will answer the questions; How was television used in President Nixon’s two presidential campaigns? How did it vary in the two presidential campaigns of 1960 and 1968? This thesis is not intended to deal with some of the other questions that might be asked about the two campaigns, such as how did Nixon’s relationship vary with the press, or how did he use the modes of proof in his television speeches.

This study examined which channels, messages, and sources were most effective in increasing political involvement among college students. Political participation among college students has decreased in every election since eighteen year- olds were given the right to vote. Numerous campaigns targeted to increase political participation among college students have been implemented but there is no evidence that these campaigns have been effective. This study developed a grounded theory for increasing political participation among college students l;!ased on several focus group interactions. Students were asked to report on which channels, messages and sources they currently received political information from and were then asked to collaborate on which channels, messages, and sources they predicted would increase political participation among college students. The grounded theory indicated that simplicity and convenience in information acquisition and reform in political dialogue regarding message formation, credibility, trustworthiness, and honesty from message sources were necessary in increasing political participation among college students. Previous research has stopped short of making predications based on prior research and qualitative analysis of what is truly effective in increasing political involvement among college students. This study sheds important insights toward increasing political involvement among college students from a comprehensive communication perspective.

The advent of the Internet has increased access to information and impacted many aspects of life, including politics. The present study utilized Pew Internet & American Life survey data from the November 2008 presidential election time period to investigate the degree to which political blog reading predicted online political discussion, online political participation, whether or not a person voted, and voting choice, over and above the predication that could be explained by demographic measures of age, education level, gender, income, marital status, race/ethnicity, and region. Ordinary least squares hierarchical regression revealed that political blog reading was positively and statistically significantly related to online political discussion and online political participation. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis indicated that the odds of a political blog reader voting were 1.98 the odds of a nonreader voting, but vote choice was not predicted by reading political blogs. These results are interpreted within the uses and gratifications framework and the understanding that blogs add an interpersonal communication aspect to a mass medium. As more people use blogs and the nature of the blog-reading audience shifts, continuing to track and describe the blog audience with valid measures will be important for researchers and practitioners alike. Subsequent potential effects of political blog reading on engagement, discussion, and participation will be important to understand as these effects could impact the political landscape of this country and, therefore, the world.

Från Reagan till Trump: Populistiska uttryck inom det republikanska partiet 1980–2017 är en kandidatuppsats av Angelica Carlsson. Syftet med studien är att förklara förekomsten av populistiska uttryck inom det republikanska partiet i USA under tidsperioden 1980–2017. Populistiska uttryck i politiska tal av presidenterna Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush och Donald Trump undersöks och graderas utifrån Kirk A. Hawkins sex kriterier över populism. Talen analyseras också utifrån de teoretiska begreppen tunn respektive tjock populism. För att förklara de populistiska uttrycken beaktar studien den historiska kontexten och utvecklingslinjer inom det republikanska partiet. Utifrån studiens resultat kan konstateras att de populistiska uttrycken är högst i Reagans och Trumps tal, medan Bushs tal har en lägre grad av populism. I studien förklaras detta utifrån den historiska kontexten, där 1980 och 2016 präglades av mer politisk instabilitet än 2000. Studien belyser hur populism inte uppstår ur tomma intet utan ska förstås i relation till kontexten i vilken den uttrycks. / From Reagan to Trump: Populist expressions within the Republican Party 1980–2017 is a bachelor thesis by Angelica Carlsson. The aim of the thesis is to explain populist expressions within the Republican Party in the United States during the period 1980–2017. Populist expressions in political speeches by the presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Donald Trump are investigated and graded based on Kirk A. Hawkin's criteria of populism. The thesis is also taking the theoretical terms thin and thick populism into consideration. In order to explain the populist expressions the historical context and the historical development of the Republican Party is taken into account. The main findings of the thesis is that Reagan's and Trump's speeches has the highest degree of populist expressions, while Bush's speeches has a lower degree of populist expressions. The study explains this from the historical context, where 1980 and 2016 were characterized by more political instability than 2000. The study illustrates how populism does not arise from nothing and should be understood in relation to the historical context.

