Si se puede! Working for Obama at K and A

In recent issues, Sociological Forum has had much to say on issues such as politics and voting (see, e.g., Burstein and Hirsh, 2007 ; Fullerton and Borsch, 2008 ; Peoples, 2008 ; Prasad et al., 2009 ; Ruane and Cerulo, 2008 ). The journal has featured several ethnographic accounts as well (see, e.g., Anderson, 2009 ; Auyero and Swistun, 2009 ; Gamson, 2007 ). In this essay, I combine theme and method, yielding a personal account of my experiences as a volunteer for the Obama campaign.     

Personalization,gender, and social media: gubernatorial candidates’ social media strategies

This study focuses on the ‘self-personalization’ of campaign politics, marked by candidates highlighting their personal lives over their policy positions. The rise of social media may be accelerating this shift. Applying Strategic Stereotype Theory [Fridkin, K. L., &; Kenney, P. J. (2014 Fridkin, K. L., &; Kenney, P. J. (2014). The changing face of representation: The gender of U.S. senators and constituent communications. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). The changing face of representation: The gender of U.S. senators and constituent communications. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.], which holds that women politicians try to deactivate stereotypes that associate men with agentic leadership traits while capitalizing on stereotypes that associate them with warmth, we assess what role gender plays in candidate self-personalization on social media. A large-scale computerized content analysis of social media posts by gubernatorial candidates in 2014 suggests that male candidates may see more and female candidates see less strategic benefits in personalizing, but this effect does not persist in the face of electoral contextual variables like competitiveness. We also find qualitative differences in the ways male versus female candidates personalize through social media.     

Teaching Trump: A Case Study of Two Teachers and the Election of 2016

This case study investigated how two 8th-grade teachers planned for, delivered, and reflected on their teaching of the 2016 Presidential Election. Data sources included classroom observations, teacher interviews, and lesson plans. Despite integrating student-centered lessons about the election with social and political events in US History from1792-1861, one teacher, Ms. Smith, struggled to navigate burgeoning issues that galvanized students. During the six-week unit, both teachers maintained neutral positions on the candidates; however, after the election, Ms. Smith allowed her disdain for Donald Trump to seep into her teaching. Because exigent political events, such as presidential elections, hold great potential to accelerate students' political socialization, more needs to be learned about how teachers do and should manage the teaching of controversial issues in the social classroom.     

选举法修改的意义——推动中国民主政治进程

从选举对民主政治的影响、选举的平等性原则、选举对我国人民代表大会制度的影响、竞争性选举等角度来论述此次选举法修改的理论意义和实践意义,认为城乡按照相同比例选举人大代表体现了民主理论的基本精神和价值要求,有利于公民更大范围地参政议政,这无疑会推动我国民主政治的发展.     

农村权力结构的民主转型:动力与阻力

自1998年中国农村普遍推行村民直选以来,广东农村的治理结构开始了民主转型.这种民主转型所释放的能量正在战胜各种保守势力的抗拒.在农村工业化和城市化中成长起来的民间经济,是乡村民主发展的社会动力,依托于民间社会经济力量的乡村民主具有不可逆转的性质.乡村民主的力量一旦登上直接选举的制度平台,就会按照自身逻辑重构农村权力结构.政府在搭建民主制度平台的过程中可以发挥主导作用,而民主的帷幕一旦拉开,主动权就会转移到表演者手中了.     

Protests,signaling, and elections: conceptualizing opposition-movement interactions during Argentina’s anti-government protests (2012-2013)

ABSTRACT

This article explores the interface of protest movements and opposition parties, considering this remains conceptually under-specified. It does so by proposing a processual framework involving three mechanisms of party-movement interaction – signaling, frame-alignment, and coalition-building – at play in different phases of a contentious cycle unfolding under electoral conditions. Drawing on novel interview data, the article validates this proposal by tracing direct and indirect effects between protest signals, activists, and Argentine opposition parties during the year-long contentious cycle that preceded the defeat of the Kirchner government in the 2013 legislative elections. On this basis, it is argued that interactive dynamics between protest actors and political parties can significantly affect opposition politics, supporting the emergence of collaborative strategies that may have major electoral implications. The article thus makes relevant theoretical and empirical contributions, by both offering an analytical bridge between social movement and party politics literatures with potential for further elaboration, while illuminating new developments concerning the positioning of Latin American center-right parties in relation to mass protests.     

Ideal Speech and Feminist Discourse:

Abstract

This essay examines the candidate recruitment and training programs of four leading women's organizations. Author interviews with political directors, as well as an examination of the groups' literature, provide the insiders' accounts of their electoral activities and perceptions of the importance of future such endeavors by women's groups. The essay assesses the value of these electoral activities and potential for real political impact.     

Immigration: an election issue that has yet to be addressed?

ABSTRACT

Amongst other things, election year 2017 will be remembered for record levels of permanent and long-term migration. Immigration featured regularly in the media, both as a topic in its own right, as well as a factor associated with a deepening housing crisis in Auckland, increasing congestion on the roads in Auckland and in major tourist towns, and much faster population growth than had been anticipated. Yet immigration was not a prominent issue in either the election or during the first six months of the Labour-led Coalition Government. In this paper we assess the impact of policy changes introduced by the National Government in October 2016 and July 2017. Our analysis draws on several data sets, some of which have been withdrawn from public access regrettably. Declining net migration gains and concerns over exploitation of people on study and short-term work visas has delayed major changes in immigration policy through to June 2018.     

Trust,distrust, and the end of politics-as-we-knew-it: the mood of the nation prior to election 2017

ABSTRACT

New Zealand’s party-political system has, in the past, undergone significant transformations. And recent political events around the world have been marked by anti-establishment distrust, electoral disruption and the rise of populist parties. So the present article asks if this country could be on the verge of similar disruption, and whether there is a mood among the public that could precipitate a phase of populism. An online survey run in May 2017 by Stuff.co.nz and Massey University (supported by comparable opinion polls) is used to investigate this. In spite of significant levels of dissatisfaction and desire for changes, the survey did not reveal a mood for disruptive or systemic political change in the short term. Nonetheless, political fragmentation of the kind seen in proportional systems in Europe could occur in New Zealand in the long term.     

I Am Woman,Hear Me Tweet! Gender Differences in Twitter Use among Congressional Candidates

This study synthesizes two theoretical literatures to explain gender differences in Twitter usage and effectiveness among US Congressional candidates. The first suggests that candidates in perceived disadvantaged positions, females in this case, innovate to improve their chances of success, and the second, that female politicians often adopt stereotypically masculine behaviors to be successful. On the basis of these theories, we hypothesize and confirm that female candidates are more likely than males to integrate Twitter into their campaigns, but our results are less conclusive regarding a difference in the likelihood that females use negative campaigning tactics via Twitter. Our results also indicate that those females who use Twitter more than their male counterparts tended to do better electorally, but this difference is conditional. Female Republican candidates who tweeted more increased their vote share, but the opposite is true for Democrats. We speculate that this differential effect may be a product of different audiences for social media in each party’s electorate.