Social Influence and Political Communication Commons^™

Visualizing Politics In Indonesia: The Design And Distribution Of Election Posters, Colm A. Fox

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Where studies have shown that visuals are the primary means of political communication, research continues to focus largely on text-based information. To add to our understanding of visual-political communications, this article analyses Indonesian election posters since the 1950s. Drawing on historical materials and on a content analysis of 4,000 election posters, it asks why election posters have been designed and distributed in particular ways. Findings indicate that in the past, posters used singular, though powerful, social symbols to mobilize demographic groups behind political parties. However, contemporary posters are more visually complex and more candidate-centered, making arguments as to what the …

Criminal Policy To Combat The Spread Of Electronic Rumours (Under Decree-Law No. 34 Of 2021 On Combating Rumours And Cyber Crimes), Ashraf Kandil

Journal of Police and Legal Sciences

The UAE's role in combating electronic rumors and reducing its dissemination has been demonstrated by the legislative development of IT crime laws in the UAE. The most recent is the issuance of the Federal Decree-Law No. (34) of 2021 concerning the fight against rumors and cybercrime. Otherwise, the problem of the current study revolves around the flexibility of drafting the procedural texts in order to deal with the constant development of the forms and circumstances of spreading rumors, as well as to indicate their effectiveness in reducing their effects. Therefore, the current study aims to identify the criminal policy to …

A Large-Scale Sentiment Analysis Of Tweets Pertaining To The 2020 Us Presidential Election, Rao Hamza Ali, Gabriela Pinto, Evelyn Lawrie, Erik J. Linstead

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We capture the public sentiment towards candidates in the 2020 US Presidential Elections, by analyzing 7.6 million tweets sent out between October 31st and November 9th, 2020. We apply a novel approach to first identify tweets and user accounts in our database that were later deleted or suspended from Twitter. This approach allows us to observe the sentiment held for each presidential candidate across various groups of users and tweets: accessible tweets and accounts, deleted tweets and accounts, and suspended or inaccessible tweets and accounts. We compare the sentiment scores calculated for these groups and provide key insights into the …

Summoning Laplace’S Demon: The Erosion Of Meaningful Voter Choice In An Era Of Algorithms?, Stephen Bork

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Precise individual microtargeting threatens to remake the political landscape as thoroughly as it has remade marketing. This paper explores the observed uses to date of political microtargeting as well as the many difficulties, some inherent to politics, of measuring its effects. Considering the philosophical difficulties of predictively removing human choice, it then assesses the observed risks of and some potential remedies to the current trajectory and finds that free electoral choice is not doomed to be written out of the system.

Inaccessible Interpolated Imagery: How Coffee Farmers In The State Of Chiapas Might Access Political Economic Opportunity Through Representation, Paolo Fiann Bicchieri

Master's Theses

Here is a useful parable to boil down the idea of this project and set the tone: when one goes to the bar to tell a story about a fight at the bar, they would never venture to place themselves as the hero of the brawl, taking out three drunkards in a single punch, unless they were really in the bar, at that time, fighting a good fight. One would never do this as the bartender, locals, and regulars would all know if this were the case or not. Yet transnational corporations, governments, and even consumers do this all the …

The Politicization Of School Reopenings: Media Coverage Of Teachers Unions, Sarah King

Master's Theses

The process of school reopenings during the COVID-19 pandemic has garnered a significant amount of attention from various stakeholders including parents, school administrators, teachers, teachers’ unions, and the media. Negotiations over elements of school reopening policies, such as mask mandates and remote-learning options have, in certain school districts, been fraught with contention. The politicization of school reopening policies has been the source of a growing body of research, which tends to analyze policy decisions in conjunction with COVID data. However, a large gap in the literature has appeared concerning the politicization of school reopenings and the impact of the media, …

Susceptibility To Online Disinformation, Ryan Christopher Lesica

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In this article, I address the importance of finding tangible and viable solutions in minimizing susceptibility to online disinformation. I identify three main types of causal factors that lead to susceptibility: political, psychological, and technical; recognizing the implications of political polarization, news media, cognitive phenomena, algorithms, and online behavior that leads to saturation and susceptibility to false information. I argue that by thoroughly compartmentalizing causal variables into three main factors, each can then be addressed and solved in their own unique way. I analyze each factor, deriving reinforcing theories and evidence from various articles, experiments, and publications. I propose that …

The Great Resignation: A Content Analysis Of News Sources' Portrayals Of The Covid-19 Labor Shortage., Mackenzie Williams

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

When workers left the labor market in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, proclamations of a labor shortage emerged extensively throughout the news. In this study, I analyze the coverage of the worker shortage among three news sources with different political orientations. Several themes emerged from analyzing a total of 75 articles. The findings showed that the perspective shown in the article, the cause of the labor shortage, restaurant worker portrayal, support of solutions, and opinion of the labor shortage all differed based on the political identity of the news source. This research supports previous findings that show there is …

Black Occularity, The White Gaze, And Color-Blindness In Shonda Rhimes' Bridgerton, Daniella Ruiz Cantu

