Plurk Politics Micro-Blogging Is Changing Political Communication in Taiwan

The use of social media in political communication has demonstrated its significance by the example of Arab Spring and the 2008 US presidential election, but its role in non-western democratic countries like Taiwan has rarely been examined. Micro-blogs share some characteristics with other types of social media but operate in a lighter way that has made it more and more popular among Internet users. Most researchers focus on the better-known Twitter, however, Plurk has found a niche and becomes the leading type of micro-blog in Taiwan and many politicians enjoy using it for political communication. This study seeks to answer the question ＂What patterns do Taiwan Residents politicians exhibit when utilizing Plurk？＂. By combining Habermasian communicative action theory and Foot and Schneider＇s Web Sphere, this research attempts to form a theoretical framework for micro-blogs. In-depth interviews were conducted with Taiwan Residents politicians at various levels and it was discovered that the broad pattern of political communication via Plurk may be characterised in Habermasian terms as strategic, through information broadcasting, public opinion formation, and political mobilization. In addition, this research shows that Taiwan Residents politicians use Plurk to gather information and ideas in exchanges which have dialogic elements.

Virtual Political Communication in Bulgaria

Social networks are the result of a couple of circumstances such as the current development of communication technology and the improvement of the opportunities for communication, access to new ideas, web-based information, electronic resources and database serving millions of people all over the world. Social networks have increased their public influence, which contain videotaped speeches and presentations. Multimodality has become a characteristic feature of contemporary political virtual communication. Bulgarian politicians appreciate the Internet as a tool for building popularity in its wealth of features, forms, and modes. Communicative tools and techniques have changed. The forms of the Bulgarian political communication found in the virtual environment such as sites, blogs, social networks, video clips, virtual forums, etc. are heterogeneous. Bulgarian citizens accept the Internet as a tool for increased political and social activities. Civil oratory, which is seen as a mechanism for efficient organizing of public events during election campaigns, protests, and demonstrations, is also present in the social networks. The citizens use a combination of verbal and visual elements; they are bloggers and participants in virtual political forums and actively participate in the spread of all kinds of forms of the social networks. They take part in the street demonstrations and organize performances; they ridicule politicians through posters and cartoons published online. Verbal and visual messages of the citizens come to real life during the protests and to virtual life in the social networks. The polyphony of social networks is a manifestation of virtual civil communication where the citizens in their virtual projection as netizens build up a new complex model of communication.

Public Deliberation in an Age of Visibility： Political Communication Analysis in Mexico

This paper reviews the importance of visibility in public deliberation in the theoretical construction of political communication. Political communication is the area that study social and political interactions of actors through discourses and practices within the public sphere. The social and political actors manage their public appearances in an exercise of visibility, allowing deliberation of public affairs. In recent years, Mexico has been a relevant case of study for understanding the opening of media into the public discussion of governmental affairs. As an example, this paper presents an analysis of public deliberation in the city of Quer6taro, Mexico. This study analyses political participation and openness of media, based on the concepts visibility, public sphere and citizenship. The analysis was built on the idea that the press concentrates most of the issues of public interest and that it reflects actors and arguments given for deliberation. In a qualitative approximation, we analyzed the discourses published in four journals and developed an analytical framework that illustrates the levels of access and visibility of a variety of political and social actors. This exercise demonstrates the importance of the concept of visibility in public deliberation and the media as managers in the current configuration of political communication.

Voters＇ Perception of Male and Female Political Leaders

This study presents the possibilities and particularities of political communication subject Slovak Democratic and Christian Union-Democratic Party （SDKU-DS） convergence during Slovak premature elections in 2012. The significance is being drawn to the identification of formal and informal political party leader personalization of effectivity. By using semantic differential method, we are identifying how students from internal and external study programmes of mass media studies specialization perceive political candidates of SDKU-DS, with the emphasis on gender differentiation of perception

Media as the Incentive or Mediator of Populism： A Research on the Media Populism Strategies and Factors of Political Power in Turkey

Social sciences positioned populism as a strategy to secure power/strength, a genuine political way, but besides it is positioned as an ideology, which divides society into two homogenous, antagonistic groups, brings society and elites face to face. Furthermore it is defined, as an ideology that wants politics to represent the society＇s general will. It is accepted that media and its production ＂logic＂ provides appropriate tools for populism development. In Turkey, which is governed by neoconservative and neo-liberal power, media populism has been the most used political communication strategy in recent years. Communication strategies, when there is a need to arouse and direct interest of the public opinion and for agenda setting processes; complexity, reduction, personalization, accusation, sentimentalizing, targeting, dramatization, alienation and creation of pseudo events, are frequently used. Most of the political actors appeal to media populism when they need to lean on to the society, disseminate the charismatic leader discourse, reduce the value of the discourses belonging to opponents, prove that they are representing the common goods and benefits. This study relates to direct-indirect practices of government＇s populism strategies. Within this context, creating legitimacy on political power by media populism in Turkey is assumed to be the most powerful method.

After the ＂Oligarchs＂： Argumentation Strategies in the Parliamentary Elections Campaigns

During the period of time starting from 9th Saeima Latvian political scene changed significantly. Emergency parliamentary elections in autumn 2011 completely changed Latvian Republic＇s political scene. So-called ＂oligarchs＂ parties disappeared from the scene and since the elections government leader is liberal-conservative, center-right party. Changes in political discourse were expected also viewing parties election programs. Whether the discourse changed not only theoretically, but practically？ Communication with electorate provides citizens information to be able to vote for the appropriate candidate. Argumentation and speakers interaction are important aspects in the context of political discourse. Unlike more empirical discourse analysis, argumentation theory and its descriptive and evaluative elements intend critical dimension. In the study presented argumentation analysis of media materials is made according to Walton＇s argument classification model. Conclusions about political culture in Latvia are made based on the arguments used by political actors. In the big picture results of the study are related to democratic state order.

Open Government and ＂E-Government＂ in Russia

With the advent and widespread information and communication technologies, pace of human activity has accelerated markedly new industries, new management techniques. And in the world community, now prevalent idea of democracy with equal rights and freedoms for all citizens of a democratic state is a risk and a challenge to the integrity of a community. Against this background, it becomes important not only process control, but also a system of communication between society and the state. For effective interaction between society and the state, the government needs a new, streamlined platform for the provision of public services. This site was e-government. Currently, the concept of ＂open government＂ is implemented in the administration of the state in all developed countries. This paper deals with modern communication mechanism of the state and society in Russia, for example, ＂e-government＂, and the effectiveness of this mechanism in the process of changing demands of society.

Then and Now： A Content Analysis of Media Used in the Presidential Election Campaigns of Kennedy and Obama

American campaigning has become increasingly complex as it adjusts to our ever-changing cultural landscape. The use of electronic media in the presidential campaigns of 1960 and 2008 is illustrative of this shift. A content analysis of these two campaigns demonstrates how each applied the newest technologies available at the time to define the candidate＇s image and export the messages to the electorate. Whether it be Kennedy＇s use of television or Obama＇s usage of social media, the role that new media of the day played in both campaigns clearly set the tone for future political campaigns. This examination of the role of media in both elections serves to form a primer for how the successful applications of new media lead to campaign victory. Then and now, the growing influence of new technologies on campaigning makes it necessary to compare and contrast the successful usages and strategies employed. The need for continuing analysis will grow in the coming years.

Promoting Clarity

Since retiring from the vice presidency of the China International Publishing Group two years ago,Huang Youyi,a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference,China’s top political advisory body,has had more time to travel around the world and present China to the international community.