Domestic Opinion Research Articles

Worst of the Bunch: Visual Comparative Benchmarks Change Evaluations of Government Performance

Benchmarking theories argue voters use information about other countries’ performances, usually on the economy and obtained through experience or media, to evaluate their own governments. Yet existing observational evidence is relatively fragile and struggles to distinguish how people become more knowledgeable. Using a pre-registered experiment, we showed UK respondents a chart displaying the UK’s exceptionally high cumulative COVID-19 deaths either in isolation or alongside European countries with fewer deaths. Mimicking widely-circulated charts, this visual treatment enhances our study’s external validity and tests the media-based channel for benchmarking. Aligned with pre-registered expectations, seeing the UK as “worst of the bunch” compared to UK-only data caused more negative government evaluations. Unexpectedly, partisanship did not moderate the information effects, while exploratory tests revealed the visuals generated more negative evaluations among respondents with high political trust. Our study shows international comparisons in visual forms can change domestic opinion, and on matters beyond strictly economic performance.

Portuguese Macao Border Delimitation in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries: Territoriality, Sovereignty and Negotiability

This article discusses the Macao boundary question, a significant diplomatic issue between China and Portugal from the 1860s to the 1920s. It analyses the various obstacles that prevented the delimitation of the Macao border requested by the Portuguese from taking place. Lack of documentary evidence to support the Portuguese’s occupation of Macao, the domestic opinion, and local commercial interests of Xiangshan County, Guangdong, constituted essential obstacles. Meantime, it discusses the link between China’s increasing awareness of the concept of sovereignty in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the boundary question, contemporary Chinese foreign relations with Portugal, Great Britain, and the United States, as well as the disagreement between the central and provincial governments in China regarding the boundary question. The article further argues that based on the occupation principle in international relations, the Portuguese in reality obtained what was negotiable, although a written agreement was not concluded when the nine meetings on the boundary issue were finished. The Chinese acquiescence led to the prolonged Portuguese occupation of Taipa and Coloane. The Macao boundary question reveals the delicate historical relationships between China and Portugal and illustrates the complex nature of international relations.

Exploring the Influence of the Chinese Spokesperson’s Speech: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Foreign Ministry’s Press Conference

The changing of Chinese people’s attitude towards the US can be explained from many perspectives and theories, which can also be interpreted by discourse analysis. By comparing the values Chinese people take to judge other countries and the function of linguistic techniques of spokesperson’s speech, this article aims to explain how the Chinese spokesperson’s speech influence people’s attitude towards the US may. This research shows how may the Chinese official press conference actively influence the domestic opinion towards another country. The result shows that the changing of people’s opinion towards foreign country is not singly depended on the realistic behaviour or strategy but can also be reshaped by political discourse independently.

Fashion industry as a tool of public diplomacy: Ukrainian and world experience

Problem setting. The success of a country's foreign policy in the modern world is determined not only by its military and economic power, but also by its success in shaping the strategy of public diplomacy. A positive image abroad is a key element of successful international cooperation. A wide range of public diplomacy tools contribute to the establishment of a high level of trust, partnership, economic, political and humanitarian ties in the world. Target of research. The purpose of the article is to determine the potential of the fashion industry as an important tool of public diplomacy of Ukraine, to promote a positive image of the country based on the study of domestic and world experience. Analysis of resent researches and publications. The problems of public diplomacy are actively considered by the scientific community. At the same time, it is obvious that the domestic scientific opinion lacks work on understanding the experience of using the potential of the fashion industry to implement the tasks of promoting a positive image of the state. Article’s main body. The authors of the article proceed from a broad conceptual understanding of public diplomacy as a complex system of institutions and mechanisms, the task of which is to create an attractive image of the country and to support the foreign policy of the state. An analysis of the definition of public and cultural diplomacy in the domestic scientific discourse has revealed the dominance of the traditional approach: the recognition of cultural diplomacy as a key component of public diplomacy, emphasizing its direct connection with the mechanisms of «soft power». A specific form of cultural expression can be considered fashion - one of the most complex phenomena of modern culture, which allows to emphasize social status and meet aesthetic needs. The versatility of the mod determines its great impact on the world economy, political life of society, and the environment. In the modern world, fashion has become one of the strongest diplomatic tools that combine art, creativity and business. For a long time, the fashion industry in Ukraine was not defined as a separate area of socio-cultural diplomacy. However, recently there has been a tendency to draw more attention to the fashion industry as one of the manifestations of cultural diplomacy, which has the potential to become a successful tool in shaping Ukraine's widespread recognition in the world. Studies of our country's experience in the use of the fashion industry in public diplomacy prove the existence of both extensive experience in this area and the existence of untapped opportunities to achieve greater efficiency. Conclusions and prospects for the development. Ukraine is taking various powerful measures at the institutional level to use the fashion industry as a tool of public diplomacy, but our country is only taking the first steps in this direction. The analysis of this experience allows to recognize it rather successful.