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The white gaze, or the assumption that the default reader or observer of a piece of media is white, affects the way that people of color are shown on television. This research project uses the hit Netflix show Bridgerton to study the way that modern-day representations of people of color both challenge whiteness and white supremacy, while also reinforcing the white gaze. This is done through the examination of works by George Yancy, Laraine Wallowits, Frantz Fanon, Laura Mulvey, Kristen J. Warner, and Cheryl I. Harris on the white gaze, the male gaze, narrative conventions of soap operas and telenovelas, …

Without Local Newspapers, Can We Save Our Democracy? An Analysis Of Political Culture, Voter Turnout, And Civic Engagement, Julia Reinhard

Political Science & International Studies | Senior Theses

Since the 1830s, newspapers have been accessible to all members of the public in the United States regardless of socio-economic status. Newspapers are important political information providers. Local journalists provide invaluable expertise for the community they serve about community-level problems, local elections, and help hold government accountable. If news organizations cannot afford to sustain a local newspaper and its staff, the result is a news desert for the community. While recent research has examined the decline of local newspapers, little has been done on how the decline of local newspapers affects civic engagement and voter turnout across the United States. …

How Conservative Media Influences Views On Illegal Immigration, Juhi Doshi

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Conservative media sources tend to amplify antiimmigrant rhetoric on their news platforms. Relying on the 2021 Chapman Survey of American Fears, I examine how conservative media sources like FOX News may influence how likely one is to fear illegal immigration in comparison to someone who watches CNN. Data is sourced from questions that ask subjects how afraid they are of illegal immigration, where they get their news from, what their racial attitudes are, and their political affiliation. The topic of illegal immigration has been studied for years, however there is not much literature published on how media consumption can directly …

If A Tree Falls In The Forest: Presidential Press Conferences And Early Media Narratives About The Covid-19 Crisis, Masha Krupenkin, Kai Zhu, Dylan Walker, David Rothschild

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, as we confronted questions about social distancing, masking wearing, and vaccines, public safety experts warned that the consequences of a misinformed population would be particularly dire due to the serious nature of the threat and necessity of severe collective action to keep the population safe. Thus, the media and the political elites (e.g., President of the United States) who possess the power to set the information agenda around COVID-19 bear a huge responsibility for the general welfare. Through automated text analysis of complete transcripts of national cable, network, and local news, we explore their narratives surrounding …

Personal Outcomes Of Activist Interpreting: A Case Study, Mark A. Halley

Showcase of Faculty Scholarly & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

The Value Of Education: School Policy Decisions During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elika W. Somani

Individually Designed Interdepartmental Major Honors Project

During the COVID-19 pandemic, lacking national U.S. policies, wide variation and conflict over chosen public school policy decisions emerged. What factors and guidelines informed the decision-making process in K-12 public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and who were the key stakeholders? This study examines three school district types – a large city, medium city, and small-town – across Minnesota as case studies to unpack how policy decisions were made during the pandemic. Stakeholder interviews uncovered that the school decision-making process was a) connected to a district's political opinions, b) made by the superintendent and school board, c) primarily influenced by …

Presidential Agenda Rhetoric In The State Of The Union Address: Obama And Trump, Danielle Goedken

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

Previous research has illustrated that presidents will make many promises along the campaign trail and those promises are what build their agenda and hopefully get them elected. Once elected their agenda continues to be built through speeches. Researchers have compiled the campaign promises of previous administrations and tracked the completion of those promises. They have both tracked the completion of promises and good faith attempts at completing promises. In this paper, I analyze good faith attempts at keeping the promise on their agenda through presidential rhetoric in State of the Union Addresses. Presidents speak to Congress and the public on …

A Framework For Assessing Accountability In Collaborative Governance: A Process-Based Approach, Seulki Lee, Sonia M. Ospina

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Despite the complexities involved around the accountability mechanisms of collaborative governance, little is known about how to assess accountability at the network level and disentangle possible accountability deficits. This study first explicates the nature of collaborative governance accountability in contrast to accountability in traditional public administration and market-based governance. The analysis shows how collaborative governance accountability is distinctive: (a) accountability relationships shift from bilateral to multilateral; (b) horizontal as well as vertical accountability relationships are involved; (c) not only formal standards but also informal norms are used; and (d) accountability challenges move from control/audit issues to trust-building and paradox management …

Art As Politics? How Fox News Manufactures Its Hosts’ Performances To Acquire Cable Prestige, Matthew Mcguirk

The Graduate Review

Fox News is the most popular cable news network in the United States, drawing millions of conservative viewers who trust it more than any other outlet. Although many of the network’s claims are subject to controversy or rooted in falsities, these viewers continue watching, offering a never-before-seen devotion to the network. Using Fox’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as insight from Karl Marx and Walter Benjamin, this paper demonstrates how Fox manufactures its hosts’ performances to advance its fetishizing of the commodity of cable prestige.

Is France Having A Populist Moment?, Emma Gilmore

Honors Theses

The word populism is often thrown around in news media and academic scholarship, but there is a lack of understanding of what it actually means as a political theory. In France, the two presidential candidates that made it to the second round in 2017, Emmanuel Macron and Marine le Pen, were both called populist, despite having vastly different campaign strategies and messages. This study used a computer-based method to analyze Campaign books from 24 candidates beginning in 1981 that determined that Populist language is on the rise, but not as aggressively as news media suggests.

