Government Discourse Research Articles

Interrogating Healthy Community Discourse in Municipal Policies: Priorities of a Medium-Sized CMA in Ontario, Canada

The World Health Organization’s Healthy Cities movement recommends action on the determinants of health and health equity. While economic and ecological circumstances have been studied with respect to health outcomes, research shows that the relationship between these broad determinants and population health is not always clear. Municipal governments, whose relative proximity to individuals means that they are optimally situated to address local health concerns, can demonstrate political will for healthy communities by developing health community policies. Therefore, the aim of this study is to interrogate how the idea of a ‘healthy community’ has been conceptualized by municipal governments in order to inform the future uptake of the concept. This study uses a post-structural policy analysis to examine government discourse on healthy communities in a medium-sized census metropolitan area (CMA) in Ontario, Canada. The findings highlight economic growth and ecological sustainability as priorities for fostering a healthy community. With emphasis on long-standing issues linking health outcomes to broader societal conditions, this study calls on municipal governments to explicitly consider the health impacts of healthy community strategies and adoption of a Health-in-All-Policies (HiAP) approach.

An analysis of the AKP’s bureaucratic tutelage discourse in Turkey

ABSTRACT The Justice and Development Party (AKP) governments have been using a bureaucratic tutelage discourse. The literature on populism acknowledges the instrumental use of anti-bureaucratic discourse to mobilize masses. However, there is no systematic study on the ideological functions of the populist discourse against bureaucracy to sustain/transform the existing structures and power relations. The analysis of the bureaucratic tutelage discourse of AKP governments between 2002 and 2023 reveals that the bureaucratic tutelage discourse reproduces an antagonistic relation between politics and bureaucracy, and builds a common sense of bureaucracy that should be fully obedient to politics.

Making Arab socialism palatable: Egyptian housewives and the politics of food in Nasser’s Egypt

ABSTRACT This article looks at the intersection of gender, politics and domesticity in the context of Arab Socialist planning in Egypt by analysing the advice given to women around food shopping and preparation in the 1960s. Discourses around food provision and consumption as a crucial component of socialist domesticity and of state intervention positioned women at the centre of the Nasserist project – as its symbols, beneficiaries, agents and occasionally, as its antagonists. Women – housewives in particular – were responsible, in a multitude of ways for making Arab socialism comfortable and, in the case of food shopping and preparation, palatable in the context of increasing economic austerity. I argue that cooking advice, found chiefly in the women’s press but also in cookbooks, popular culture, the educational system and government discourses around food purchasing under socialism politicised the figure of the housewife in new ways, as both as a beneficiary of the food supply program and as a political subject charged with the success of Arab socialist planning.

Being "resilient" and achieving "resilience": From governmental discourses to the national research agenda in the contexts of food insecurity and cost of living.

The concept of 'resilience' is pervasive, permeating academic disciplines and political discourses. This paper considers (i) the construal of 'resilience' in the contexts of food insecurity and cost-of-living in governmental discourses in the United Kingdom (UK); (ii) to what extent the political representations are reflected in research funding calls of UK national funding bodies, thus showing possibility of shaping research agendas; and (iii) to what extent official uses of 'resilience' reflect lay understandings. We are combining a corpus-based discourse analysis of UK governmental discourses and research funding calls with a study of focus group discussions. Representations of 'resilience' are further compared with those available in general English corpora. We are observing a shift in the use of 'resilience': from an individual psychological attribute to a primarily socioeconomic and environmental characteristic. Funding calls construe resilience in relation to communities, reflecting economy and environment adaptability, whereas governmental discourses frame references to individuals in terms of 'vulnerability'. Focus groups reveal divergent conceptions of 'resilience', which may lead to potential misunderstandings. While this variety of uses may be productive in political discourses for rhetorical purposes, there is a need for specificity in shaping research and in public-facing communications.

