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1. British Public Opinion and Mass-Elite Relations on EU Enlargement: Implications on the Democratic Deficit Debate

Author:
Oya Dursun-Ozkanca
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
Despite the fact that the public in Britain had predominantly negative attitudes towards the Easter n enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004, the British government endorsed this policy . Since the legitimacy of elite actions on EU affairs depends on the level of public support, it is important to study the formation of public opinion and the poli tical communication processes in the European context. Using Flash Eurobarometer survey data, this article first tests the determinants of public support for EU enlargement in Britain. It then examines the nature of the relationship between elites and publ ic opinion on the 2004 enlargement. It concludes that the public discussion about enlargement in Britain was fuelled by hysteria rather than facts, and that the British policymakers failed to both provide the worried public with clear facts on the possible effects of enlargement and take substantive policy decisions to alleviate popular concerns.
Topic:
Government and Communications
Political Geography:
Britain and Europe

2. Tobias Endler, How To Be A Superpower: The Public Intellectual Debate on the Global Role of the United States after September 11

Author:
Scott Nicolas Romaniuk
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
From the great rift that has emerged between the United States (US) and much of the international community in a post-9/11 social and political landscape, a disquieting thread of schisms concerning America's political ideologies, democratic deliberation, communication and societal discourse, have seen the academy and public intellectuals seed the conditions for the adoption of the general view that the US is in decline. Establishing an edifying prism through which to engage with these and other problematic issues such as the reformulation of America's global role in the 21st century, Tobias Endler addresses the deep core of the matter by connecting with leading political thinkers and America's luminary intellectuals to consider America in the midst of an intellectual renaissance, and whether this might appropriately be taken as postmortem or rebirth.
Topic:
Communications
Political Geography:
United States

3. Simon Teune (ed.) The Transnational Condition: Protest dynamics in an entangled Europe (New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2010)

Author:
Simon McMahon
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
The Transnational Condition represents a valuable development of the academic literature on social movements and transnationalism. The objective of Simon Teune has been to "take protests in Europe as an example for the crosscutting relevance of transnational exchanges" (p. 2). Protest and activism act as a lens through which we are able to explore how local, national and global (or European) levels of social relations are shaped and integrated. Although the conceptualisation of 'transnationalism' as a set of "pluri-local relations of entanglement beyond national borders" (ibid.) initially seems somewhat vague and imprecise, the case studies that complete the edition clearly illustrate how a tighter definition of boundaries between these levels would fail to capture the fluid and dynamic nature of cross- border exchanges across them. In summary, the editor has brought together a range of texts that successfully "expands the depth of academic focus with reference to political processes on the European continent" (p. 12), whilst also presenting academics of social movements, European integration and communication studies with new avenues for investigation. The result is a collection of studies that does not only inform about the topic at hand, but offers analytical tools for the future development of the field.
Topic:
Communications
Political Geography:
Europe

4. Nick Couldry, Sonja M. Livingstone, and Tim Markham, Media consumption and public engagement. Beyond the Presumption of Attention

Author:
Lucia Vesnic-Alujevic
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
The consumption of media in everyday life is not a new topic and has been present in different studies of media, political communication since the time when mass media began to play an important role in the society. However, it is interesting to study media consumption in contemporary society because of many changes on one side in media landscape, influenced by the appearance of new information and communication technologies, and on the other with the decrease of political participation in many democratic societies. For democratic governments, citizen participation, at the first place as voters, should be a key element in the process of establishing goals in a society. Mass media represents a place where ideas and interests can be freely presented and discussed, but they have also served as a sort of assistance for political participation, thus they have an important role both in everyday life and also in politics.
Topic:
Communications

5. Iñaki Garcia Blanco, Sofie Van Bauwel, and Bart Cammaerts (eds.), Media Agoras. Democracy, Diversity and Communication

Author:
Daniel Şandru
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
The normative theory of democracy often states that, among the conditions needed for democracy to function, consensus between leaders and social groups, freedom of speech and access to alternative sources of information are those which contribute decisively to the configuration of a public space wherein debate reveals its significance in relation to “the fallacy of electoralism” stressed by the studies on democratisation. In other words, the contemporary understanding of democracy – also supported by empirical analyses specific to comparative politics – no longer illustrates the belief that this system resides only in “free and fair” electoral processes – a condition which is necessary but not sufficient for the existence of democracy – but stresses instead the need to include debate in decision-making processes, by giving an opportunity to speak to all the groups activating in the social space.
Topic:
Communications