Vaccine Diplomacy Game: The Race For Soft Power, Isaac Antwiboasiako

Articles

This article examines the motivations and dynamics of the donors and suppliers of the covid-19 vaccines to the global south countries in the context of public diplomacy to wield soft power. Thus, it investigates how the West and East use the vaccines as a public diplomacy tool to influence public opinion in other nations or continents in order to either enhance their global image and reputation or exert some form of international influence or have new allies. The article argues that covid-19 vaccines are a soft power asset; therefore, the manufacturing nations may use them to shape their target foreign …

News Treatment Of The Supreme Court: Language Selection, Ideological Directions, And Public Support, Alexander Denison

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

In an increasingly diverse media landscape, how much of the ideological trends seen in current news reporting affect coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court? This work examines two different aspects of the Court's activities, their decisions and the confirmation hearings of Court nominees, analyzing what factors, if any, lead to differences in coverage language. Finally, through the use of a survey experiment, I analyze whether these differences in language, in combination with positive symbolic imagery, affect attitudes toward the institution. This work provides a novel consideration of whether the Court is subject to the same ideological slant found in coverage …

À La Carte Cable: A Regulatory Solution To The Misinformation Subsidy, Christopher R. Terry, Eliezer J. Silberberg, Stephen Schmitz, John Stack, Eve Sando

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Although “fake news” is as old as mass media itself, concerns over disinformation have reached a fever pitch in our current media environment. Online media outlets’ heavy reliance on user-generated content has altered the traditional gatekeeping functions and professional standards associated with traditional news organizations. The idea of objectivity-focused informational content has primarily been substituted for a realist acceptance of the power and popularity of opinion-driven “news.” This shift is starkly visible now: mainstream news media outlets knowingly spread hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and the like.

This current state of affairs is not some freak accident. The Supreme Court’s First Amendment …

Unpacking Political Identity In First-Time Voting Christian Women: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Mary Grace Golden

Honors Theses

As political science tends to focus on polling and statistical analysis to examine individuals’ voting behaviors, the reasoning behind constituents’ decision-making process is often left in the dark. This is particularly true in first-time voting women who come from religious backgrounds that uphold complementarian gender values. This study focuses on the following research questions: How do women experience their political identity in relation to their gender identity? How do women experience their political identity in relation to their religious or faith identity? How do women experience their political identity in relation to voting for the first time? I answer these …

Tucker Carlson, Oann And A White Nationalist: A Quantified Look At The Disinformation Pipeline Surrounding Covid-19, Juliet Jeske

Capstones

A quantitive exploration of extremist media and its effect on misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital Pulpit: A Thematic Analysis Of Evangelical Leaders’ Statements On Twitter In The Two Weeks Following The January 6 Capitol Riot, Everett Belle Kirkman

Honors Theses

White evangelicals overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. According to the Pew Research Center, 81% voted for him. That support baffled pundits at first but held up throughout his presidency. By the time the 2020 election season was ramping up, White evangelicals who supported Trump held more tightly to their beliefs, many taking to social media to convey their opinions. Since the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, over 600 outspoken Trump supporters have been arrested and charged for inciting violence in dispute of election results. This research is a thematic content analysis of the statements …

Re-Framing Gender: An Analysis Of Journalism’S Social Media Characterization Of Female Presidential Candidates During The 2020 Presidential Election, Taylor Kiernan

Dissertations

The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without those who supported me both academically and personally throughout this process.

I would like to thank my dissertation chair and mentor, Dr. Christopher Campbell whose expertise and guidance made this research possible. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members Dr. David Davies, Dr. Cheryl Jenkins, Dr. Laura Stengrim, and Dr. Fei Xue, for their guidance and advice during the research process, as well as their expertise in the classroom which molded my abilities as a researcher during my time at The University of Southern Mississippi.

I …

Media Influences On Fear Of Immigrants, Mira Eissa

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The 2016 election and President Donald Trump’s administration, tapped into U.S. citizens’ polarization regarding the topic of immigration. There was and is a clear negative depiction of immigrants in many different local and national outlets including social media. Using the data collected from Chapman's survey of American fears in 2021, I analyze how fear of immigrants is related to media consumption. Social media and news outlets' coverage of immigrants directly influences the public’s attitudes. Agenda setting, priming, and framing help us understand that news and media construct a perception for people that might not be accurate. Citizens have formed their …

Sino-Indian Border Disputes In An Era Of Strategic Expansions, Roman Muzalevsky

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The June 2020 clash between the People’s Republic of China and India in the disputed Ladakh border area resulted from the strategic expansions of both powers. Like two bubbles expanding in a contained space, these expansions were bound to collide and cause friction. This article explains how the expansions precipitated the incident and might exacerbate border disputes in the future. In pondering implications, it recommends Washington pursue a Eurasia-focused policy embracing the disputed region.

Book Reviews, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Contributor's Guidelines And Article Index, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Review Essay, Robert L. Bateman

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.