Manipulation and Propaganda in the Russian Media: The Case of the Vriemia News Programme (2017-2019)

Information is a powerful tool used in any society and by any nation to create excepted perception of reality. Russian information operations have always been a very interesting example of using various media to manipulate international and domestic opinion in support of national (government) objectives. The situation has not changed in the contemporary information environment based on the nation’s experiences and skilful utilization of emerging tools and technologies. Those capabilities are used pragmatically by Kremlin-controlled media to shape the future among younger people. In this respect, the paper is based on research conducted in selected Moscow and Saint Petersburg universities, responsible for educating future generations. The research is based on young adults’ perception of the information provided by Channel One (Russian: Первый канал). This is the most influential and popular television channel controlled by the current government; therefore, it plays a significant role in spreading propaganda to shape the perception of the realm by domestic and foreign audiences alike. The authors conducted research in the years 2017-2019, employing the survey method to find out what is the effect of television-based propaganda type of information to manipulate the recipients. The research revealed that, although the Russian media strongly influences the study group, the respondents recognize the utilization of propaganda, which is founded on a one-sided narrative, and they are not easily manipulated. Moreover, the results presented that there is an interdependence between the favourable opinions about Channel One’s Vriemia news coverage and vulnerability to manipulation and propaganda techniques.

“Every death matters?”: Combat casualties, role conception, and civilian control

AbstractHow do combat missions, defined as an armed confrontation that causes casualties, shape civil-military relations and military’s role conception? This article argues that militaries that incur combat casualties gain a stronger hand in the civil-military equilibrium. This is because casualties affect domestic political opinion and give prominence to the views expressed by military officials. Civilians are then more deferential to professional military advice. In turn, the military obtains considerable operational freedom, and can pick and choose missions which they find desirable. Second, the military’s role conception – an important determinant of military missions, is shaped most prominently by its combat experience. Militaries sustaining casualties obtain leverage vis-à-vis civilians and based on their institutional preference, they either prioritise or avoid non-traditional missions. While making these arguments, this article examines combat casualties, role conception, and civilian control in India. These concepts as a whole and, the Indian case study especially are surprisingly understudied considering it is among the few non-Western democracies with firm civilian control, a record of overseas intervention operations and a military with varying roles and missions. Analysing India’s experience therefore adds to the literature and illuminates the mechanism through which casualties affect civil-military relations.

STUDY FACTORS THAT TRIGGER A LACK OF TRUST IN HOTEL IN BANGKOK: RECOMMEND ACTION THAT CONTRIBUTE TO LONG TERM TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP BY THE DOMESTIC GUEST

Thailand is hit hard by the impact of the on the COVID 19 situation, to cope with the international boycotts of flights and the lots in revenue from international tourists, the government has shift it attention to domestic tourists. However, the domestic tourism industry is not well prepared for the pandemic situation, lots of people don’t travel as locals fear to be sick and get the disease. So, this study contributes to adding knowledge and understanding of how hotels can best satisfy and meet the needs of domestic tourists in this new COVID 19 pandemic area. The Qualitative research method is used for the collection of data and in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with domestic tourists in Bangkok from November 10, 2020, to November 12, 2020, the interview was focus on domestic tourist personal experiences, opinion and preferences towards different issues related to the pandemic situation and new expectation towards hotel services. Constant Comparison Method is used for analyzing the data collected with ten domestic tourists at Khao San road, Thailand. Results reveal that the domestic tourists visiting Bangkok specific demands travel experience during covers-19 starting which leads to personalize demand to manage by the hotel in order to fulfill the need and provide fruitful experience including indoor activates and recreation events

