The paper discusses the lexical representation of the metaphorical image of Russia formed in the discourse of the committees of the 116th and 117th US Congress (2019-2022). The object of the study is the political discourse of the US Congressional committees. The goal of the study is to characterize the image of Russia reflected in the materials of the 116th and 117th US Congress. The research material consists of 244 documents posted in the public domain on the official website of the US Congress. From these documents, 2058 lexical units were selected for analysis. The analysis showed that the most common types of metaphors are the military, the metaphor of immoral behavior, the metonymic model «RUSSIA – PUTIN» and the criminal metaphor. It was also revealed that the confrontation between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War still plays a significant role in understanding modern Russia. In analising the discursive characteristics, a correlation was established between the dynamics of metaphorical discourse and events in Russian-American relations. / The paper discusses the lexical representation of the metaphorical image of Russia formed in the discourse of the committees of the 116th and 117th US Congress (2019-2022). The object of the study is the political discourse of the US Congressional committees. The goal of the study is to characterize the image of Russia reflected in the materials of the 116th and 117th US Congress. The research material consists of 244 documents posted in the public domain on the official website of the US Congress. From these documents, 2058 lexical units were selected for analysis. The analysis showed that the most common types of metaphors are the military, the metaphor of immoral behavior, the metonymic model «RUSSIA – PUTIN» and the criminal metaphor. It was also revealed that the confrontation between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War still plays a significant role in understanding modern Russia. In analising the discursive characteristics, a correlation was established between the dynamics of metaphorical discourse and events in Russian-American relations.

There are proportionally fewer Hispanic Americans, African Americans and women in Congress than in the United States population. Existing literature prescribes a variety of explanations for this disparity including skewed nominations procedures, differing participation rates, racial gerrymandering, voting biases, and funding inequities. This study revisits one aspect of the underrepresentation issue: campaign contributions. Money has been an integral component of the electoral process since before the American Revolution and its impact on the current composition of Congress ought to be explored to a greater extent. Previous research shows that contributors rarely, if at all, discriminate on the basis of gender. This study intends to further investigate the congressional campaign funding of African Americans and provide some much needed insight regarding the campaign financing of Hispanic American candidates. Using financial and biographical data from each candidate within the 2004 and 2008 election cycles, a multiple regression model will be employed to evaluate the extent to which gender and minority status determine the distribution of congressional campaign funds independent of other electability traits considered influential by contributors (the percentage of vote received in the last election, incumbency, and the leadership position held are indications of candidate strength that affect campaign contributions). The magnitude and statistical significance of these coefficients provides further understanding into funding inequities

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It presents a profound paradox that the end of formal apartheid in South Africa and the political ascendancy of Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress have also signalled the disintegration of people’s power and the marginalisation of a once formidable anti-capitalist Left. Those who refused to be defeated and insisted that a better world was still possible asked anew, What is to be done? Their answer was to build a new Independent Left, using the Non-Governmental Organisation as their primary tool. This dissertation examines two leftist NGOs with distinct political approaches to organising, which have shaped formal anti-capitalist strategies in Cape Town over the past decade. The Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), an activist space, policy think-tank, and alternative media centre, has aimed to restore the politics of the united front by bringing together employed and unemployed workers to lead a new eco-socialist Left alternative. Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU), an activist research and legal centre focusing on housing in the inner city, has fostered an inspiring movement of building occupiers and aimed to deconstruct the legacy of the apartheid city. Through a militant commitment to this wider Independent Left community, I have accompanied these organisations in their efforts, seeking to understand the role they can play in improving society. This dissertation investigates the central question of how to effectively utilize NGOs in the struggle for freedom and equality within the context of neoliberal capitalism. It has become clear that intellectual genealogies and ideological fortitude have laid the political foundation of these projects. Combined with the NGO’s formal and hierarchical structure, key themes that define the practices of these organisations have emerged. Matters of dependency and control, as well as organising and leadership, have been crucial features of these projects. This has engendered tensions within the organisations between technocratic and intellectual modes of rule, as well as resistance to these governing structures. Taken together, this analysis provides a window into the possibilities and limitations that these organisational tools offer for radically reimagining our world.

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The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of American federal government, during periods within which these two branches are led by different political parties, to discover whether the legislative branch attempts to independently legislate and enact foreign policy by using “the power of the purse” to either appropriate in support of or refuse to appropriate in opposition to military engagement abroad. The methodology for this research includes the analysis and comparison of certain variables, including public opinion, budgetary constraints, and the relative majority of the party that holds power in one or both chambers, and the ways these variables may impact the behavior of the legislative branch in this regard. It also includes the analysis of appropriations requests made by the legislative branch for funding military engagement in rejection of requests from the executive branch for all military engagements that occurred during periods of divided government from 1946 through 2009

