Political Controversy Research Articles

London’s First Public Library: Books and Readers at Sion College, ca. 1630–60

ABSTRACT In 1632, John Milton went to live with his parents outside of London and undertook a rigorous program of reading. Scholars have long wondered which, if any, institutional collections he might have consulted. This question offers the opportunity to bring attention to London’s first public library, where Milton may well have studied, in its earliest decades. Formed for the benefit of the London clergy, Sion College is shown to have welcomed readers of various backgrounds from as far away as Germany and New England. Already by this date its collection was global in scope, including writings ranging from a vocabulary of Algonquian to the Persian poetry of Saadi of Shiraz. That the college became embroiled in political controversy amidst the turmoil of the English Revolution testifies to its importance as an intellectual hub in the heart of London.

In masks we trust: explicit and implicit reactions to masked faces vary by political orientation

Previous studies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that wearing a medical-style mask affects whether a stranger’s face is judged as more trustworthy, socially desirable, or likely to be ill. However, given political controversies around mask use, these effects might vary by political orientation. In a pre-registered online experiment, we measured evaluations of trustworthiness, social desirability and perceived illness in masked and unmasked faces by 1241 British and US participants. We included questions on political orientation, along with the implicit online-VAAST approach/avoid task to test reaction times to masked/unmasked faces. There was a medium-sized effect of masks on trustworthiness and a significant interaction with political orientation, in that conservatives found masked faces less trustworthy than did liberals. Participants were quicker to approach masked than unmasked faces, but conservatives were relatively slower than liberals. The effects on trustworthiness suggest that differential moralization of novel social norms can affect how their adherents are evaluated in terms of their suitability for social interactions. Furthermore, the congruence between implicit and explicit methods implies that such differences can have deep-seated effects on reactions.

Media Salience Shifts and the Public’s Perceptions About Reality: How Fluctuations in News Media Attention Influence the Strength of Citizens’ Sociotropic Beliefs

ABSTRACT This article examines whether shifts in news media attention to societal issues matter for how strong beliefs citizens have about those issues. Based on an issue signal approach, in which media salience is conceptualized as signal strength, the study analyzes whether sociotropic beliefs become more prevalent, extreme, and certain when news media salience rises, and less prevalent, extreme, and certain when media salience drops. Using a four-wave panel survey dataset collected over a two-year period, the empirical analysis links media content analyses of issue salience to panel survey data, comparing four issues with different levels of baseline salience and political controversy: violent crimes, immigration, climate change, and antibiotic resistance. The analysis shows that issue-specific news media exposure and issue-specific use of alternative media offer two different pathways to the formation of beliefs. The hypothesized relationship with news media salience was supported for the two controversial issues with high baseline salience (immigration and violent crimes), but not for climate change and antibiotic resistance. The results indicate that issue attributes matter and that audiences may respond differently to salience shifts depending on the level of controversy of the issue.

Basic types and evolutionary characteristics of the socialist built heritage in China, 1949–1978: bibliometrics analysis of the People’s Daily

The socialist built heritage (SBH) is a product of the great and typical socialist construction and is considered to be one of the unique contemporary legacies. However, due to political controversy and a shorter history, its conservation status is dire. In order to better understand and promote future conservation, this study explored the typology and evolution of SBH, using representative socialist China as an example. Based on the official People’s Daily, the spatial term database of various socialist construction fields was generated by utilizing Python and Excel software. Through qualitative logical induction and quantitative word frequency statistics, the basic types and evolutionary characteristics of SBH were obtained. It was found that (1) the composite, multiscale, and extensive SBH were identified as twenty-six basic types. It was most widespread in the industry and agroforestry fields, while factories and facilities, collective organization buildings, government agencies, and assembly buildings were the most common basic types. (2) Related to social development, the fastest growth stage for SBH was from 1953 to 1960 and vice versa from 1966 to 1975. The evolution of SBH in technology field shifted from a non-significant increase to a sudden increase, while those in the finance and trade, and diplomacy fields fluctuated. The remaining fields were marked by large fluctuations to smoothness. The nature of SBH has become more modernized over time. These results further illustrated the distinctive value of the SBH, and can provide positive targeted support for their conservation.