Peran Faktor Domestik Jepang dalam Kebijakan Investasi Proyek PLTU Batang

Japan is one country that is consistent with green policies both in domestic and foreign policy through the Chonaikai movement and the green industry. The policy cannot be separated from the role of the development of Japan’s green groups that emerged since the world oil crisis of the 1970s. However, in 2011 there was a policy inconsistency marked by an upward trend in Japanese investment in developing coal-based projects. The biggest investment is in Indonesia in the development of the Batang PLTU. Batang PLTU is a national strategic project as a result of the 2005 Infrastructure Summit which is inconsistent with green politics in Japan’s foreign policy. This article analyzes Japan’s supports the Batang PLTU project using Lovell’s foreign policy process approach. This article argues that Japan’s decision to invest in the Batang PLTU project cannot be separated from the existence of information input in the form of domestic demand, domestic opinion, domestic interests, and Japanese domestic needs. This is inseparable from the financial and political power of business groups that are able to indirect lobbying and direct lobbying.

Re-designing military security in Europe: cooperation and competition between the European community and NATO during the early 1980s

In the early 1980s, the member-states of the European Community (‘the Ten’) extended their foreign-policy cooperation into the field of security and disarmament. They advanced a proposal for a Conference on Disarmament in Europe within the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe process. As disarmament was a preserve and priority concern of NATO, the move engendered both competition and cooperation between NATO and European Political Cooperation (EPC), that is, the mechanism the Ten used to elaborate common positions. This article analyses these dynamics by paying particular attention to the exchange of ideas between the two forums. It also shows the key role of some Western European governments in inspiring competition or promoting cooperation between the two organizations, and the rationales and drivers behind their actions. The article proves that Cold War concerns played a key role in this regard: the will to preserve European détente and the need to address domestic opinion critical of an escalation of the East–West confrontation motivated their initiative in the disarmament field. At the same time, concern that the Soviets might exploit divergences across the Atlantic prompted their attempts to secure NATO’s cohesion and project a strong image of unity.

Training Responsible Journalists in China: Guiding Domestic Opinion, Gaining Foreign Audiences

The teaching of international journalism in China serves a dual purpose: to train professionals who can strengthen the country's international media and to guide domestic opinion on international issues. This article follows one class of students at Tsinghua University in Beijing and investigates how they are taught to gain foreign audiences, stay loyal to the party line, protect national interests at home and abroad, and be critical of foreign media reports. On this basis, the article discusses how the concept of professionalism, within the specific context of international journalism, is contested by competing views on what it means to be a responsible journalist.

The Donbass in 2014: Ultra-Right Threats, Working-Class Revolt, and Russian Policy Responses

ABSTRACTThe 2014 revolt in Ukraine’s Donbass provinces had deep roots among the region’s industrial workers. Key sources of the uprising included resistance to neoliberal austerity measures planned by the radical right-wing government that had come to power in Kiev, and a determination to block attacks by ultra-right militias allied with the new Kiev authorities. The inchoate nature of labour movement politics in the Donbass meant that leadership of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics fell primarily to politically ill-assorted individuals drawn from the region’s socio-economic “middle layers.” The Russian leadership met the Donbass uprising without enthusiasm, but under pressure from domestic opinion, provided sufficient aid to allow the revolt to survive. Meanwhile, the Kremlin used a variety of pressures to forestall any evolution of the uprising in a radical left direction. Despite the limitations of the rebellion, it defended important interests of the Donbass proletariat, and dealt a sharp, unexpected rebuff to the eastward advance of NATO military influence and of neoliberal economic policies. Important numbers of workers gained a much keener grasp of their class interests.

