Social Influence and Political Communication Commons^™

The Power Of Creativity: How Web-Based Parody Encourages Chinese Civil Participation, Amber Boczar

International ResearchScape Journal

This article investigates that relationship between e’gao (parody using web-based media) and Chinese civil participation. E’gao (恶搞 EUH-gow) uses videos, images, and text based campaigns that use humor to remove fear of political commentary and action. By detailing the development of China’s internet use, and the creation of the e’gao movement, I argue that e’gao removes the fear of participating in campaigns and movements, which criticize government policy and actions on both local and state levels, by using humor and anonymity of large online numbers. E’gao can provide a way for the common citizens to mold policy, and hold authority …

The Possibility Of Peace: Israeli Public Opinion And The Camp David Accords, Daniel L. Gerdes

Departmental Honors Projects

The Camp David Accords, September 5-17, 1978, were a momentous development in Middle East relations. For over 30 years Israel and her neighbors weathered periods of warfare and aggression, but when leaders from Egypt, Israel, and the United States descended on Camp David in the United States for two weeks of peace negotiations everything changed. Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin became the first leaders in the Middle East to negotiate peace after decades of war between the two countries. This research discerns the changes in Israeli public opinion on the peace process with Egypt that …

The Trouble With Truth-Telling: Preliminary Reflections On Truth And Justice In Post-War Liberia, Gabriel Twose Ph.D., Caitlin O. Mahoney Ph.D.

Peace and Conflict Studies

This study investigates perceptions of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), particularly focusing on understandings of, and the links between, truth, justice, and reconciliation. Forty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted at three research sites in Liberia. Findings indicate that although most Liberians agreed with the TRC in principle, most of those who followed its proceedings saw major problems in its implementation, harming perceptions of reconciliation. Participants expressed concerns that the Commission had failed to discover the full truth of wartime abuses, that the truth that was discovered was not told in the right way, and that there had been problems …

A Digital Dud? New Media, Participation, And Voting In The 2004 And 2008 United States Presidential Elections, Jeremy D. Hickman

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

This dissertation analyzes the linkages between new media and the possible emergence of the youngest members of the voting population (the “digital native” generation, who have grown up concurrently with the rise of the internet as a means of communication). The main question is whether this digital native generation will have more civic and political participation due to their use of online news sources and social media communication on news media websites and elsewhere on the internet. Regression analyses are used to explain civic and political participation, using American National Election Studies (ANES) from the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections. …

Russian Soft Power Cultivation In The United States Of America: A Media Content Analysis Of "Russia Beyond The Headlines", David Evans

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The relationship between Russia and the United States of America has been a dominant feature of the international relations landscape for much of the last century. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, this relationship has been significantly altered. Over the last decade, a resurgent Russia has begun to exert its influence on the global stage once again. This effort has been characterized by a mixture of traditional "hard power" and a relatively new form of "soft power." The government of the Russian Federation has developed a broad strategy for engaging the rest of the world with the intention of …

State Of Unions: Politics And Poetics Of Performance, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

At the 2005 International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, the author delivered a poem and slide show, “The State of Unions: Activism (and In-Activism) in Decision 2004.” The performance processed the election in the context of her research community, a network of gay male friends—marginalized by sexual orientation but privileged by sex, gender expression, race, class, and education. Audience members offered mixed responses, some praising its provocative content, others criticizing the author’s position and tone, which some perceived as hostile, even as “gay bashing.”

The Fuzzin' Facts, Rebel Alliance, Mitch Ohnstad, Rebekka Erks, Erin Prohaska, Ryan Mueksch, Rachel Foehlinger, Laura Bergen, Sean Davis

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

The challenge for this campaign is to expose the facts about sexual health and safe sex practices in a light-hearted manner in order to make it a more comfortable topic to talk about so that more people understand the need to get the facts, get tested and get involved to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in Nebraska.

How Do Leaders Lead? Through Social Influence, Donelson R. Forsyth

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

This chapter considers leadership to be a social influence process that derives from multifarious sources, manifests itself in a variety of forms, and generates outcomes both extraordinary and commonplace. However, it cuts through some of influence’s complexities by distinguishing between two oft-contrasted forms of influence: the direct and the indirect (Falbo, 1977; Kipnis, 1984). Military leaders, as legitimate authorities in the services, can and do issue orders to subordinates who are duty-bound to follow those orders. Politicians speak directly to their constituents, explaining their policies and asking for support. Team leaders identify the subtasks that must be completed by the …

Humorous Developments: Ridicule, Recognition, And The Development Of Agency, Kevin Andrew Afflerbach

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I examine various theories of humor to establish an account of the functional roles of humor in social interaction and agentive development. These roles are integrated into a view of agency developed by G.H. Mead, and further refined by the recognition theory of Axel Honneth. The core thesis is: Humor is under-examined as an aspect of human interaction, because it plays such an integral role in individual agency and social development. Understanding how humor works helps to explain how agents are formed through the internalization of the expectations of others via processes of recognition, either positively or …

Speaking For You: Positions Of Montana Ranching Organizations On Beef Market Concentration, Katie Marie Leblanc

