Internet Regulation Process Model: The Effect of Societies,Communities, and Governments

The Internet is often seen as borderless and unmanageable and, therefore, not fully understandable. Starting from the assumption that it can be understood, we begin an attempt to organize the Internet by characterizing it as a behavior space in which groups categorized as societies, communities, and governments interact. We emphasize the utility of organizing the Internet and focus specifically on attempts by societies, communities, and governments to regulate the flow of information. We posit an Internet regulation process model that, we believe, explains most of the efforts to regulate the Internet. In addition, we provide some insight into the relationships between and within the various groups involved. Our conclusions center on the observation that political power (especially Western political power) has been a defining factor in the regulation of the Internet as governments have played a prominent role in regulatory action.     

The lessons of Eastern Europe for modern intelligence reform

The proliferation of threats to security, which emerge in states going through major reform processes, demands a functional intelligence architecture. Accurate intelligence is essential in identifying risks to the wider reform process. Western intelligence agencies have viewed intelligence services in reforming states as tactical opportunities and sources of intelligence rather than as targets for reform in the context of a wider reform agenda. Sensitivities inherent in intelligence gathering in states with a recent history of repressive government make the relationship between the intelligence services and civil society crucial if the intelligence services are to be effective and to play a positive role in the transition process. The practice of countering terrorism has altered the nature of intelligence gathering in ways that make accountability and public legitimacy more central to the effectiveness of intelligence services than the ‘traditional’ threats did. Western models of intelligence oversight and accountability are inadequate in states without developed traditions of democratic governance and weaknesses in wider political culture means that these models are not effective in lending intelligence services popular legitimacy. Alternative models for structuring the relationship between the intelligence services, parliament, the executive and the public must therefore be identified.     

Development and political legitimacy: the cases of Iraq and Afghanistan

Development's policies are based on a set of premises: state‐building, state of law, democratisation, accountability and privatisation. The idea is that the Western concept of democracy could be implemented through the development of a ‘civil society’ of the building from scratch of new institutions. Such a model works when there is political will from the local political authorities and the society to adopt such a model (as was the case in Poland and Hungary after the collapse of the Soviet Union). But in any case a policy of development should be based on political legitimacy. In Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, political legitimacy means abiding with nationalism, Islam and local political culture (often based on clan‐ism and networks). In Iraq, the US policy has deliberately ignored the issue of legitimacy. In Afghanistan, because the US intervention was not part of a great design, it relied more on local constraints and thus has been more effective, or at least, less disruptive. The issue is not opposing a Western model of democracy to a national authoritarian political culture, but to root democracy into the local political culture. If not the policy of strengthening civil society, through political and military pressure as well as NGO's, has a disruptive effect and may lead to a conservative, nationalist and religious backlash.     

Blogging in the Shadow of Parties: Exploring Ideological Differences in Online Campaigning

Blogging is an increasingly important practice in election campaigns, showing interesting variations across contexts. Recent research has shown that the adoption and use of blogs is strongly shaped by national institutional settings, that is, the different roles given to parties within political systems. However, intra-national differences in the practice of political blogging are yet to be explained. This article investigates the variation in usage of blogs in electoral campaigns in Sweden, a country characterized by strong political parties and a party-centered form of representative democracy. The central argument is that different parties utilize blogging in different ways. Just as blogging is shaped by how institutions support persons or parties, we propose that political blogging is shaped by party affiliation and ideological positions on individualism and collectivism. The empirical analysis, based on a survey among over 600 blogging politicians, confirms that ideological positions towards individualism and collectivism have a great impact on the uptake and usage of political blogs, portraying political blogging as a strongly ideologically situated practice of political communication.     