‘Real National Work’: The Politics of Nazi Race Science in Upper Silesia, 1934–1942

Abstract This article analyses the political and scientific controversy surrounding a race science project undertaken by the anthropologist Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt under National Socialism. Beginning in 1934, Eickstedt and his team of assistants conducted a series of racial studies on the population of Upper Silesia, a contested borderland in East Prussia. Motivated by a nationalist desire to counter the work of Polish anthropologists in the region, Eickstedt argued that the population of Upper Silesia belonged predominantly to the so-called ‘Nordic race’ and that the territory was thus fundamentally German. Nazi officials, however, viewed the Silesian studies with alarm, since the results also appeared to show that people in the area were a racial mixture and that the ‘Nordic race’ made up less than 40 per cent of the population in some locales. They worried that Eickstedt’s studies could undermine Germany’s territorial claims in the region and threaten national unity. The ensuing controversy presents a case in which the anthropological concept of ‘race’, rather than serving its usual role in Nazi thinking as the biological underpinning of the Volk (or people), threatened to undermine its coherence. The reaction to Eickstedt’s Silesian studies demonstrates a lack of consensus on race within the Nazi system, suggesting that understandings of race in Nazi Germany were neither as coherent nor as uniform as the paradigm of the ‘racial state’ has assumed.

The wages of luxury: Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda resort as iconic brand and political symbol (1960–1975)

ABSTRACT The 1960s in Italy saw an explosion in mass tourism but also the development of contested forms of luxury tourism. This article deals with the building of one of the most iconic luxury resorts of the era, the Costa Smeralda on the island of Sardinia, and with the political controversies it raised. Within a few years, the resort put Sardinia on the map of world tourism, drawing the attention of conservationists, who chose it as a symbol of environmental and cultural degradation. In the early 1970s the Aga Kahn, the resort’s main promoter, sued some of the conservationists for defamation. The resulting trials, which the Aga Kahn won, became a venue in which the myths of the developers and those of the conservationists clashed in front of witnesses and judges. The trial’s records revealed the compromises and negotiations on which luxury tourism is founded, but such demythologisation benefited the developers, at least in the short run. The Costa Smeralda remained an iconic brand and a contested symbol, but above all it spurred a transition from large-scale manufacturing to tourism as Sardinia’s main economic vocation.

Heroes and Villains in Colonial California

The canonization of St. Junípero Serra in 2015 reignited a longstanding debate concerning the character and effect of the Franciscan missions in New Spain. The abundant literature on Serra and the missions encompasses sharply divergent views, with depictions of Serra ranging from saintly hero to genocidal monster. This article summarizes the historiography on Serra, examines contentious issues in the literature, and considers the relationship between historical scholarship and contemporary cultural and political controversies.

Пандемия COVID-19: экономические и политические последствия

In March 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus has reached the stage of a pandemic. With over 700 million cases of the disease and close to 7 million deaths recorded through May 2023 it turned out to have become the most disastrous pandemic after the Spanish flu of 1918–1919. It had a severe impact on all spheres of human life. In addition to having caused a huge stress of the public health care systems, it affected the functioning of the political and economic systems of all countries. This paper provides an analysis of economic and political consequences of the pandemic, gives an overview of its human toll, and discusses the unresolved issue of SARS-CoV-2 origin. The economic consequences of the pandemic, including reduction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), trade and travel, growth in unemployment rate, etc. were quite significant. Political aspects included the ability of the countries’ leadership to provide a justified, solid and well-coordinated response to the threat as well as trust in the activities of a government on behalf of citizens. Not all politicians were able to meet the high standards of performance in the emergency situation. Unwillingness of western countries to acknowledge the efficacy of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is an example of political and economic controversies between states. The probability of the occurrence of similar pandemics in the future is rather high. Utilizing the lessons learned from the COVID-19, scaling up the investments in the diseases surveillance and response systems, in hospital preparedness as well as in scientific research and vaccines development along with international cooperation, transparency and information sharing between countries on the above issues is crucial for facilitating the pandemic response in the future and avoiding the challenges encountered during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020–2023.