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Beef market concentration continues to be a highly contentious issue; especially in the culture-­‐rich ranching industry of Montana. The agriculture industry, specifically the beef sector, has experienced a tremendous amount of integration and consolidation over the past 50 years. This amount of industry restructuring has crafted a beef backgrounding and processing sector with the highest rates of concentration ever witnessed, with a Concentration Ratio (CR4) reaching nearly 82%. This research aims to qualitatively investigate ranching organizational positions, on the topic of beef market concentration and potential impacts this has had on the organization and their members who are located and …

Technology And Political Participation, Chris Molina

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The most efficient way to get people to take action has always been a big topic of discussion when it comes to political mobilization. Technology has greatly affected the way that people mobilize; it has created a platform for people to have easier access to those of like minds. With social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter it is very easy in today's era to get your point across to thousands of people and if need be mobilize them into a political rally or protest. It is important to see if technology has actually had an impact in the …

The Effects Of Social Media And The Internet On Political Participation, Leslie Orozco

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The 21st century has been a century of many changes and technological advancements. Arguably the most important and influential technological advancement of this century has been the internet. With the internet came other branches of the internet such as social media that have now become extremely prominent in American daily life and culture. In the last few Presidential elections, candidates have used the internet and social media as an important part of their political campaigns.

This research project looks at the effects that social media and the internet has had on political participation during the most recent Presidential elections using …

Faith, Works, And Praxis: Emergent Post-Colonialism And The Catholic Church In North America, Alexander Odicino

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The personal papers of American Jesuit priest, Wilfrid Parsons, evince an international information war concerned with the praxis of "facts" pertaining to Mexico’s Church and state conflicts of 1925 to 1939. While editor-in-chief of the Jesuit weekly magazine, "America", (1925-1936) Parsons transformed the publication into the pre-eminent Catholic source of information about the "Mexican situation", consequently enabling him to coordinate the publication of "facts" with several other New York based Catholic publications. However, rather than speaking to strictly Catholic interests in the Mexican conflict, research has shown that, when analyzed as a focal point of information processing, the sources in …

The Relationship Between The American Government And Society: Congressman John O’Connor And New York’S 16th District During The Great Depression, Kristine Avena

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This research focuses on the interaction between a Congressman and his constituents and how this interaction reflects the larger conversation between the American government and its people. By examining the interrelationship between a political representative and New York’s 16th District between 1931 and 1951, I clarify the role and efforts policy makers made in response to urban societies’ concerns. The two decades studied in this dissertation consists of the post-Prohibition phase, Great Depression, and New Deal programming. The collection I analyze is the “John J. O’Connor Collection” from the Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections at Chapman University, which …

"The Falling Man" As Viewed In The Lens Of The "Public Sphere", Laura Reinacher

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Digital Divide: Language Factors, Resource Wealth, And Post-Communism In Mongolia, Undrah Baasanjav

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This chapter explores the interplay between society and Internet technology in the context of the developing former socialist country of Mongolia. This chapter goes beyond questions of access to the Internet and explores three factors of the global digital divide. First, this chapter explores how language factors such as non-Roman domain names and the use of the Cyrillic alphabet exacerbate the digital divide in the impoverished country of Mongolia. ICANN’s initiation of international domain names is an initial development toward achieving linguistic diversity on the Internet. Second, this chapter explores how post-communist settings and foreign investment and aid dependency afflict …

Lady Gaga: Performer, Persona, And Political Advocate, Cassidy Burns

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Economic Equity In The Annapurna Conservation Area: Effects Of Government And Community-Based Organizations, Hanna Seltz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research addresses the impact of community-based and government organizations on rural livelihoods in protected areas (PAs) by investigating whether benefits of such organizations involved in conservation and community development reach more marginalized members of communities in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) of Nepal. I conduct a case study focusing on two villages within ACA, Kagbeni and Phalyek, examining how local groups interact with each other and with the government in trying to promote equity through the ACA Project primarily through indepth, unstructured interviews. Locally-created and locally-based groups in these communities appear to be successful in managing local resources and …

An Examination Of Governmental And Nongovernmental Organizations In Nepal: A Partnership In Managing And Eliminating Waste In The Solukhumbu, Kristen Kelliher

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study, examined whether governmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations in Nepal can effectively work together on eliminating trash and establishing waste management systems in the Solukhumbu region. Historically, the overwhelming presence of discarded items has detracted from tourists’ enjoyment of the Himalayas as well as caused severe environmental ramifications. In the last twenty years however, NGOs and GOs have begun to work together to address these issues and this project looks at whether their working relationship is effective as they often have different objectives and methodology for reaching those goals. Conducting ten personal interviews, visiting GOs and NGOs in Sagarmatha …

Correlates Of Social Anxiety, Religion, And Facebook, Lee Farquhar, Theresa Davidson

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

This study examined how religiosity, network homophily, and self-monitoring relate to social and Facebook-specific anxiety, role conflict, and Facebook Intensity. Correlation analyses indicate a connection between Facebook use and anxiety, as well as a link between religiosity and anxiety. We found that Role Conflict correlates with Facebook Intensity, Facebook specific Anxiety, and Social Anxiety. Regarding religiosity, those who prefer aliteral interpretation of the Bible, attend church more frequently, and pray more often have higher anxiety. Facebookers who are higher self-monitors have a less homophilous Facebook network and are less likely to identifytheir religious views on Facebook.