The return of Vyborg governorate to the "inner" Russia: the legal dimension of the search for national borders

The article is devoted to the analysis of projects for joining first part and then the entire territory of the Vyborg province of the Grand Duchy of Finland to the St. Petersburg province bordering it. The features of the government discourse that emerged during the discussion of the planned transformations are considered, and a comparative analysis of cases of "symbolic" confrontation of the imperial administration with alternative national projects for territories with a special institutional structure is carried out. The object of the study is the national policy of the Russian Empire towards Finland in the 1910s, the subject is the office materials of the Special Meeting on the Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Finland and the interdepartmental Commission chaired by Secretary of State S. E. Kryzhanovsky. The main attention is paid to the draft law "On the accession of the Kivineb, Novokirk and Teriyok communities of the Vyborg province to the St. Petersburg province." The author used traditional methods for historical and legal research: analysis, synthesis, a systematic approach and formal legal. It is concluded that the projects under study, on the one hand, reflected a change in the priorities of the national policy of the Russian government from a broad program of Russification of the outskirts to the formation of the "national core" of the empire, on the other hand, represented a unique attempt to harmonize two different institutional systems and alternative approaches to political modernization. In this regard, the work places special emphasis on the limits of social and political transformations acceptable to the highest Russian bureaucracy in such matters as the class affiliation of subjects, the organization of local self-government and the unification of the legal system. The results of the study make it possible to correct traditional historiographical approaches to the national policy of the late Russian Empire, and also highlight the complex internal logic of the legislative process during the Duma monarchy.

Colonial approaches in Canadian national food policy development

The Government of Canada has claimed that the relationship with Indigenous peoples, that of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, is their most important relationship. The rhetoric around reconciliation and Indigenous-Crown relationships are a major directive within federal policy. Using the theoretical framework of discursive institutionalism, this journal article looks at how this approach has, or has not, shaped the development of a national food policy. Discursive institutionalism is critical to understanding the complex relationships and perspectives that are embedded within the development of national food policies. Looking at the reports, discourse, and actions of the federal government, this article highlights how Indigenous people continue to be seen as stakeholders, as opposed to partners in nation-to-nation relationships. This paper analyzing the government’s approach to food policy stresses that the government recognizes the importance of having a national food policy, as well as acknowledging that Indigenous people need to be a part of the process. Indigenous peoples are distinct peoples with inherent rights that must been recognized and supported by the Crown, and that understanding needs to be a part of all policies and laws that can impact Indigenous peoples and communities.

Opportunities for more ecologically centred and equitable relations in local government environmental discourse: insights from Victoria, Australia

ABSTRACT The environment is a complex, life-sustaining, biocultural system. In the context of climate change, biodiversity decline, social inequalities, and calls for transformative change, it is crucial to examine how the environment is represented in policy because environmental representations have implications for governance and material effects. Policy documents express values and shape responsibilities and actions, and power is imbued in the representations and discourses that underpin them. Local government has increasing responsibilities and expectations in relation to the environment, and unique opportunities and constraints including its proximity to the people and environments it represents. This research narrows in to analyse local government discourses in legislated four-year plans in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, for a detailed example of environmental discourses within a time and place. We ask — what are the distinct and overlapping characteristics of environmental discourses within local governments’ strategic plans, and what opportunities do they present towards more ecologically centred and equitable representations? Drawing on a taxonomy of environmental discourses developed by John Dryzek, we find alignments that indicate the dominant discourses are “reformist”. However, there are divergences that lean into the more “radical” discourses through their focus on relationships of care and stewardship of the environment, and qualitative representations of diverse communities and recognition of their political capabilities. We draw on these findings to consider opportunities and challenges of extending environmental discourses in policy towards a relational approach that centres nature and social equity.