Антонин Дворжак и идеи чешского панславизма в последней трети XIX века

The article examines the influence of the ideas of Pan-Slavism on the culture of Czechia at the end of the XIX century. For the first time, Czech pan-Slavism is consistently chronologically examined (from the 1860s to the 1890s) from three perspectives: its manifestations in a political way, in the cultural dialogue between the Czech Republic and Russia and in the life and work of Dvorak. The article focuses on the interaction between cultural and political life in Prague, revealing the debate between two political parties ("Young Czechs" and "Old Czechs") and controversies in the Czech press that divided the musical world between supporters of Smetana and Dvorak. The study places significant emphasis on Dvorak’s work in a broad context related to pan-Slavism in the context of Pan-Slavism in the spheres of political, social, and cultural life, including literature and music criticism.

How are political parties in Indonesia responding to the environmental crisis?

The environmental issues of living have become a crucial issue in the development of Indonesia in the last few decades. The issue of environmental management has been a narrative that has always been debated in political controversy events since the collapse of the Soeharto regime, and is still a very difficult homework to solve by the post-Suharto regime. Democracy also continues to push for improvements in environmental governance such as strengthening the role of civil society in overseeing state policies, increasingly sharp media role in investigating environmental damage and corrupt policies, and increasingly open public awareness. Environmental issues such as mining policies, the displacement of forests, the grinding of sea sand, mollusks and so on seem to be not very prominent in political party discussions. Even life-related issues are not central to political parties. Very few political parties put environmental issues in their vision and mission, which is why the study focuses on political narrative and how intensely political parties raise environmental themes in political party discussions in Indonesia. The political approach to the living environment is the basis of this study which is elaborated with netnographic studies to review the political narrative of the life environment by the party.

NEWLY FOUND DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE DECISION OF THE BULGARIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ABOUT THE OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY THROUGH BULGARIA IN 1972

The Munich Olympic Games in 1972 were organized and held in the atmosphere of political and ideological controversies, which directly affected the organization and the Olympic Torch Relay along the route Olympia – Munich. This article aims to present newly found evidence about Bulgaria’s participation in planning the overall route of the Olympic Torch Relay across the country. The manuscript includes various documents and scientific and popular publications systematized through content analysis, comparative analysis, and critical analysis. In the course of the research, we also found 32 articles in periodicals. We researched some books and publications by foreign and Bulgarian authors, documents preserved in the regional libraries, the central state archive, the regional archives, and the archives of the Bulgarian Union for Physical Culture and Sport (BUPCS) and “Bulgarian Photography”. The research traced the difficulties and influences making the Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC) doubtful about the organization of the Olympic Torch Relay. On the basis of the newly found documents, we can have a clearer view of the political and ideological influences on BOC determining the decision on this matter.

Electric vehicles for climate, a green economy, or independence? Comparing policy discourse in newspapers across three Canadian provinces

In efforts to increase the uptake of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), many regions rely on demand-focused policies such as purchase incentives. Fewer regions also implement strong supply-focused policies such as a zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) sales mandate. We explore policy discourse regarding implementation of different PEV policies, using as case studies the Canadian provinces of British Columbia (BC), Ontario, and Québec—the latter of which was the first to implement a ZEV mandate. Using a selection of 984 newspaper articles printed in 2008–2018, we analyze statements from governments, industry, and other actors about PEV technology and policy via content and discourse analysis. In all case studies, provincial governments framed PEVs as mixed private-public goods, and framed PEV policy as needed to achieve climate goals, while improving the functional limitations such as price and performance. Otherwise, policy discourses differed widely. BC's discourse included broad support for purchase incentives, while Ontario's discourse was mired in political controversy regarding the economic impacts of all climate policies. Québec was the only case study that demonstrated open support for supply-focused PEV policy by government and advocacy groups, namely the ZEV mandate. The government-led storyline uniquely emphasized two societal goals in the province: climate mitigation and economic independence. Across cases, the successful implementation of PEV policy is associated with storylines that emphasize high priority societal issues, along with an absence of convincing political or industrial opposition. This policy discourse approach can shed light on why policymakers in different regions gravitate towards different policy approaches.

