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Social Networking Sites as a New Public Sphere: Facebook and its Potential to Facilitate Public Opinion as the Function of Public Discourse – A Case Study of the 2008 Obama CampaignSmuts, Lize-Marie 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MPhil (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / In the 17th and 18th centuries the bourgeois public sphere emerged as the conceptual space
between the public, with its enclosed institutions and organisations, and the circle of the
private life. It is within this more or less autonomous space that public discourse took place
and public opinion, as a function of public discourse, was produced. The public sphere was
realised as a necessary precondition of deliberative democracy where it needed to manifest
commitments to freedom and equality in the communicative interaction between those
partaking in the deliberative process. Since the 17th and 18th centuries, the public sphere has
undergone various transformations and, even though it is largely argued that the utopian
public sphere as conceptualised by Habermas does not yet exists, it is regarded as a necessary
precondition that all democracies should strive towards.
Since the 19th century, media has been one of the main intermediary institutions of the public
sphere. Initially, the earlier mass media of press and broadcasting were regarded as adequate
and beneficial for the conduct of democratic politics and the facilitation of public opinion in
the public sphere. Information flow was, however, vertical and the heightened
commercialisation experienced within the media market lead to the neglect of democratic
communication roles between the public itself and the leaders, institutions and organisations.
These forms of mass communication thus limited access and discouraged active political
participation and deliberative dialogue within the public sphere.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, new media, especially the internet, have been hailed as a
potential way to break away from the vertical information flow and to create new arenas for
public discourse. One emerging contending form of new media is social networking sites
(SNSs). Even though SNSs were not initially developed for political reasons, they have been
utilised by political figures in an attempt to broaden voter reach and to enhance their
campaigns. Amongst the SNSs available on the internet, Facebook has emerged as the
largest, fastest growing and most popular SNS amongst internet users between the ages of 18
and 24 in the world. In the past, this age demographic has shown a disinterest in politics and
has thus been recognised as the previously politically disengaged age demographic. American
president Barack Obama realised the potential of Facebook and incorporated it in his new
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media campaign during the presidential election of 2008. Facebook enabled Obama to
expand his voter reach and communicate with the previously politically unengaged age
demographic. It also enabled him to create an arena where political information regarding
the candidate, campaign and relevant political issues can be provided. This opened a
communication flow between Facebook members and the president. Arenas for public
discourse were also established and the potential of Facebook to facilitate public opinion was
realised.
In this study, the question is asked whether Facebook, as a SNS, can be seen as an adequate
forum where public discourse takes place and public opinion, as the function of public
discourse, is facilitated. This study will therefore aim to explore whether a Facebook, as SNS,
can be seen as a public sphere. With the help of a case study of the 2008 Obama campaign,
Facebook has shown the potential to allow for public discourse to take place. Thus the notion
of Facebook as facilitator of public opinion is supported by this study. / Die burgerlike openbare sfeer, as die konseptuele area tussen die publiek, met sy ingeslote
instellings en organisasies, en die private lewe, het sy ontstaan vanuit die 17de en 18de eeu.
Dit is binne hierdie min of meer outonome area waar openbare diskoers plaasvind en waar
openbare mening, as ʼn funksie van die openbare diskoers, geproduseer word. Die openbare
sfeer is ʼn noodwendige voorvereiste van ʼn beraadslagende demokrasie waar dit nodig is om
verbintenisse tot vryheid en gelykheid in die kommunikasie interaksie tussen die wat aan die
beraadslagingsproses deelneem, te manifesteer. Die openbare sfeer het verkeie omvormings
ondergaan en, al word daar geargumenteer dat die utopiese openbare sfeer soos deur
Habermas gekonseptualiseer nog nie bereik is nie, word dit as ʼn noodsaaklike vereiste
waarna enige demokrasie moet streef, gesien.
Sedert die 19de eeu word media as een van die hoof intermediêre instellings van die openbare
sfeer beskou. Die drukpers en uitsaaipers was aanvanklik voldoende en voordelig vir die
bedryf van demokratiese politiek en die fasilitering van openbare mening in die openbare
sfeer. Die vloei van inligting was egter vertikaal en die verhoogde kommersialisering van die
mediamarkte het tot die afskeep van demokratiese kommunikasierolle tussen die publiek self
en die leiers, instellings en organisasies gelei. Hierdie vorms van massakommunikasie het dus
toegang tot, en die aktiewe deelname in die politieke en beraadslagende dialoog binne die
openbare sfeer beperk en ontmoedig.