South African foreign policy is not made in a bubble; as a democracy since 1994, its outward orientation is theoretically subject to lobbying and pressure from outside groups as well as jockeying among bureaucratic entities. This study applies the principles of Foreign Policy Analysis, a theoretical framework that attempts to unpack the processes through which governments’ foreign policies are made, to South Africa to determine whether foreign policy making is in reality open to outside inputs, or whether the foreign policy arena—as in many countries globally—is an elite reserve. The thesis has a specific focus on the 1994-2008 period, during which time Deputy President (1994-99) and later President (1999-2008) Thabo Mbeki dominated government’s foreign policy formulation, to determine whether South Africa’s democratic transition was accompanied by “democratization” of the foreign policy making process compared to the apartheid government. In addition, the thesis sought to disaggregate the various actors involved in the process—both from the influencing and decision making sides of the coin—to analyze their individual roles in influencing foreign policy, both pre- and post-1994. The thesis found that the dominant actor in South African foreign policy, both before and after 1994, was the national leader (Prime Minister before 1984; President thereafter) or, on occasion, his chosen delegate if the leader was disinterested in the external realm. This is in part because South African Constitutions vest most decision-making power in the executive, in line with international norms, but also due to a lack of pressure by non-governmental actors. While South Africa’s post-apartheid dispensation allows for greater inputs by the public and other outside actors, the practice of influencing foreign policy—either through the ballot box or through concerted pressure between elections—changed very little. Public engagement on foreign policy, already weak, did not improve after 1994. Parliament, despite having a dedicated committee on the issue, showed itself largely disinterested, as did the broader ANC. The press, business, the ANC, and most civil society organizations similarly showed little desire to weigh in on foreign policy beyond isolated instances. Only academia consistently attempted to influence policy during the Mandela and Mbeki administrations, with mixed results. Ultimately, blame for this lack of change appears to lie mostly with outside actors themselves, who during the first 14 years of democracy failed to take advantage of political space opened to them. In examining Thabo Mbeki specifically, the thesis found that he took advantage of this leeway to dominate the foreign policy debate and rarely went out of his way to open the foreign policy debate any more than he had to. He gave short shrift to the inputs of pressure groups; had no time for the press or business; and dominated the ANC and its parliamentary caucus. Mbeki had a clear and well-defined worldview, and he had little time for people or organizations with decidedly different views. That said, those close to Mbeki, and even outsiders—notably from the academic community—paint a far more nuanced picture of the man, as someone who would listen and engage with others on foreign policy, at least if he believed they had done their homework on the issues in question. Hence, portrayals of Mbeki as a “dictator” in the foreign policy realm appear to be overstated. / Political Sciences / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Politics)

In May 2010 the plans for Malmö’s new Concert Hall, Conference Centre and Hotel were announced publically. The purpose of this thesis was to present strategy for communication in order to gain approval for the new concert and conference center from the inhabitants inMalmö and to incorporate the use of it in their everyday life. Material from the receiver’s as well as the sender’s perspective has been collected from qualitative interviews. Through group interviews we have investigated the general consensus of the inhabitants of Malmö regarding the investment, placing, offered events, expectations as well as how they collected information. We have interviewed two persons from the expert group working with the project, in order to define a target group for the communication work and to formulate a concrete message. Finally, we have interviewed a person at Uppsala Konsert Kongress, to collect his conclusions and perspective from the communication processes surrounding the opening. The material has been evaluated continuously and analyzed  in relation to theories such as the Agenda Setting theory and Rogers’ Diffusion of innovations, explaining how individuals in a society react to an innovation. Our collected data has been put in relation to these theories, complemented by earlier research about image building and communication planning. Our analysis has given us a number of important values that will be vital in the communication process. The sender has to emphasize the variation in the events they offer to the public, as well as the fact that the centre will be a place for people to meet and exchange cultural values. The receivers also wish for these aspects. The target-group consists of all the inhabitants in Malmö, and has a wide diversity which puts pressure on the communicator to adjust message and communication channels according to the composition of the city. As a result of our research we present a strategy for effective communication actions, including the importance of face-to-face communication, feedback and media relations.

<p>In May 2010 the plans for Malmö’s new Concert Hall, Conference Centre and Hotel were announced publically. The purpose of this thesis was to present strategy for communication in order to gain approval for the new concert and conference center from the inhabitants inMalmö and to incorporate the use of it in their everyday life.</p><p>Material from the receiver’s as well as the sender’s perspective has been collected from qualitative interviews. Through group interviews we have investigated the general consensus of the inhabitants of Malmö regarding the investment, placing, offered events, expectations as well as how they collected information. We have interviewed two persons from the expert group working with the project, in order to define a target group for the communication work and to formulate a concrete message. Finally, we have interviewed a person at Uppsala Konsert Kongress, to collect his conclusions and perspective from the communication processes surrounding the opening.</p><p>The material has been evaluated continuously and analyzed  in relation to theories such as the Agenda Setting theory and Rogers’ Diffusion of innovations, explaining how individuals in a society react to an innovation. Our collected data has been put in relation to these theories, complemented by earlier research about image building and communication planning.</p><p>Our analysis has given us a number of important values that will be vital in the communication process. The sender has to emphasize the variation in the events they offer to the public, as well as the fact that the centre will be a place for people to meet and exchange cultural values. The receivers also wish for these aspects. The target-group consists of all the inhabitants in Malmö, and has a wide diversity which puts pressure on the communicator to adjust message and communication channels according to the composition of the city.</p><p>As a result of our research we present a strategy for effective communication actions, including the importance of face-to-face communication, feedback and media relations.</p>

Post-force congressional rally effects are presented as a new incentive behind presidential decisions to use diversionary behavior. Using all key roll call votes in the House and Senate where the president has taken a position for the years 1948 to 1993, presidents are found to receive sharp decreases in both presidential support and success in Congress shortly after employing aggressive policies abroad. Evidence does suggest that presidents are able to capitalize on higher levels of congressional support for their policy preferences on votes pertaining to foreign or defense matters after uses of force abroad. But, despite these findings, diversionary behavior is found to hinder rather than facilitate troubled presidents' abilities to influence congressional voting behavior.