Notes on contributors

In the Kosovo crisis, Germany for the first time since 1955 joined NATO military combat operations in a major way. While this has often been interpreted as a fundamental major departure ('normalisation') in Germany's post‐war foreign policy, this article argues that Germany's willingness to contemplate joining a NATO war even without a mandate by the UN Security Council represents an evolution, rather than a fundamental change in Germany's foreign policy orientation. This evolution can be explained best as a logical and consistent response of Germany's foreign policy identity which reconciled, through modification, its traditional post war foreign policy identity as a ‘civilian power’ to a radically different security environment.     

The Potential of Internet Mobilization: An Experimental Study on the Effect of Internet and Face-to-Face Mobilization Efforts

In recent years, voluntary associations and political organizations have increasingly relied on Internet-based mobilization campaigns, replacing traditional forms of face-to-face recruitment and mobilization. Within the literature, one can observe an intensive debate about the possible consequences of this transition. Most importantly, the question is whether political mobilization through the Internet is just as effective as mobilization in a face-to-face setting. In this article, we report on a mobilization experiment using both traditional (face-to-face) and modern (Web site) incentives for mobilization. The experiment was conducted among undergraduate students in Belgium and Canada and included a test of medium-term mobilization effects. Results suggest that the Internet is successful in transferring knowledge and raising issue salience among respondents, but neither experimental manipulation led to significant behavioral changes. We do not find any indication that among this experimental sample Internet-based mobilization would be less effective than traditional face-to-face forms of mobilization.     

Civic Engagement in the Era of Big Stories

Most scholars agree that news coverage of politics is the product of complicated interaction between journalists and politicians. Yet, we know little about how the interaction affects the coverage. Our analysis examines U.S. senators' press events and subsequent national network coverage from 1980–1996. Our evidence suggests that all senators can increase journalists' interest in their press events by carefully choosing the type of event and which politicians attend. In turn, such interest often translates into actual news stories, although that coverage is not guaranteed. Thus, senators can structure press events in order to increase the likelihood of coverage, but reporters understandably resist their attempts to do so. As a result, the most newsworthy press events require senators to give up control over content, creating more potential for revealing unexpected information.     

Values,Communication Behavior,and Political Participation

This article examines how communication patterns mediate the influences of values on political participation. We find that the positive effects of postmaterial values on participation are mediated through reading public affairs content in newspapers. In contrast, materialist values negatively affect participation through watching television entertainment. Interpersonal discussion in which disagreement occurs mediates both the positive effect of reading public affairs and the negative effect of materialism on political participation. We also provide what may be a better explanation of the influence of communication patterns on political participation by going beyond acquisition of factual political knowledge. We show that individuals' efforts to think about news and search for additional information and perspectives modify what people "get from" media. Reflecting about news and integrating information from various sources promote better understanding of the political world and may provide a stronger cognitive base for political participation than factual political knowledge.     

Political Constitutionalism and the European Union

What kind of constitution is emerging in Europe? There are two approaches to answering this question. The first, a ‘foundational’ approach, rejects the premise: there can be no real constitution in the absence of a ‘demos’, a foundation which exists only nationally. The second, ‘freestanding’ approach, depicts it as paradigmatic of a broader phenomenon of cosmopolitan constitutionalism, based on individual rights guaranteed through a transnational rule of law. Rejecting both for their failure to account for European constitutionalism as a historical process of polity‐building, a third approach, ‘political constitutionalism’, is proposed, capturing the dynamic quality of constitutionalisation in the EU. From this perspective, what is emerging in Europe is a constitution that reflects a common good (predominantly conceived in economic terms), albeit one which is legally, political and socially contested. It is by capturing this complex picture of the political formation of Europe that the constitutional question will be most fruitfully pursued.     

O tratamento jurisdicional das liberdades comunicativas na sociedade da informação no brasil

The study part of the proposed constitutional foundations laid in the model of the democratic rule of law, guided by convictions more human and sympathetic, in contrast to previous models carved under the aegis of dissociated financial aspirations of the relevance of a social growth. Among the arguments contained in the Constitution, it becomes two faces of freedom of expression —freedom of the press and the right to information— both in order to corroborate the importance of these values within a democratic society. Moreover, focusing on virtual relationships, we seek to understand what the decision-making positions in Brazil, in relation to press freedoms and the right to information. Finally, mention was made that there is the seat of the two main national courts (Supreme Court and Superior Court of Justice), negative bias over the Internet, going on, but the actual implementation of communicative freedoms, individual cases interpreting the light of constitutional prism and nuances that requires the digital environment, as a new reality in which human relationships are given.     

Theorising African communications: The bad news signalled by broadcast digital migration policy

Abstract

Broadcasting digital migration (BDM) in Africa reflects deadlines agreed by the continent at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The case suggests a negative answer to the question about a uniquely African contribution to communication theory. This is because there is a disjuncture between the ideology of BDM, as evolved in developed countries and copied in African countries, and a critical theorisation of African communications which could surface a different vantage point. The embedded theory that informs African accord on BDM assumes unquestioningly that this particular development in advanced economies has to be emulated in Africa. As a result, primary African communications characteristics are ignored, including the case for investing in radio or mobile Internet rather than BDM. Also missed is the value of democratic and interactive communications, meaning that the BDM set top boxes (STBs) are seen merely as decoders of one-way content flows. In sum, the experience of BDM as a particular intersection of communications technology and social conditions reflects an inadequate African communication theorisation.     

移民政治认同对国家关系的影响——以东南亚一些国家为例

本文拟用政治学理论,以冷战时期的新加坡、印尼和缅甸等国为例,从移民政治认同、移民政治认同的建构入手,探讨移民政治认同对国家关系的影响。笔者认为,移民的政治认同,如同移民的文化认同一样,如果处理得不好,不能顺着时代的发展而有所变迁,不仅会给移民的生存和发展带来困难,而且也会引起国家之间的紧张,以致国家关系的破裂。     

New directions in information technology law: learning from human–computer interaction

ABSTRACT

Effectively regulating the domestic Internet of Things (IoT) requires a turn to technology design. However, the role of designers as regulators still needs to be situated. By drawing on a specific domain of technology design, human–computer interaction (HCI), we unpack what an HCI-led approach can offer IT law. By reframing the three prominent design concepts of provenance, affordances and trajectories, we offer new perspectives on the regulatory challenges of the domestic IoT. Our HCI concepts orientate us towards the social context of technology. We argue that novel regulatory strategies can emerge through a better understanding of the relationships and interactions between designers, end users and technology. Accordingly, closer future alignment of IT law and HCI approaches is necessary for effective regulation of emerging technologies.     

Latino Adolescents’ Civic Development in the United States: Research Results from the IEA Civic Education Study

Many studies have reported gaps between Latino and non-Latino adolescents in academic and political outcomes. The current study presents possible explanations for such gaps, both at the individual and school level. Hierarchical linear modeling is employed to examine data from 2,811 American ninth graders (approximately 14 years of age) who had participated in the IEA Civic Education study. Analyses of large data bases enable the consideration of individual characteristics and experiences, as well as the context of classrooms and schools. In comparison with non-Latino students, Latino adolescents report more positive attitudes toward immigrants’ rights but have lower civic knowledge and expected civic participation. These differences were apparent even when controlling for language, country of birth, and political discussions with parents. School characteristics that explain a portion of this gap include open classroom climate and time devoted to study of political topics and democratic ideals. Results are discussed within the framework of developmental assets and political socialization. Implications for educational policy and ways to use large data sets are also discussed.