Gedurende die 20ste en 21ste eeue is nuwe media, veral die internet, as ʼn potensiële manier om
van die eenrigting kommunikasievloei weg te breek en nuwe arenas vir openbare diskoers te
skep, erken. Sosiale Netwerkingswebtuistes (SNWs) is een van die opkomende kompeterende
vorms van nuwe media. Selfs al was SNWs aanvanklik nie vir politieke doeleindes ontwikkel
nie, was dit wel deur die politieke figure, in ʼn poging om kiesersomvang te verbreed en om
hul veldtogte uit te brei, gebruik. Onder die SNWs wat op die internet beskikbaar is, het
Facebook as die grootste, vinnigste groeiende en gewildste onder die internetgebruikers
tussen die ouderdom van 18 en 24 jaar in die wêreld ontstaan. In die verelede het hierdie
jaargroep belangeloos teenoor politiek opgetree en was hulle sodoende as die voorheen
polities onbetrokke jaargroep erken. Die Amerikaanse president, Barack Obama, het die
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potensiaal van Facebook besef en dit in sy nuwe-media veldtog gedurende die 2008
verkiesing ingesluit. Facebook het Obama in staat gestel om se kiesersomvang te verbreed en
om veral met die voorheen polities onbetrokke jaargroep te kommunikeer. Dit het hom ook in
staat gestel om ʼn arena te skep waar politieke inligting oor die kandidaat, veldtog en ter
saaklike inligting aan Facebook-lede beskikbaar gestel is. Dit het ʼn vloei van kommunikasie
tussen Facebook-lede en die president geskep. Arenas waar openbare diskoers kon plaasvind,
is ook skep en die potensiaal van Facebook om openbare mening te fasiliteer, is besef.
In hierdie studie word die vraag gestel of Facebook, as ‘n SNW, as ‘n genoegsame forum
waar openbare diskoers plaasvind en openbare mening as ‘n funksie van openbare diskoers
gefasiliteer word, dien. Hierdie studie poog derhalwe om ondersoek in te stel of Facebook, as
SNW, as ‘n openbare sfeer erken kan word. Met behulp van die gevallestudie aangaande die
2008 Obama veldtog, blyk dit dat Facebook die potensiaal het om openbare diskoers te
fasiliteer. Die idee dat Facebook ʼn fasiliteerder van openbare mening is, word derhalwe deur
hierdie studie ondersteun.
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Barack Obama : a new precedent in foreign policy?Coetzee, Andre Francois 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis aims to measure President Barack Obama’s level of presidential agency in
foreign policy, in order to determine whether he will be able to achieve his ambitious goal of
renewing US leadership in foreign affairs. To do so, this thesis will make use of a two-level
analysis: The primary level of analysis will focus on the office of the president, and the
constitutionally determined formal powers it confers on the president. It will also study the
constraints placed on the president by the powers conferred on other branches of government, as
well as the institutional and societal context in which the president must function. The second
level of analysis will focus on the president as an individual, and the role that a number of
personality traits and informal powers play in presidential agency. The central hypothesis of this
thesis is that while all presidents are exposed to roughly the same set of institutional constraints,
an individual president’s level of agency depends on their utilisation of a number of informal
powers. In order to measure this hypothesis, a five-point framework will be developed by
abstracting from the existing literature on informal powers. This framework will consist of five
criteria believed to be a prerequisite for a high degree of presidential agency: (1) a favourable
disposition to foreign affairs; (2) the ability to provide strong leadership in policy formulation;
(3) a command over Pennsylvania Avenue politics; (4) the utilisation of the role of public
opinion maker; (5) and the utilisation of the role of global statesmen. While Obama will be
shown to do well against the framework, his lack of tangible accomplishments will be shown to
stem from the magnitude of the challenges he faces; the larger foreign policy context in which he
came to office; and the deep-seated distrust of the motives underlying US foreign policy in
certain regions. Furthermore, the time constraints he faces, and the impact of the election cycle,
will be identified as a limit to the pace of implementation and the extent of the changes he is able
to make. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie tesis is om President Barack Obama se vlak van presidensiële
agentskap in buitelandse beleid te meet om te bepaal of hy sy ambisieuse doelwit om die VSA se
leierskap in buitelandse sake te hernu, sal bereik. ’n Tweevlakkige analise sal vir hierdie doel
aangewend word. Die analise sal op ’n primêre vlak fokus op die president as ampsdraer, en die
formele magte wat deur die grondwet aan hom toegeken word. Dit sal ook die beperkinge wat op
die president geplaas word as gevolg van die magte wat aan die ander takke van die regering
toegeken word, bestudeer. Verder sal die institusionele en maatskaplike konteks waarin die
president moet fuksioneer in ag geneem word. Die tweede vlak van analise sal op die president
as individu fokus, en die rol wat sekere informele magte en persoonlikheidseienskappe in
