Popular evaluations of election quality in Africa: Evidence from Nigeria

Despite the important consequences of citizens' election quality perceptions on political behavior and political attitudes, very little is known about how citizens formulate their perceptions of election quality. In this paper, I assess the correlates of citizens' perceptions of election quality. I suggest that the performance of election-related institutions is an important correlate of citizens' election quality perceptions. However, citizens' experience with electoral irregularities, and partisan affiliation also matter. I test these hypotheses in the context of the 2007 Nigerian general elections using survey data from Afrobarometer and International Foundation for Electoral Systems. The findings provide robust support for the hypotheses. Most importantly, the results indicate that the performance of electoral management bodies is associated with citizens' assessment of election quality in Africa and that citizens demand electoral management bodies with impartiality and professionalism.     

Issue evolution in Britain: The debate on European Union integration, 1964–2010

While Carmines and Stimson's work on issue evolutions has prompted research showing the dynamics and effects of new party alignments on abortion, religion, gender and cultural issues, this research has all centred on the United States. This article examines issue evolution in Britain. Using evidence on the timing of changes in elite positions from Comparative Manifestos Group data, and survey data on public attitudes to the European Union with a longer historical sweep than heretofore, the article finds strong evidence that the European issue has followed an issue evolution path, though with distinct dynamics contingent on the pace of elite re‐positioning. Thus, this article extends the theory of issue evolution to a parliamentary political system and demonstrates the responsiveness of the public to elite cues, while also providing additional insights from a unique case in which elites have staked out distinct positions not once, but twice.     

论负面新闻报道的舆论引导

新闻分为正面报道和负面报道。在新媒体时代,以暴露和批评为主的负面报道,也可以有效地剔除糟粕,净化社会环境,张扬人性的力量。因此,要以崭新的思维与视角来做好负面报道,本着信息为本、受众为本的原则,充分尊重老百姓的知情权,对负面新闻报道做到不夸张、不缩小、不遮掩也不渲染,更杜绝"反面文章正面做",客观、公正、及时、准确、全面地将真实情况告诉受众。让负面报道,特别是灾难新闻报道中的人情、仁爱、人文关怀成为人类苦难的"温柔抚摸者",挖掘负面新闻报道的正面效应。同时,做负面新闻报道时,要揭开事实真相,发挥负面报道的舆论引导作用,积极营造廉洁、廉明、廉正的舆论场,匡正社会风气,维护公平正义。     

Need a Hand? No Thanks! Media Representations and Peace Building Indicators: The Case of UK Foreign Aid Programmes in Colombia

This article considers research approaches often associated with media and journalism studies as complementary assessment strategies to inform decisions associated with evaluating foreign aid. In order to do so, the case of British foreign aid towards Colombia in the context of the War on Drugs is examined as a case study. The authors explore the relationship between aid giving and the receipt of aid by focusing on how the media can be used as a peacebuilding indicator. There is a dearth of academic inquiry into these issues. This article attempts to flesh out some future lines of scholarly enquiry using the UK–Colombia case study example. It uses research interviews with state officials, multilateral organizations and NGO representatives as well as a review of press coverage in Colombia over a two-year period. The article argues that media could potentially be used as an important indicator of peacebuilding success and failure in the context of aid giving and receipt but that to achieve that there are specific pre-conditions and issues to be addressed by the different parties.     