Fake news and the political economy of the media: A perspective of Ghanaian journalists

The enduring rate at which fake news is disrupting the political economy of the media is the subject of this study. Using a largely qualitative instrument of intensive interviews with 18 journalists purposively selected for the study, we discovered that fake news is one of the banes of journalism in Ghana. Fake news's notorious role in the political and economic realities of the country is not uncommon, as it has created uncountable political controversies. With several of the country's media owned by politicians or persons with a vested interest in politics, it became a practice for players to utilise fake news as a propaganda tool to outwit their competitors through the media. For these architects to fully achieve their goal, social media and affiliated mainstream media were used as instruments to propagate fabricated content against their opponents, especially during the 2020 general elections. This paper also identified the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in the creation of fake news content. The study recommends the need for media organisations in the country to seek the services of fact-checkers as a means of verifying stories, as well as to intensify education on the identification of fake news and possible flagging.

Debt restructurings, debt grifting and the limits of contractualism

AbstractThis article critically examines corporate restructuring plans and schemes in the United Kingdom and United States and third‐party releases in the context of such corporate restructurings. So far, the practice has been more extensively examined in the United States rather than the United Kingdom and the practice has been castigated as ‘debt grifting’, that is, third parties getting the benefit of a bankruptcy discharge without going through the formal bankruptcy process. This article acknowledges some of these criticisms. It also suggests that, if third‐party releases become more widespread in the United Kingdom, this is likely to militate against the success of the United Kingdom as an international corporate restructuring venue. This is particularly the case if the underlying debt is disputed or gives rise to social or political controversy. The article is divided into five parts. After the first introductory part, the second part will examine how debts are restructured in the large corporate context in the United Kingdom and how third‐party releases are important for this endeavour. The third part will examine the equivalent position in the United States. The fourth part explores how the restructuring solutions currently on the table push up against the limits of contractually derived solutions. The final part concludes.

How Will the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 Affect the Principle of EU-Law Conforming Construction in UK Law?

Abstract Following prolonged political controversy, the provisions from the initial Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill which abolish general principles of EU law, as well as its supremacy, have been enacted. This article investigates whether this is likely to affect the principle of EU-law conforming construction, and contemplates three scenarios how EU-derived UK law might be interpreted in the future.

Discourse on Peace and Balance of Power in Early Eighteenth-Century English Political Sermons

In the public debate on the English involvement in the War of the Spanish Succession, and over time, on the peace that would end the prolonged war, sermons occupy a special place among the various political mediums of the time. After briefly reviewing the main features of the political controversy, the present study specifically examines two political sermons by the English churchman John Adams (1662–1720), in which the discourse on balance of power is organically present, reinforcing the theme of the need for a “good peace”. In Adams’ sermons, published in 1709 and 1711, respectively, the notion of Christian joy and prosperity as well as the glad tidings of the securing of Protestant succession in the form of a future peace were given explicit emphasis alongside the discourse on balance of power. Both sermons were delivered on thanksgiving days, therefore – while supporting the anti-war, pro-peace Tory propaganda – they have a strong emphasis on predictions of the positive prospects for Christian spirituality. The paper focuses on the conceptual analysis of these delightful promises, showing how Adams considered the effects of a prospective peace on the Christian religion in general as well as on the future of the balance of power both at home and in Europe.

Domestic Debate and International Office: Sweden in the UN Security Council 2017–18

Abstract Through an explanation of the domestic political controversy that surrounded the most recent Swedish candidature and subsequent membership of the UN Security Council 2017–18, this article contributes to our understanding of the domestic–foreign policy nexus in two respects. First, it conceptualizes a domain of foreign policy priorities. Issues within this domain are likelier to deviate from a consensual pattern of foreign policy by sparking conflict, as they provoke competing national role conceptions among the foreign policy elite. Second, it refines results from previous study on the executive–legislative relationship in foreign policy. It confirms the association between party conflict on substantive foreign policy and a higher level of parliamentary control on the government. The conflict on substance leads to a decline in trust among members of parliament in opposition, which may motivate the continuation of parliamentary control through available instruments also after the conflict on substance is settled. The analysis is conducted in three descriptive steps: (1) the domestic-institutional context of decision-making, (2) partisan divides, and (3) the executive–legislative relationship. It utilizes a variety of sources, including parliamentary debates, governmental and parliamentary assessments, and interviews with diplomats and senior officials.