Religious Nationalism and Perceptions of Muslims and Islam

AbstractWe test for relationships between anti-Muslim attitudes and opinion and competing religious identity and religious belief variables in an evangelical Christian constituency. Original survey data from a statewide sample of 508 likely voters in Oklahoma are subjected to a robust regression analysis to determine (1) indicators of holding Christian nationalist beliefs and (2) the relationship between belief measures of Christian nationalism, evangelical Christian identity, and subsequent anti-Muslim sentiment. Christian nationalism is more prevalent among self-identified evangelicals. Christian nationalist beliefs and strong belief in Biblical literalism are significantly related to negative and restrictive views of Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments in the form of general disapproval and the desire to limit Muslim worship are shaped more by beliefs than identities or behaviors. Evangelical self-identification does not help us disentangle domestic opinion regarding Muslims as well as measures that disentangle beliefs from identity.

International press and diplomatic circumstances in Kosovo in the years 1988-1990

The dramatic events of 1988 and 1989 years in Kosovo, followed by strikes, protests and demonstrations in defense of the autonomy of Kosovo began with Trepca miner’s incarceration in seven-day strikes in the depths of the mine galleries. Students and Kosovo people continued strikes, affected agencies and the strongest international newspaper journalists to come in Kosovo and inform their readers what actually was happening in Kosovo. Events in Kosovo undertaken by internal affairs organs of the Yugoslav Federation caused numerous reactions in domestic opinion as well as in the international. CNN, BBC, France Press, DPA, Corriere della Sera, ANSA and many other mediums were giving a completely true situation in front of other official state propaganda then. These media correspondents were reporting on the continuing violence arrests and killings of Kosovo citizens by these state bodies. These were brave journalists who disseminated in public the appearance of intellectuals isolated in Kosovo that were being held in prisons without the right decision and the question of: What would happen to them if they do not come on the front pages of news in these media? As a merit of their work, Kosovo came on the front pages of all prestigious international journals which set in motion the intellectual elite of their countries and official reactions to the states. Thanks to these reports Kosovo for the first time was visited by a European Parliament delegation who was informed closely with the real situation. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n19p274

Crafting the good citizen, streaming the good king: Notes on press freedom, hegemony and social contention in King Abdallah II’s Jordan

During the mandate of King Abdallah II, press freedom in Jordan has undergone a significant contraction. This has progressively endowed the Hashemite monarchy and its organic incumbents with an unprecedented directive control over the circulation and the framing of events in the country – hence over the capacity to strategically filter from above the diffusion of politically sensitive news, silence voices of political challengers, and orient domestic and international opinion. This paper aims to provide a preliminary assessment of the role played by the enforcement and the strategic application of restrictions on media freedom in consolidating King Abdallah II’s rule, by scrutinizing how the cumulative strategic application of press restrictions succeeded or failed to validate King Abdallah II's international reputation of a moderate and progressive leader, and legitimize the neoliberal upgrading of the authoritarian bargain with his domestic constituencies.

Paying Attention to Foreign Affairs: How Public Opinion Affects Presidential Decision Making by Thomas Knecht

Despite increased attention to the linkages between domestic politics and international relations in political science literature over the last 20 years, considerable debate remains about how well equipped citizens are to act as informed constraints on governments or how attentive and responsive government actors are to public opinion. Debates about citizens' ability to act as a check on government behavior are not new, of course, and have a long tradition in political philosophy and in public discourse. Yet the proliferation of theories of domestic–international linkages in contemporary IR scholarship has unfortunately been accompanied by incomplete dialogue between public opinion and IR scholars and often by claims of unidirectional or unconditional causality regarding domestic constraints, elite framing and opinion leadership, citizens' informational capacities, and the role of the media. The relationship among these factors in shaping foreign policy is quite complex, however, and fortunately Thomas Knecht acknowledges this complexity and advances a conditional argument about the relationship between public attitudes and presidential decision making.