presidensiële agentskap speel. Die sentrale hipotese van hierdie tesis, is dat alhoewel alle
presidente deur dieselfde institusionele beperkinge geaffekteer word, ’n spesifieke president se
vlak van agentskap afhang van sy gebruik van informele magte. Hierdie hipotese sal gemeet
woord deur ’n vyfpuntraamwerk te ontwikkel wat gebruik maak van die bestaande literatuur op
presidensiële agentskap. Dié raamwerk bestaan uit vyf kriteria wat benodig word om ’n hoë vlak
van agentskap te handhaaf: (1) ’n positiewe gesindheid teenoor buitelandse sake; (2) die vermoë
om sterk leierskap in die beleidsformuleringsproses uit te oefen; (3) meesterskap oor
Pennsyvanie Avenue politiek; (4) die gebruik van die rol van openbare ’n opinie maker; (5) en
die gebruik van die rol van ’n globale staatsman. Die tesis sal wys dat alhoewel Obama
suksesvol is wanneer hy teen die raamwerk gemeet word, sy tekort aan prestasies toegeskryf kan
word aan die omvang van die probleme wat hy moet oplos; die groter buitelandse konteks
waarin hy verkies is; en die wantroue in die VSA se onderliggende motiewe in sekere streke.
Verder sal die tydsbeperkinge op sy presidentskap en die impak van die verkiesingsiklus
geïdentifiseer word as ’n bepreking op die spoed waarteen hy veranderinge kan implementeer.
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An Analysis of the Perceptions of African American Churches in their Delivery of Health and Human Services in Southeast DCParker, Dennis 17 July 2012 (has links)
President Bush’s Executive Order 13279 (December 12, 2002) encouraged the government to work with faith-based organizations to provide human services (i.e., Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, employment, homelessness services, and health care) to serve America’s low-income populations. Faith-Based Initiatives, and now President Obama’s Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships Initiative have created the foundation for further partnerships between faith-based organizations and local, state, and federal governments. Limited information exists regarding the overall effectiveness of the programs in encouraging churches, specifically African American churches, to engage in services delivery. This study explores the perceptions of church leaders that influence faith-based organizations, specifically African American churches in the southeast region of Washington, DC, to provide human services. The District of Columbia has eight local wards: southeast Washington encompasses Wards 7 and 8, and has a high concentration of poverty and African Americans. The District of Columbia Department of Human Services (2010) reports that in the year 2009, 97% of Ward 7 residents were African American with 26% residing in poverty; 94% of Ward 8 residents were African American with 35% residing in poverty. The work of early sociologists, W. E. B. Dubois and Franklin Frazier is utilized to frame the theoretical background (Ethnic Identity Model) for this study. Additionally, this study relies on an African American church analysis by Lincoln and Mamiya (1990) to highlight the historical and current role of the African American church. The purpose of this study was to examine the churches of southeast Washington, DC and the level of human services provided between 2000 and 2010, during both the Bush and Obama Administrations, to understand the perceptions of the factors that influenced the level of human services during the same time frame. The study utilized a qualitative design with descriptive statistics to shed light on human service delivery of faith-based organizations in the African American community. A semistructured interview was performed on a convenience sample of 20 pastors/church leaders of churches in southeast Washington, DC. These 20 churches were identified through the District of Columbia’s yellow pages and, additionally, other data sets including advocacy organizations and community groups. This study found that neither President’s Bush’s or Obama Faith Based Initiative significantly influenced the level of provision of human services by African American Churches located in Wards 7 and 8 of southeast Washington DC. Also this study found that the majority of African American churches in wards 7 & 8 in Washington DC are more flexible and able to determine the types of services they provide by the presenting community needs. The study results will inform policymakers about whether, and how, the churches’ role in service delivery changed after the implementation of President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative. Presidents Bush and Obama view churches and community-based organizations as strong frontline resources to address desperate challenges related to poverty, but little is known about the effectiveness of their initiatives. The results of this analysis will assist churches, community organizations, and policy formulators in providing information that will help policymakers to make more informed decisions about the potential impact of churches for service delivery in the African American community. It will also provide information about barriers to participating as partners with the government.