(In)visibilized? Roma in social, family and workfare policy discourses in the authoritarian neoliberal context of Hungary

PurposeThis article explores how a disadvantaged ethnic minority is portrayed in government discourses related to social, family and workfare policies in an illiberal and authoritarian neoliberal system, using the case of Hungary and Hungarian Roma. In our paper, relying on the theory of post-raciality and, within this, the concepts of (in)visibilization, we aim to reveal to what extent Roma are perceived as the undeserving racialized poor.Design/methodology/approachWe deployed the policy frame analysis method to categorize policy discourse content into different frames: diagnostic (identification of the problem), prognostic (solutions to problems) and motivational (incentives for action to mobilize people). Three data sources were used: pro-government media articles, state-of-the-nation address speeches and the party manifesto of the governing party. The timeframe of the analysis was between 2010 and 2023. The dataset consisted of 75 documents.FindingsOnly in a few cases did we find racializing language, typically at the beginning of the analyzed period, which gradually disappeared from the discourse, followed by a more paternalistic tone. We conclude that the notions of merit and self-responsibilization have been successfully used to hide (invisibilize) the structural causes of ethnic inequalities and shift the responsibility to individual efforts. The most vulnerable Roma, who are excluded from the labor market, are perceived as not accepting the neoliberal and paternalistic “social contract.” At the same time, they are made invisible by being omitted from the official narrative.Originality/valueA wide range of literature tackles questions like how neoliberal authoritarianism is related to workfare policies and ethnic minorities. Much less is said about how vulnerable ethnic minority groups are perceived in authoritarian neoliberal regimes. This paper contributes to a better understanding of how such regimes perceive minorities: the use of the categories of racialized or non-racialized, and deserving or undeserving minorities.

Hybrid governance in selected African countries:

Governance is still a contested concept in both theory and practice. A proliferation of the concept has sprung up in literature. One comes across variations where reference is made to co-production, public governance, good governance, hybridity governance, hybrid governance, to name but a few. The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual overview of the evolution of the concept governance in general and hybrid governance particulary focused on selected African countries. It is important to clarify what hybrid governance involves, and its implications for state capacity and service delivery. Furthermore, it is imperative to discern whether hybrid governance could be a useful conceptual tool for facilitating more organised systems of service delivery in parts of Africa and South Africa, or whether it is just “new developmental jargon”. The paper employed a qualitative research approach where secondary sources of information, constituting document analysis, premised around forms of hybrid governance in selected African countries were explored. The paper makes a conceptual contribution to the collaborative international governance discourse.

Corporate Risk Disclosure Practice and Financial Performance of Listed Industrial Goods Firms in Nigeria

In recent years, corporate risk disclosure has gained increasing attention in corporate governance discourse due to its potential impact on financial performance. The need for transparency in reporting risks has become more critical, particularly in the industrial goods sector, which is often characterized by high operational and financial risks. This study examined the influence of corporate risk disclosure on the financial performance of listed industrial goods firms in Nigeria, a sector known for high levels of operational and financial risk. It specifically assessed how financial and operational risk disclosures affect financial performance. This study employed expo-facto research design. The study population consisted of 13 industrial goods firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) as of 31st December 2023. Census sampling was applied to include the entire population. Data were collected from annual reports and corporate governance disclosures were analysed with descriptive statistics and feasible generalised least squares regression analysis. The findings found that while financial risk disclosure positively and significantly influences financial performance, operational risk disclosure has a negative but significant effect. These outcomes suggest that financial transparency boosts investor trust and confidence, enhancing financial performance, whereas disclosing operational risks may reduce investor confidence due to concerns about operational stability and profitability. This study concluded that corporate risk disclosure demonstrated a significant role in influencing financial outcomes, yet its effect varies based on the type of risk disclosed. In line with empirical findings of this study, it was recommended that firms should balance transparency with discretion by selectively disclosing operational risks that have been mitigated or managed, reducing the potential for investor concerns over operational vulnerabilities.