Revisionism Triumphant: Hanoi's Diplomatic Strategy in the Nixon Era

After the Tet Offensive of early 1968, Hanoi agreed to hold talks with U.S. representatives in Paris. The North Vietnamese, however, used the resulting talks with the Johnson administration not to negotiate in any traditional sense but to probe the intentions of Washington and to manipulate domestic and world opinion. Hanoi continued this charade for approximately a year, until domestic and international circumstances forced a meaningful reassessment of its position on a negotiated settlement of the war with the United States. This article explores that reassessment, as well as the evolution of North Vietnam's diplomatic strategy thereafter. Specifically, it considers the factors that conditioned the thinking and policies of Vietnamese Communist leaders, including the balance of forces below the seventeenth parallel and the behavior of close allies in Beijing and Moscow vis-à-vis the United States. The article proposes that military and economic setbacks in the South and in the North combined with recognition of the limits of socialist solidarity forced Hanoi to talk secretly and then to negotiate seriously with the Nixon administration and, ultimately, to accept a peace settlement that fell far short of the goals set by the Vietnamese Communists at the onset of the war.

Arab Spring: A Partial Awakening

The Arab Spring has affected interests of the Western democracies in the Middle and Near Eastern nations, and the instability will compel changes in American policies for the region. There have been political revisions and in some cases nontraditional modifications in moribund autocracies and dictatorships across the Arab world, reaching to the Arab and Persian Gulfs. The awakening has been enervated by violent responses from more cohesive and profound dictatorships in Syria and Libya, but the “leaderless” model of the awakening can quickly bring together disparate groups working toward a common goal. As the process across the Arab world unfolds, American interests will need to be addressed in ways different from the past. New American wars will not be a promising option. The region’s challenges require a serious and consistent policy toward resolving the core issues of instability, and that includes overcoming domestic opinion and lobbies that work against a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. The current demographic prospect is that Israel will lose its Zionist hopes by the forced integration of Palestinians who have lost their own hope of a viable and independent nation.

Repatriation and the Limits of Resolve: Japanese War Criminals in Australian Custody

In 1953, the Australian government repatriated convicted Japanese war criminals. These were the last war criminals held by the wartime allies to be returned to Japan. The Australian government's decision to repatriate war criminals was made after a complex series of negotiations with other wartime allies and within the government itself. At play was the need to balance domestic opinion and the interests of the Australian government with a desire to have similar policies on war criminals to those of key allies such as the United States. Moreover, after 1952, Japan and Australia entered a new era of diplomatic and economic relations, far removed from the immediate postwar years. Official sources reveal that the Australian government aimed to strike a balance between maintaining a tough stance on Japanese war criminals and not hampering the emerging new era of foreign relations with Japan.

Russia at War: Chechnya, Georgia, and Theories of Foreign Policy

This paper considers the recent Russian conflicts in Chechnya and Georgia under the umbrella of four theories of Russian foreign policy. The historical continuity theory sees Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, and the modern Russian Federation as primordially aggressive and imperialist, and interprets recent aggressive moves in that light. The imposed insecurity theory holds that Russian stability depends on the instability of its neighbors in its perceived sphere of influence. The diversionary tensions theory sees foreign conflict as a means of solidifying domestic opinion behind the government's policy and against the corrosive influences of the West. The economic enabling theory sees economic prosperity as a prerequisite to a restoration of Russian prominence on the world stage. This paper considers the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia over the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as well as two-decade-long conflict in the Chechnya region. In studying a domestic conflict (Chechnya) as well as the more recent international incident, the paper shows the overlap between Russian foreign and domestic policy, finding distinctive policy patterns in post-Soviet Russian policy on both levels.

Russia at War: Theories of Foreign Policy in Light of Chechnya and Georgia

This paper considers the recent Russian conflicts in Chechnya and Georgia under the umbrella of four theories of Russian foreign policy. The historical continuity theory sees Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, and the modern Russian Federation as primordially aggressive and imperialist, and interprets recent aggressive moves in that light. The imposed insecurity theory holds that Russian stability depends on the instability of its neighbors in its perceived sphere of influence. The diversionary tensions theory sees foreign conflict as a means of solidifying domestic opinion behind the government's policy and against the corrosive influences of the West. The economic enabling theory sees economic prosperity as a prerequisite to a restoration of Russian prominence on the world stage. This paper considers the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia over the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as well as two-decade-long conflict in the Chechnya region. In studying a domestic conflict (Chechnya) as well as the more recent international incident, the paper shows the overlap between Russian foreign and domestic policy, finding distinctive policy patterns in post-Soviet Russian policy on both levels.