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International Anarchy & the American Leviathan : A study in the moral and empirical applications of Hobbes’ concept of anarchy to American Foreign policyMartinsdotter, Nathalie, Johansson, Elias January 2019 (has links)
The current president of the United States, Donald Trump, has been identified as the reason for a large shift in American foreign policy towards a doctrine closer to that of political realism. This claim has led us to examine if this transformation could be detected and described if we analyzed and compared Trump’s foreign policy doctrine with his predecessor, Barack Obama, through the lens Thomas Hobbes, whose ideas are at the core of the three modern schools of political realism. Accordingly, in this thesis, we deduce an analytical framework from the original corpus of Hobbes, where anarchy is divided into moral and empirical variables, identified as the primary factors for behavior in international settings. This is then applied inductively via a comparative qualitative content analysis to two primary documents, the National Security Strategies of 2010 containing the foreign policy doctrine of Obama, and the National Security Strategy of 2017 containing the doctrine of Trump. Our thesis shows a large shift in how the Presidents view the world in moral terms, or how they see it fit for the American executive to act on the international stage. And a relatively minor shift in empirical terms, or their perception of the foundational reality of the world system which they both consider to be of an anarchical nature closely connected to the theoretical model presented by our interpretation of Hobbes
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Yes, we can : Obama nos contratos de comunicação em construções midiáticas na campanha eleitoral dos EUA em 2008Mompean, Adriana 16 December 2014 (has links)
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Previous issue date: 2014-12-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research investigates how The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Folha de S.
Paulo built in their contracts of communication some media themes during the election campaign
for the US President in 2008, which culminated with the victory of the first American black
president. We focused our attention on understanding how such newspapers approached the
political position of Barack Obama against his Republican opponent, John McCain. The reports
of both US newspapers plus those of the Brazilian one have been discursively analyzed in a time
frame that goes from June to November of that year. The aim was to investigate the themes
present in the reports and editorials and how their discourses have been built around Barack
Obama personality. It was also analyzed the dissemination of narratives structured by the
American media in the Brazilian newspaper. The discursive analysis chosen had the support of
theories of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, whose bases on discourse and hegemony were
essential to understand the discursive formations adopted by the print media and the political
campaigns of both candidates, the Democratic and the Republican. From this approach we found
the nodal points around which have been constituted the discourses of confrontation of both
candidates according to the newspapers. As a result, we made explicit the discursive strategies
employed in communicative contracts listed in our corpus as an effort to understand the
construction of the so-called political myth "Obama" in the print media. It is expected that this
research could contribute to deepen the discussion about the press coverage once the presidential
election in the United States causes great interest in the worldwide media, also influencing the
global news production / Esta pesquisa investiga como os jornais The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times e Folha de
S.Paulo construíram em seus contratos de comunicação os temas midiáticos durante a campanha
eleitoral para a presidência dos Estados Unidos em 2008, que culminou com a vitória do primeiro
presidente negro norte-americano. Centramos a atenção em compreender como os jornais
abordaram a postura política de Barack Obama frente ao seu adversário republicano, John
McCain. Foram analisadas discursivamente as reportagens dos dois jornais norte-americanos e do
brasileiro, em um recorte temporal que compreende os meses de junho a novembro daquele ano.
O objetivo foi investigar as temáticas presentes nas reportagens e editoriais e como os discursos
foram construídos em relação a Barack Obama. Também foi analisada a ocorrência da
disseminação destas narrativas estruturadas pela mídia norte-americana no jornal brasileiro. A
análise discursiva escolhida ampara-se nas teorias de Ernesto Laclau e Chantal Mouffe, cujos
fundamentos sobre discurso e hegemonia foram essenciais para a compreensão das formações
discursivas adotadas pela mídia impressa e pelas campanhas políticas dos candidatos democrata e
republicano. A partir desse enfoque encontramos os pontos nodais ao redor dos quais se
constituíram os discursos de enfrentamento dos candidatos nos jornais. Como resultado,
explicitamos as estratégias discursivas empregadas nos contratos comunicativos enunciados em
nosso corpus, em um esforço de entendimento de como ocorreu a construção do mito político
Obama na mídia impressa em questão. A expectativa é que esta pesquisa contribua para
aprofundar o debate sobre a cobertura jornalística realizada pela mídia impressa, visto que o
pleito presidencial nos Estados Unidos desperta grande interesse nos meios de comunicação de
todo mundo e influencia toda a produção jornalística mundial
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Obamova administrativa a její úloha v blízkovýchodním mírovém procesu / The Obama Administration and Its Role in the Middle East Peace ProcessKohoutová, Pavlína January 2010 (has links)
The aim of this thesis is to look at all the factors that affect not only the course of the Middle East conflict, but also internal and foreign policy of the United States. The aim is to describe the situation of the Middle East conflict and its links to the unflagging efforts and policies of the United States, especially in the last few years by U.S. President Barack Obama. The term Middle East conflict was for the purpose of this thesis reduced to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Obama administration's role in the peace process.