From Top-Down to Trickle-Up Influence: Revisiting Assumptions About the Family in Political Socialization

A growing number of theorists are calling for a revival of research on political socialization based on the premise that children are active in their own civic development. We advance this argument a step further by proposing a model of family communication that reverses the roles of parents and children as conventionally understood in political socialization. Adolescent children are not merely receptive to political stimulation; they possess the power to transform patterns of family communication in ways that benefit themselves and their parents. We first challenge a series of interrelated assumptions about the nature and direction of influence in the family. We then document evidence of "trickle-up influence," in which child-initiated discussion--stimulated by a civics curriculum--prompts the parent to increase her civic competence via increased news media use, knowledge gain, and opinion formation. The parent's response reflects her desire to maintain a leadership role in the family, and more important from a theoretical perspective, it reveals the intrinsic forces of family adaptation that can make the home a powerful incubator of citizenship. Political growth occurs when the family system adjusts to reestablish equilibrium in response to exogenous factors or developmental needs that propel change. The ultimate purpose of this essay is to propose a functional model of family political communication. We apply theoretical perspectives from developmental literature to illustrate how political communication serves the family goals of autonomy and cohesion during various stages of the family life cycle.     

政治文化视域下的日本二战史观

日本二战史观的形成,是由日本独特的政治文化决定的。在政治文化中,起决定作用的是"观念形态政治文化"——民族心理、宗教信仰和价值观念等因素。正是由于日本独特的民族心理、宗教信仰和价值观念,才造就了日本偏执的历史观和错误的二战史观。要想使日本政治文化朝着有利于反省战争罪责方向发展,就必须对日本政治文化进行改造,其途径是全球化的发展、中国的强大和日本内部的转变。     

国际安全视域下的网络文化与网络空间软实力

网络文化不是纯粹的文化问题和文化现象,而是与安全具有广泛的内在联系。在网络空间本身已经全球化的时代,有必要从国际安全的视角审视网络文化。理想的网络文化是一个能够维系自身运转、净化和完善的体系,具有三个与安全相关的功能:传递功能(以信息技术实力确保信息文化流动的顺畅和安全)、纠正功能(纠正错误信息和越轨行为)和塑造功能(塑造观念、行为方式和组织方式)。这三个功能分别对应三种类型的国家软实力:第一,以信息传播和文化内容为基础的网络空间软实力,主要是指信息传播实力和网络文化产品的吸引力。第二,以外交劝说和外交质量为基础的网络空间软实力,即运用传统外交和公共外交等方式纠正有危害性的信息和越轨行为的能力。第三,以国家利益和国际道义为基础的网络空间软实力,指建构国家文化、国家形象和国际声誉的能力。网络空间软实力是数字化时代国家综合国力的重要组成部分,也将成为未来国力竞争的焦点领域。     

论国际旅游与国家形象的塑造

在全球化和信息化的时代,国家形象作为软实力资源更加直接、有力地影响着国家的发展.国家之间的竞争已经从以往硬实力的竞争,发展到文化、形象等软实力的竞争.在这种背景下.旅游业以其巨大的人流、物流和文化流越来越多地成为展示国家形象,提高本地知名度和综合竞争力的重要舞台.     

South African election posters: Reflecting the maturing of a democracy?

Abstract

The South African democracy has survived three national and provincial elections and three local elections, since 1994. In comparison to other young democracies in Africa, South Africa has experienced a relatively stable transition to democracy. However, the ruling ANC has not been under pressure from opposition parties. Although this has helped pave the way, a dominant governing party does not necessarily encourage the growth of a mature, democratic political culture. The assumption of this article is that political parties in developing societies have a normative obligation to do more than canvas votes during election campaigns. Political parties should also be instrumental in fostering a democratic political culture by communicating democratic values, encouraging participation in the democracy and enabling voters to make an informed electoral choice. Although political posters contribute mainly to image building, the reinforcement of party support, and the visibility of the party, posters are the agenda setters or headlines of a party's campaign – it is therefore argued that political parties in developing societies also need to design political posters responsively, in order to sustain the democracy. In general it seems that the poster campaigns of parties have matured since 1999, in the sense that there was less emphasis on democratisation issues in the past, and the campaigns conformed more to the norm of Western political campaigning.     

Internet applications in the political sphere: perceptions and views of political institutions in South Africa

Abstract

The study described in this article consisted of a survey that was conducted among a sample of South African political institutions and organisations, and that was aimed at investigating their views and perceptions with regard to the use of the Internet. The main research question posed by the current study was: What are the views of politically orientated institutions in South Africa on their use the Internet, and what are their perceptions on how the Internet could impact on democratic processes in the country? The aim of this exploratory research study was to obtain information that could cast light on the issue of how likely it was that the Internet would contribute to a deliberative democracy in South Africa. The survey revealed that the Internet was perceived to have a significant role to play with regard to political and democracy issues in South Africa. However, if certain problems (the lack of access, the lack of basic and computer literacy, and the lack of training) were not adequately addressed by means of an integrated government Internet strategy, the ability of the Internet to impact positively on democracy in South Africa would be very limited.     