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

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:25:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2007-Pre-textuais.pdf: 3686529 bytes, checksum: 88f2a95092c9bca469e3382e565421a9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-03-04 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / This dissertation has the general objective of contributing to the theoretical and empirical comprehension of the implications of the internet for democracy and electoral processes. We analyze the cyberparadigms and the normative assumptions that influenced thematic production. The adopted analytical standpoint aims to apply the premises deriving from the theoretical apparatus of reference to a concrete empirical context, trying to balance the strong normative assumptions and overcome the notion of technological determinism present in much of the literature. This way, we delimit the way the internet is being used in electoral processes, its possibilities and limits, promoting an adaptation of expectations. We use a critical approach to be able to scrutinize the potential of the internet in reinvigorating democracy and its processes and exploring its actual conditions of production in specific political-electoral contexts, bringing elements of political culture to the center of the debate. For this analysis we used a systematic empirical base and a temporal specification: the Brazilian political-electoral context during the presidential race of 2006. The objects of investigation in a comparative perspective were the websites of the two main candidates for the Presidency of the Republic in the 2006 contest: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB). Specifically, the empirical investigation was guided by the following research queries: 1) What are the functions and possibilities of interaction and participation in electoral websites? 2) Are there differences between the websites of the Alckmin and Lula campaigns in terms of sophistication and design that indicate different levels of professionalism? 3) What are the strategies of the cybercampaigns? 4) According to the options on offer, what is the main targeted public of the websites? This investigation began from four hypotheses: 1) the electoral websites will reflect more the function of top-down and one-way, neglecting the interactive possibilities of the new media in promoting dialogue with the electorate; 2) there will be convergence and standardization, instead of differentiation between parties, in the way of usage of the Brazilian political websites; 3) the online strategy will be centered more in attracting predisposed and politically active constituents, as well as grabbing the attention of media professionals, then apathetic and demobilized citizens, and finally 4) the Internet will be an important space for negative campaigning on part of Alckmin, due to his position of challenger in the contest and due to the political context that preceded the electoral race, highly scarred by accusations of corruption, as well as legal loopholes in relation to the internet. The reelection candidacy of President Lula will be centered in the publication of endorsements and in the retrospective strategy of incorporating symbols of the post of president and exploring actions of his first term in office. The methodological strategy adopted is based on the research design of Content Analysis of websites, applied on three levels of analysis: functional, formal, and content of the clippings and persuasive strategies of the candidates. These analytical dimensions are composed by indicators, typologies, and many categories that comprise diverse dichotomous variables. / A presente dissertação tem como objetivo geral realizar uma revisão da literatura acadêmica sobre Internet e democracia e contribuir empiricamente com a discussão sobre as implicações da Internet para os processos eleitorais. Analisam-se os ciberparadigmas e os pressupostos normativos que influenciaram a produção temática. A postura analítica adotada visa aplicar as premissas oriundas do aparato teórico de referência a um contexto empírico concreto, buscando equilibrar seus pressupostos normativos e questionar a noção de determinismo tecnológico presente em boa parte da literatura. Neste sentido, delimita-se a forma como a Internet vem sendo utilizada nos processos eleitorais pelos agentes políticos, suas possibilidades e limites, com a intenção de promover uma adequação das expectativas. Realiza-se uma abordagem crítica a fim de perscrutar o potencial da Internet para revigorar a democracia e seus processos e investigar sua forma de utilização em contextos político-eleitorais específicos, trazendo para o centro do debate elementos da cultura política. Para a presente análise empregou-se uma base empírica sistemática e um recorte temporal: o contexto político-eleitoral brasileiro durante a corrida presidencial de 2006. Os objetos de investigação em perspectiva comparada foram os websites dos dois principais postulantes à Presidência da República no pleito 2006: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) e Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB). Especificamente, a investigação empírica foi guiada pelas seguintes perguntas de pesquisa: 1) Quais as funções e possibilidades de interação e participação dos websites eleitorais? 2) Há diferenças entre os websites das candidaturas de Alckmin e Lula em termos de sofisticação e design que indiquem diferentes níveis de profissionalismo? 3) Quais as estratégias das cibercampanhas? 4) De acordo com as opções oferecidas, qual o público-alvo primordial dos websites? Esta investigação partiu de quatro hipóteses: 1) os websites eleitorais refletirão mais a função top-down (de cima para baixo) e de one-way (mão única), negligenciando as possibilidades interativas da nova mídia para promover diálogo com o eleitorado; 2) haverá uma convergência e padronização no modo de utilização dos websites políticos brasileiros ao invés de uma diferenciação entre partidos; 3) a estratégia on-line estará centrada mais em atrair eleitores pré-dispostos e politicamente ativos e a atenção de profissionais da mídia do que os cidadãos apáticos e desmobilizados e, por fim, 4) a Internet será um espaço primordial para realização de campanha negativa para a candidatura de Alckmin, devido a sua posição de desafiante na disputa e ao contexto político que precedeu a corrida eleitoral, altamente marcado por denúncias de corrupção, bem como às lacunas legais em relação à Internet. A candidatura à reeleição do mandatário Lula será centrada na publicação de endosso e na estratégia retrospectiva de acionar símbolos do cargo de presidente e explorar ações de seu primeiro mandato. A estratégia metodológica adotada baseou-se no desenho de pesquisa de Análise de Conteúdo dos websites, aplicado em três níveis de análise: funcional (functional analysis), formal (formal analysis) e conteúdo da agenda de notícias e estratégias persuasivas dos candidatos. Estas dimensões de análise são compostas por indicadores, tipologias e várias categorias que, por sua vez, abrangem diversas variáveis dicotômicas.