SENTIMENT ANALYSIS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY ELECTRIC USING SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE (SVM) BASED OPTIMIZATION

Government policy regarding the discourse on the use of renewable energy in electricity, this discourse is widely discussed in the community, especially on social media twitter. The public's response to the implementation of the use of renewable energy varies, there are positive, negative and neutral responses to this government policy. Sentiment analysis is part of Machine Learning which aims to identify responses in the form of text. The data used in this study amounted to 1,367 tweets. The purpose of this study is to determine the sentiment analysis of government discourse related to the use of renewable energy using an optimisation-based Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm approach. This research involves several stages including data collection, data pre-processing, experiments and modelling and evaluation. The data is divided into 3 classes, 120 positive, 1221 neutral and 26 negative. In this research, there are five optimisation models used namely Forward Selection, Backward Elimination, Optimised Selection, Bagging and AdaBoost. The results obtained are the use of Optimised Selection (OS) optimisation with the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm obtained an increase in accuracy from 93% to 96%. The increase in the use of SVM using selection optimization obtained the highest increase, because other optimization techniques only reached 1% and 2% of the original results using the SVM algorithm, namely the accuracy value of 93% to 96% (high accuracy). From the research that has been done, it is certainly important to understand public sentiment towards renewable energy policies, especially renewable energy electricity, the hope is that this research will become a reference for the government.

Populism, anti-populism and minorities: Governmental discourses on the Romani people in Greece (2015-2022)

The beginning of the 21st century is characterized by the rise of extremism nationalism, racism and xenophobia that deeply affect minority rights, such as the Roma that face diachronically blatant discrimination and racism. Due to the fact that many of the political leaders who underestimate the rights of minorities express often a populist discourse, a debate has opened up about the relationship between populism and minorities. There are many scholars who believe that populism tends to undermine liberal features like minority protections. But is populism necessarily an anti-pluralist and anti-minority phenomenon? What about the case of left-wing populism? Why do we avoid focusing on the relationship between anti-populism and minorities? In this article, we examine the relationship between populism, anti-populism and minorities through the case of two different governmental discourses in crisis-ridden Greece. Specifically, we focus on the governmental political discourse and policies of the populist SYRIZA (2015-2019) and anti-populist ND (2019-2022) on Roma, with the aim of showing that populism is not necessarily anti-pluralist, while anti-populism is not always pluralist, as both phenomena can follow inclusionary or exclusionary logics.

Decent work deficit in India: Deterioration and determinants

Abstract India is being projected internationally as a country of good growth and good governance, which in turn, it is asserted, should lead to prosperity for its people, especially in terms of proper employment, income, and overall standard of living. Drawing on certain dimensions of decent work proposed by International Labour Organization to measure the quality of employment in India, this article explores how far the notions of good/high growth and good governance discourse are corroborated by the evidence of good quality employment in India. The study is based on the nationally representative unit/individual-level data published by the Government of India during the three periods 2009–10, 2018–19, and 2022–23. The main findings of analysis are: (a) the overall quality of employment in India is poor and stagnant or deteriorating, and (b) the macro-level (sub-national state-level) aspects, such as the overall volume of economic activities, the extent of quality governance, the flexibility of business regulatory environment and better labour law-related compliance, have had a significant negative influence on the quality of employment. Thus, this paper suggests that the very policy environment and the pattern of economic growth have put a drag on the quality of employment in India. Given this, we suggest a variety of countervailing policy options and emphasise the role of civil society and politics.