Counting the development costs of the conflict in North-Eastern Nigeria: the economic impact of the Boko Haram-led insurgency

Nigeria presents an important case for examining the interaction between economic emergence and (in)security on account of the Boko Haram-led insurgency. This paper interrogates long-standing theoretical assumptions about the economic consequences of violent conflict in such a complex space. It analyses the cost of North-East Nigeria’s conflict on development by considering its impact on the economy at the national and subnational levels. Generalised assumptions about the ways through which conflict affects development appear to hold in some regards but not in others. Evidence suggests some disruption in fiscal adjustments at the macro level, trade and investment as well as agricultural production and commerce within the North-East but less so with regard to economic growth and foreign direct investment flows at the national level. The paper finds evidence of a dichotomy in terms of the impact of the conflict on the national and subnational economy. There is a high degree of containment of the repercussions of the conflict at the subnational level. However, there remains a degree of interconnectedness across these strata that are influenced by both domestic and international political economy dynamics.     

A Review Of: “Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows and Sexual Nonconformity”, “The Money Shot: Trash,Class, and the Making of TV Talk Shows” and “Talking Trash: The Cultural Politics of Daytime TV Talk Shows”

We predict that the Internet will have little effect on political interest, efficacy, and knowledge. We use American National Election Survey monthly panel survey data from 2008 to 2010 to test the role of the Internet. We exploit the fact that the firm who conducted the survey—Knowledge Networks—gives out Internet access for free to those who have never had the Internet before in staggered waves, allowing us to create a novel control-waitlist research design. This allows us to analyze the quasi-random assignment of the Internet to new users for a period of nine months compared to a group that has not yet been given free Internet access. We find that nine months of Internet usage does not increase political interest, political efficacy, or political knowledge. An additional wave done after two and a half years of access also shows little change. Our findings thereby raise serious doubts about the previous observational findings of the benefits of Internet usage for political interest, efficacy, and knowledge.     

The Internet,Public Spheres,and Political Communication: Dispersion and Deliberation

The theme of the Internet and the public sphere now has a permanent place on research agendas and in intellectual inquiry; it is entering the mainstream of political communication studies. The first part of this presentation briefly pulls together key elements in the public sphere perspective, underscoring three main analytic dimensions: the structural, the representational, and the interactional. Then the discussion addresses some central themes in the current difficulties facing democracy, refracted through the lens of the public sphere perspective. In particular, the destabilization of political communication systems is seen as a context for understanding the role of the Internet: It enters into, as well as contributes to, this destabilization. At the same time, the notion of destabilization can also embody a positive sense, pointing to dispersions of older patterns that may have outlived their utility. Further, the discussion takes up obvious positive consequences that follow from the Internet, for example that it extends and pluralizes the public sphere in a number of ways. Thereafter the focus moves on to the interactional dimension of the public sphere, specifically in regard to recent research on how deliberation proceeds in the online public sphere in the contemporary environment of political communication. Finally, the analytic category of deliberative democracy is critically examined; while useful, some of its rationalist biases, particularly in the context of extra–parliamentarian politics, limit its utility. It is suggested that the concept of civic cultures offers an alternative way to understand the significance of online political discussion.     

Mobilizing Millennial Voters with Targeted Internet Advertisements: A Field Experiment

Internet advertisements have come under tremendous scrutiny recently for their potential to impact electoral outcomes. However, academic research has yet to determine if they have an effect on turnout. This article presents the results of a preregistered field experiment conducted in Dallas, Texas, in partnership with The Dallas Morning News in which individually targeted banner ads were able to generate a statistically significant increase in turnout among Millennial voters in a municipal election. The results show that a combination of information and voting reminder ads was effective, but only for voters in competitive districts. Estimated treatment effects were on par with a telephone mobilization campaign using live callers. These findings contribute to theoretical knowledge about the role of political knowledge and electoral competitiveness in voter mobilization, and offer a new method for testing online advertisements used by political campaigns.     