Afraid of a ‘Kosovo Scenario’: A Disquieting Precedent for International Conflict Management

The UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) represented an interim settlement that permitted conflict de-escalation while postponing the search for a lasting political solution. The final settlement should have been reached through negotiations between Belgrade and the Kosovo Albanians, and then endorsed by the UN Security Council, in accordance with the UN Resolution 1244 (1999). However, citing the ambiguity of the interim agreement and a deadlock in the negotiations, the United States and its allies recognized Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008, thereby allowing the Kosovo Albanians to defect from the peace process. Therefore, instead of an internationally endorsed negotiated outcome, there has been an attempt at a unilaterally enforced political settlement, in disregard for the authority of the UN Security Council, which had placed Kosovo under international administration. The subsequent involvement of the International Court of Justice has failed to resolve the contentious issues between Belgrade and Prishtina or bridge the international divide over Kosovo. Besides creating a troublesome legal precedent, the recognition of Kosovo represents a bad model for international conflict management. The issues of concern are the viability of future interim settlements, good faith negotiations and the legitimacy and guarantees provided by the international involvement, including the authority of the UN Security Council. Some parallels are drawn between Kosovo and other territorial disputes, particularly in the Caucasus, indicating how the Kosovo case could influence other conflicts.     

突发事件网络舆情探测模式与管控对策研究

网络舆情在突发事件处置过程中的负面影响日益凸显,如何采用科学合理的探测流程和方法,及时对突发事件网络舆情开展有效引导和管控,已成为公安部门值得深入研究和亟待解决的问题。通过解析其产生原因和社会影响,提出了具有程式化和可操作性的探测模式,并从多视角阐述了管控对策,使突发事件网络舆情应对有章可循。     

画地为牢还是坐怀不乱——论舆论监督与司法原则的关系

舆论监督与司法的关系近年来逐渐为新闻媒介与司法界所重视.在以往的一些文章中,人们习惯提出,舆论监督不应干预司法,不应以舆论的力量影响司法独立,甚至"某地发布规定,媒体不准发表‘与法院判决相反'的评论."[1]本文就舆论监督的本质和司法原则的要求之间的关系,在理论和实践两个层面探讨媒介的舆论监督和司法原则的关系,得出结论舆论监督和司法原则在根本上是一致的,舆论监督是司法原则得以实现的重要保障.     

理想、官方、民间——浅议舆论的三个层次

作为一个社会科学研究领域的逻辑起点,舆论概念本身的定义就有许多争议,这是由舆论学自身特点决定的.但无论差异多大,我们在理解"舆论"二字时,都应该认识到它是复杂的、多层次的,理想状态下的舆论指的是在诸多前提条件下的人们对全息信息的独立认识结果;官方控制下的舆论是政治舆论学设想的理想状态,也是现实生活中的常态舆论的主体;民间隐藏的舆论相对于官方控制舆论而言,官方控制越严,民间隐藏的舆论的存在形态和存在方式越多样.     

胡锦涛"为民"思想与马克思主义群众观

当今时代特征的变化对历史唯物主义的发展提出了新要求,胡锦涛从马克思主义群众观的角度回应了这一时代呼唤,明确提出中国共产党要始终做到“权为民所用,情为民所系,利为民所谋”,丰富和发展了马克思主义群众观。     

Symbolic Racism and Whites’ Attitudes Towards Punitive and Preventive Crime Policies

This study analyzes the determinants of Whites' support for punitive and preventive crime policies. It focuses on the predictive power of beliefs about race as described by symbolic racism theory. A dataset with 849 White respondents from three waves of the Los Angeles County Social Survey was used. In order to assess the weight of racial factors in crime policy attitudes, the effects of a range of race-neutral attitude determinants were controlled for, namely individual and structural crime attributions, perceived seriousness of crime, crime victimization, conservatism and news exposure. Results show a strong effect of symbolic racism on both types of crime policies, and in particular on punitive policies. High levels of symbolic racism are associated with support for tough, punitive crime policies and with opposition to preventive policies. Sub-dimensions of symbolic racism qualified these relationships, by showing that internal symbolic racism (assessing perceived individual deficiencies of Blacks) was most strongly predictive of punitiveness, whereas external symbolic racism (denial of institutional discrimination) predicted opposition to structural remedies. On the whole, despite the effects of race-neutral factors, the impact of symbolic racism on policy attitudes was substantial. Thus, White public opinion on both punitive and preventive crime policies is at least partially driven by racial prejudice.