An Analysis of the Religious Solidarity Discourses Regarding the Syrian Refugees in Türkiye

Following the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, a massive migration of Syrian nationals to Türkiye has been a significant phenomenon. This situation has become a problematic issue, as the massive presence of Syrian refugees in Türkiye has become an important part of the domestic political agenda. The politicization of the refugee issue has long since presented a duality of conflicting opinions among the Turkish society, whereas it has led to political debates between pro-government and opposition groups. In light of these developments, Turkish government elites have produced discourses of religious solidarity with the aim of providing tolerance and social acceptance for Syrian refugees and thus legitimizing the open door policy of the government toward these refugees. The aim of this study is to analyze and categorize the themes that constitute the basis of the discourses of religious solidarity regarding Syrian refugees in Türkiye. In this context, a second aim is to demonstrate how these themes have been welcomed in a positive manner by their adoption and recognition by Turkish society. To these aims, governmental discourses of religious solidarity and a sample consisting of 980 posts on the digital platform X have been analyzed by using the critical discourse analysis technique and have been categorized under two discursive themes, namely the ensar–muhacir analogy and the emphases on the Ottoman legacy. The conformity between these discourses and the government’s ideological orientation and the degree to which these discourses have been welcomed and adopted by the Turkish society have been discussed in detail.

Genealogies of (anti-)Blackness in the Maghreb: Africanity, Arabness, and the French colonial legacy

This essay starts with the unstable valence of the term “African” in governmental discourses and their media treatment in Morocco and Tunisia, which vacillate between a political and cultural solidarity on the one hand, and an oppositional stance on the other hand, whereby the “Arabness” of the Maghreb is posited as oppositional to the Blackness of Africa. The essay grapples with the competing historical and epistemic frames that attempt to explain this conflicting relation. The “colonialist thesis,” whereby the origin of the “tale of two Africas” is traced back to colonial racial schemes, posits pan-Africanism as an anti-imperialist political alliance, one that sought to transcend colonial categories of belonging between so-called “Arab” and Black Africa. However, if taken in isolation, a pan-African approach can also selectively sanitize the historical relation that the Maghreb entertains with the rest of the continent. The essay discusses the urgency of re-centering the precolonial Maghrebi history of the trans-Saharan slave trade, in order to fully comprehend the history of Black and North Africa, while being cautious with importing western concepts, and reinforcing orientalist notions of Islamic “tyranny.” Ultimately, taking Eugène Delacroix’s Femme d’Alger dans leur Appartement as a case study, it argues for an entangled legacy of prejudice , whereby trans-Saharan practices of slavery become palimpsestically reconfigured through the racial schemes of French coloniality. It invites a third mode of relationality, a critically reparative stance, one that posits the necessity of more fully implicating a global audience – a Maghrebi as well as a Western one – as having historically co-constituted the sociocultural and political frameworks through which racial prejudice is reproduced.

Immunity through technification? A critical review of water governance discourses in Tunisia

AbstractAfter Tunisia's independence from France in 1956, the country was engaged in what has been termed the “supply management policy”, that is, a maximum mobilization of water resources through large‐scale modern hydraulic infrastructure. Towards the beginning of the 1980s, the country entered a crisis and had to adopt in 1986, under pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, a “Structural Adjustment Program” (SAP) that prioritized measures to improve economic efficiency and liberalize the economy. Since then, Tunisian water policy has progressively shifted towards “Integrated Water Resources Management” (IWRM). This review critically analyzes the water governance discourses that have framed these policy interventions. I will draw on academic research and official and civil society reports to suggest that these discourses have been “rendered technical”, stripping issues of any political (and therefore conflicting) character. When rendered technical discourses raise development projects and policies above the terrain of political contestation, the possibilities of action available to those opposed to them become limited. This depoliticization of development interventions through technical discourses narrows the public space of democratic debate. I will also argue that the “technification” (rendering technical) process is reversible. Opposition groups can challenge technical discourses with a critical approach that can reconfigure and alter the trajectory of governmental programs. However, critical discourses can, in turn, be rendered technical.This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance Human Water > Rights to Water

Is ‘digital transition’ a syntax error? Purpose, emergence and directionality in a contemporary governance discourse