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REBOOTING MASCULINITY AFTER 9/11: MALE HEROISM ON FILM FROM BUSH TO TRUMPHorton, Owen R. 01 January 2018 (has links)
Conceptions of masculinity on film shifted after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from representations of male heroism as invulnerable, powerful, and safe to representations of male heroism as resilient, vengeful, and vulnerable. At the same time, the antagonists of these films shifted towards representations as shadowy, unknowable, and disembodied. These changing representations, I argue, are windows into the anxieties Americans faced in the aftermath of the attacks. The continuing presentation of power as linked to violence, however, illustrates the ways in which conceptions of masculinity have stayed the same.
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The Obama Pivot to Asia: An Analysis of the FundamentalsWillis, Christopher 01 January 2017 (has links)
The Obama Administration’s Pivot to Asia policy was a grand shift in focus for U.S. foreign policy and sought to lay the foundation of U.S. policy in the region for the future. This paper derives three fundamental assumptions that the Pivot policy was based upon, from the articulations of the main architects of the Pivot Policy: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon. These assumptions are as follows, pivoting to the Asia-Pacific will be beneficial to the U.S., engagement with China is central to the Pivot policy and the policy is not an effort to contain China, and finally the draw down in the Middle East will happen and the Pivot policy cannot happen without this draw down. Then, this paper assesses whether they were realistic to presume. It is found that the foundation of the Pivot policy was sound, but certain actions by they Obama Administration undermined these assumptions and overall hurt the effectiveness of the Pivot policy.
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Den personfixerade politiken : En innehållsanalys av Nagens Nyheters rapportering från det amerikanska presidentvalrörelsen 2008 / The personalized politics : A content analysis of Dagens Nyheters news coverage of the US presidential electionLundengård, Niklas January 2009 (has links)
<p>The purpose of this essay has been to describe and compare the personal qualities that the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) tried to associate Barack Obama and John McCain with during the American presidential election campaign 2008. The main question to be answered is: What social and physical characters as well as what personal experiences, interest and resources did DN tried to emphasize regarding John McCain and Barack Obama during the American presidential election campaign 2008. The theoretical starting-point has been John B Thompson’s theory of the mediated publicity and John Corner´s theory of political persona and spheres of action. Various DN news texts, in all 38 articles, have been examined by content analysis from 25th of august to the 4th of November. The main results show that the most frequent mentioned qualities about Barack Obamas was his skin colour, ethnicity and speech talents. The most frequent mentioned qualities about John McCain was his age and his military experiences from the Vietnam War. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that the qualities described in DN created a picture of two different politicians. Many of the qualities that was mentioned have no connection to politics and even if they was just mentioned one time can they play a significant role in trying to build confidence. Many of the qualities that was mentioned are qualities that necessary not have to be seen as positive.</p>
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Verklighet eller en politisk illusion? : En studie av den svenska pressens syn på sjukförsäkringsreformen i USA. / Reality or a Political Mirage? : A Study of the Swedish Press Views on the Health Insurance Reform in the USA.Alvarez Cea, Camila January 2010 (has links)
<p><strong>Essay in Political Science, C-level, by Camila Alvarez Cea, spring semester 2010.</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Tutor: Alf Sundin</strong></p><p><strong>“Reality or a Political Mirage? – A Study of the Swedish Press Views on the Health Insurance Reform in the USA”</strong></p><p> </p><p>The purpose of this essay is partly to examine whether the picture that Swedish press presents of the health insurance reform in the US, which is part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Act bill, will be of crucial importance to the possibilities that the American population has to receive health insurance. The main research question is accordingly: <em>“Does the picture that Swedish press presents of the health insurance reform in the USA, seem like something that will be of radical importance to the possibilities of the population to receive healthcare?”</em> The purpose is also to examine in which model (demand or market) the opinions of the Swedish press fits. This purpose will be answered by using three specific questions asking whether their opinions differ when it comes to three criterions: organization, financing/resources and delivery systems. These criterions come from a model from Milton I. Roemer’s book “National health systems of the world,” which also is the theoretical foundation of this essay.</p><p> </p><p>The methodological approach of this essay is a qualitative text analysis along with an analysis chart, where the three criterions have been examined from the reporting of the four Swedish newspapers chosen for this essay. The conclusions that have been reached from the analysis chart are that the opinions differ greatly within Swedish press, and that the picture that Swedish press presents of the health insurance reform is that it will become easier for the American population to receive health care.</p>
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