Party Politics and Changes in Australia's China Policy

Relations between China and Australia have remained on a very low level in recent years due to a series of events, which have thrown their bilateral relationship into its most difficult period since diplomatic ties were established. Since late 2017, the Australian media and individual politicians began to play up the issue of political "penetration" by China in Australia, which severely undermined the atmosphere for sound bilateral relations. In August 2018, the Australian government barred Huawei, China's leading company in information and communications technology, from its 5G network on national security grounds, which set a notorious precedent of rejecting Huawei's 5G technology among Western countries and cast a shadow upon the prospects of improving relations.     

A China Divided since the Turnover of Political Power in Taiwan

Since March 2000 the turnover of political power in Taiwan to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and President Chen Shui-bian has been associated with a bitter clash between two visions for Taiwan's future: a vision of Taiwanese nationalism promoted by President Chen and the DPP versus one of engagement with mainland China that aims to create a special relationship while engaging the Western world, as promoted by the KMT and some of its allies. These conflicting visions will continue to interact and influence political life in significant ways.     

金砖国家数字经济合作现状与前景北大核心

在全球政治与经济发展复杂多变的今天,金砖国家数字经济发展势头较好,大数据、云计算、物联网、人工智能等新兴技术领域持续保持发展活力,"新零售""新制造"等也在不断改变人们的生活日常,并逐渐影响着人类社会治理领域一系列的价值观念。金砖国家通过不断完善合作机制,促进数字经济创新发展,取得的进步有目共睹,数字金砖已成为带动世界经济增长、推动全球经济治理体系变革的重要力量。鉴于数字经济发展本身特有的规律特点,金砖国家在深度合作方面也面临现实挑战,特别是有必要重新认识技术突破国界带来的国家安全风险问题以及数字巨头权力过度扩张对国际格局带来的影响等。在今后合作路径方面,金砖国家间可通过开展功能性合作,不断磨合彼此的差异和分歧,共同探寻数字利益增长空间,携手开启和合共生、命运与共的数字经济新未来。     

Myths of the Western Front

This paper is an exploratory essay into ways in which a mythology has developed from the experiences of those who fought on the Western Front in 1914–1918. Two principal myths are distinguished from the many folk tales and legends which also emerged from that time and place. Asserting that literature played, and continues to play, an important role in establishing, disseminating and perpetuating the myths, the paper defines three “waves” of literature inspired by the experience of the Western Front. Two processes are then identified through which myth can arise from experience. These derive from the work of the anthropologist Victor Turner and the historian and literary scholar René Girard. The paper then gives some examples of the way in which these processes of myth generation are represented in the three waves of literature.     

Reviving the Russian empire: the Crimean intervention through a neoclassical realist lens

Although many policy-makers and scholars maintain that international norms have altered the motivations underlying state behaviour, this article argues that states continue to pursue national self-interest, but in ways that remain understudied. While traditional realist assumptions explain a great deal of state behaviour, they have not been widely used to account for important alternative tools of state intervention, such as economic and normative strategies. Focusing on the case of Russia's 2014 intervention in Ukraine, this article offers insights into how, and under what circumstances, these tools are used to accomplish traditional state objectives. Guided by the tenets of neoclassical realism, the article argues that in the case of Russia, military force is no longer the sole, or even the primary, means used to accomplish traditional security goals. Such dynamics have significant theoretical and policy implications for contemporary international relations.     

Civil society,the state,and the limits to global civil society

Just as domestic civil society is widely regarded as serving the greater common good of a national democratic political community, global civil society is also promoted as a vehicle through which a host of humanity's ills may be remedied. This article argues that the pinning of such high hopes on global civil society is mistaken, for its proponents have failed to recognise that global civil society is insufficiently analogous to domestic civil society for it to be a similarly positive force. At the national level, civil society functions in a balanced interdependence with the state. At the global level there is no equivalent of the state to provide the necessary scrutiny and regulation that at the national level prevents constituents of domestic civil society from committing injustices.