ABSTRACT An important precondition for responsible innovation is the awareness of directionality: Dynamic innovation processes can take different, more or less favorable, turns. The ongoing wave of digital innovations exemplifies how this directionality challenges societal actors to develop new strategic dispositions. This paper critically examines the ‘digital transition’ as a rather paradoxical ‘knowing of governance’. It appears to refer simultaneously to digital instruments and directed automated futures and to rather spontaneously occurring digitalization. The analysis explores this apparent ‘syntax error’ through academic scholarship, gray literature, as well as newspaper sources. Critical discourse analysis demonstrates how directionality is obscured through various ideological representations of directed transitions but also disclosed through an increasingly rich vocabulary on emergent digitalization issues. Calling attention to the partly purposive, partly emergent nature of the transformation process, the ‘digital transition’ notion can help to express directionality.

Taiwan democracy and the conceptualization of ideological security in Tsai administration’s discourse

Utilizing the theoretical lens of securitization and the Taiwan Democracy Ideology Securitisation conceptual framework (the TDIS), this article explains how the Tsai administration (Republic of China) transforms Taiwan democracy into the issue of security by conceptualizing Taiwan’s ideological security. In this study, I employ Tsai’s administration’s governmental discourses concerning the issues of democracy and national security to understand how political language and words support an interpretation of the social realities in which Taiwan democracy could be treated as a national security object.The findings show that the Tsai administration conceptualized ‘ideological security’ to bring the issue of democracy security to the public. The conceptualization was handled in three main ways: forming Taiwan democracy as a dominant political ideology; spiritualizing Taiwan democracy as a political asset and revolutionarily ‘hard-earned’ achievement; and shaping Taiwan’s ideological security. Furthermore, the paper quantitatively demonstrated that the majority of the Taiwanese public agreed with the government’s transforming Taiwan democracy into ideological security.

Rwandan Children 30 Years Post-Genocide in Jean Hatzfeld’s Blood Papa

2024 marks the 30th commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda. For the past 30 years, the nebulous figure of the “Rwandan child” has been ubiquitous in Rwandan governmental discourse, as well as in in most Western-oriented humanitarian campaigns. This essay explores the pervasive figure of the “Rwandan child” by focusing on children born during and post-genocide to genocide survivors and perpetrators, a category of Rwandan children that is of emerging research interest. Specifically, it investigates the representation of children in Jean Hatzfeld’s Blood Papa: Rwanda’s New Generation, originally published in French in 2015, which is the most widely available collection of testimonials by children of survivors and perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. This analysis focuses on these youth’s reflections on ethnic unity, historical memory, reconciliation and futurity – key concepts undergirding Rwanda’s national post-genocidal discourse of kwibuka twiyubaka, roughly translated as “Let’s commemorate while we grow.” I argue that these youth adults’ reflections on these seminal issues both put into question Rwandan national discourse and also reveal thought-provoking insights on conditions in Rwanda post-genocide, just as another generation of Rwandan children rises to the fore.

Under the ESG Dome of China

Implementing ESG is crucial for China’s modernization journey and corporate sustainability. To deeply understand the current standing of ESG in China, this study leverages online data richness using text mining techniques, specifically Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and ego network analysis. LDA is utilized to identify prevalent discussion topics on ESG, while ego network analysis is applied to examine the relationships and influences among key stakeholders. The scientific aim of this research is to identify prevalent ESG discussion topics, examine the relationships and influences among stakeholders, and determine core ESG focus areas on Chinese society. The findings highlight popular discussion topics such as ESG investment, the ESG notion, green finance transformation, and ESG rating. These topics underscore China’s growing concern for environmental protection and social responsibility. The core discussion areas focus on sustainable development, company social responsibility, and eco-friendliness, framing harmonized progress across economic, social, and environmental realms. Interestingly, governance discourse is sparse; the reasons are analyzed. Through the analysis of online discussions on China’s ESG, this study aims to enhance policymakers’ and participants’ understanding of the true status of China’s ESG, being of practical significance for policy formulation and appropriate ESG strategies.