The Weaver Street bombing in Belfast 1922: violence, politics and memory

AbstractOn 13 February 1922, an unidentified person threw a bomb into Weaver Street, which was full of Catholic children at play, killing four children and two women. The bombing became a locus of political controversy between the British government, the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State and the government of Northern Ireland, and became the archetypal story of innocent Catholic lives taken by the intercommunal conflict in the six counties which became Northern Ireland in 1920‒22. This article seeks to contribute to the understanding of the role of this intercommunal conflict in Irish and British politics, using the Weaver Street bombing as a case study. This article analyses nationalist representation of the conflict as an orchestrated campaign against Catholics, ‘a pogrom’; unionist representation of the conflict as loyalist self-defence against the I.R.A.; and the British government's effort to publicly maintain neutrality in the conflict.

Religious lobbying and policy influence: Christian interest group impacts around the legalization of same‐sex marriage in England and Wales

AbstractThe influence of religious groups in democratic policy making has often been a source of political controversy. In the United Kingdom, the legalization of same‐sex marriage in England and Wales may in some ways be thought to exemplify the weakening social position and policy power of the churches. Drawing on a mixture of methods—including analysis of newspaper coverage, legislative debates, and policy documents, plus interviews—this article assesses the extent to which Christian interest groups achieved different forms of policy‐related influence, and its dynamics. It finds that, despite important failures, these groups nonetheless achieved various types of success, including over the policy debate, small policy shifts, and “counteractive” influence, reflecting both the weaknesses and persisting strengths of Christianity within British society. The findings are likely to have wider implications for understanding the policy strengths of religious actors in similar contexts of socio‐religious change elsewhere.Related ArticlesBramlett, Brittany H. 2012. “The Cross‐Pressures of Religion and Contact with Gays and Lesbians, and their Impact on Same‐Sex Marriage Opinion.” Politics & Policy 40(1): 13–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00337.x.Ledet, Richard. 2017. “Sorting the Left from the Rest: The Communitarian Religious Perspective and Liberal Economic Attitudes.” Politics & Policy 45(6): 1051–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12238.Tubadji, Annie. 2023. “You'll Never Walk Alone: Loneliness, Religion, and Politico‐Economic Transformation.” Politics & Policy 51(4): 661–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12538.

Spatial–temporal distribution and evolution of the socialist built heritage in China, 1949–1978

As the material product of socialist construction activities, the socialist built heritage (SBH) represents socialist-era achievements and has unique cultural value. However, political controversy and inadequate conservation awareness have produced an unprecedented crisis. The aim of this study was to draw worldwide attention to the value of SBH to promote future conservation. Taking the socialist country of China as a representative example, the spatial distribution and spatial–temporal evolution of SBH during the Socialist Revolution and Construction Period (1949–1978) were explored using GIS analysis tools from typological and holistic perspectives. A geographic detector was also applied to reveal the driving factors that affected the distribution. The results indicate that (1) from both perspectives, the SBH presented uneven and clustering distributions compared with other heritages. High-density areas varied by heritage type but were virtually nonexistent in western and northwestern China. (2) Growth stages existed to different degrees for most types and the holistic SBH, primarily from 1953 to 1965. The centers of military heritage, industrial heritage, transport heritage, and the holistic SBH all exhibited north-to-south migration with narrowing and clustering of range areas. Cities such as Beijing were identified as hotspots. (3) GDP, financial revenue and capital investment constituted the major positive driving factors for the SBH distribution and interacted with other factors, with average altitude ∩ GDP having the strongest interpretation. These findings reveal the spatial–temporal distribution characteristics of Chinese SBH and provide concrete guidance and positive foundations for future conservation in China and the world.