{"title":"It’s because of the cross-border commuters: opposing the free movement of persons in the Swiss borderlands with the European Union","authors":"Laurent Bernhard, Lukas Lauener","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1360265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1360265","url":null,"abstract":"Scholarly work on populism and borders have largely followed separate paths so far. This article aims at bringing together these two strands by means of an empirical analysis of individual attitudes on a re-bordering policy in the context of a national-populist mobilization against the free movement of persons. Recent contributions on border regions in affluent countries have highlighted an increased opposition to European integration that is fueled by political actors from the populist radical right. We hypothesize that border residents are more opposed to the free movement of persons than non-border residents the more they are exposed to the influx of cross-border workers. The empirical analysis draws on a representative post-vote survey from the so-called “VOTO studies” on a popular initiative by the radical right that demanded Switzerland’s termination of the free movement of persons with the European Union in 2020. In line with our hypothesis, we find a significant positive interaction effect between border residence and the share of cross-border commuters on the likelihood to vote in favor of this proposition. While border residence turns out to be insufficient to foster increased re-bordering attitudes, we show that the magnitude of incoming cross-border commuters makes a difference.","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":"54 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141923868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. P. Raveau, C. Fuentes-Bravo, Miguel Ángel Fernández, J. P. Couyoumdjian, María José del Solar
{"title":"“It's not the what but (also) the how”: characterizing left-wing populism in political texts","authors":"M. P. Raveau, C. Fuentes-Bravo, Miguel Ángel Fernández, J. P. Couyoumdjian, María José del Solar","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1435712","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1435712","url":null,"abstract":"Despite all the elasticity and even ambiguity surrounding the concept of populism, the existing paradigms converge in the recognition of a populist rhetoric. By using Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools we propose a set of linguistic and discursive markers to identify populist markers in Presidential speeches. The performance of these markers is subsequently tested against the Global Populism Database (GPD). We set-up a multinomial regression model to study the predictive power of these markers on the GPD populist score, focusing on left-wing populist leaders in Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. We are thus able to characterize (left-wing) populism as a style of communication, as well as to understand what is behind this rhetoric. Our results show that ingroup and emotional content are more present in populist speeches. We also find a positive relation between populism and the use future tense and conditional connectors, which suggest an intention to manipulate the audience. These results have implications both for the current understanding of (left-wing) populist rhetoric and for the conceptualization of populism itself.","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141928336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial: Resilient cities and migration governance: when developing migration governance capacity becomes a policy priority for cities","authors":"R. Zapata‐Barrero","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1448589","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1448589","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":"5 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141641411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Agency and structure in the age of European disintegration","authors":"Vittorio Orlando, Maximilian Conrad","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1383485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1383485","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses the causal factors behind the Brexit vote, aiming to contribute to the literature on European disintegration. It addresses how, amidst external factors such as the EU debt crisis and the 2015 refugee crisis, pre-existing ideological forces deeply ingrained in a society can surface and steer a country's trajectory in relation to European integration. Employing a rigorous process-tracing design, it highlights the forces that led to the referendum and its outcome, identifying key patterns that can be extrapolated to comparable cases within the field of EU integration theory. The analysis operates at two levels: it scrutinizes the constraints faced by Cameron's government in the lead-up to the vote, and it probes the British electorate's attitude toward EU and how it was influenced by the Leave campaign. The study draws from an empirical case to identify some of the patterns of this ongoing political process.","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":"45 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141663822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How did refugees and migrants’ solidarity initiatives become an intervention for disaster and humanitarian response during the COVID-19 pandemic in Cape Town, South Africa?","authors":"Celse Sebakwiye, Fred Bidandi","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1346643","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1346643","url":null,"abstract":"The impact of COVID-19 on refugees and migrants in South Africa has been profound and multifaceted. Refugees, that is, people who are vulnerable due to displacement, have faced a series of challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. These challenges include health risks, limited healthcare access, economic hardships, food insecurity, disruptions in education, mental health concerns, stigmatization, and xenophobia. The pandemic disrupted asylum procedures and hindered the delivery of humanitarian assistance. While there were efforts to address these issues, the highlighting the need for targeted support and policies to protect and assist this vulnerable population during and after the pandemic. Refugees and migrant communities are among the most vulnerable groups during disasters and humanitarian responses. This vulnerability could be exacerbated by their presence in foreign lands, where they are legitimately discriminated against due to illegality, unrecognized documents/permits, or simply being foreign. Additionally, when new arrivals or immigrant groups are perceived as poorly integrated or as rivaling locals for limited resources, declining public support might occasionally limit the scope for robust humanitarian protection measures. To minimize the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the South African government implemented a financial stimulus package that supported complimentary monitoring measures for the citizens. However, the government’s response to refugees and migrants focused mainly on closing the land border, with limited social protection for refugees and asylum seekers. Perhaps the most significant benefit of COVID-19 was global solidarity to curb its spread and humanitarian assistance in the areas of health, finance, and other relief items such as food. One can assume that the collective self of the global community exhibited high levels of solidarity despite some discrimination being observed in the areas of vaccines. Indeed, disaster-stricken communities need solidarity, not charity, as observed during the pandemic. This article theorizes how the existing structure of solidarity scholarship purposefully incorporates both the necessity of tangible responses to people’s needs and the alternative conceptions of participation and self-organization. This study utilized a qualitative approach, collecting data from selected migrant and refugee communities in urban centers of Cape Town, including participants from Bellville central business district (CBD), Parow Centre, Goodwood Centre, and Cape Town CBD, who provided humanitarian support during the pandemic. In total, seven interviews were carried out, and participants were selected depending on their availability using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were analyzed thematically based on the research question. The study drew on the pragmatic realities of refugees and migrants’ solidarity initiatives and explored how they contributed to the COVID-19 h","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":"118 27","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141666873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jenny Lindholm, Jesper Eklund, Kim Strandberg, Tom Carlson, Sören Andersson
{"title":"Beyond negativity? A laboratory study on emotional responses to populist strategies on social media","authors":"Jenny Lindholm, Jesper Eklund, Kim Strandberg, Tom Carlson, Sören Andersson","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1415403","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1415403","url":null,"abstract":"This exploratory laboratory study analyzes emotional responses to two types of populist strategies on social media platforms. We focus on emotional responses to content expressing ordinariness (on Instagram) and victimhood (on TikTok), where the content creator is a right-wing populist leader who is unfavorably perceived by the respondents in the study. Thus, the study critically tests the effectiveness of de-demonization strategies used by populist leaders to diversify the electorate. The research employs a combination of facial expressions analysis and two self-report measures of emotions to investigate the emotional responses elicited by populist strategies in individuals belonging to an out-group. Additionally, we examine the interrelation between psychophysiological measures and self-reported emotions. In doing so, the study makes a methodological contribution by advancing our understanding of emotional response processes and the methodologies employed to measure emotional responses. The results reveal positive and negative emotional responses, challenging the prevailing emphasis on negative emotions in response to out-group communication. However, the facial expressions and the self-reported emotions do not correlate. Our interpretation underscores the role of cognitive reasoning processes in differentiating emotional responses to political out-group social media content.","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":"92 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141683540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Representing Scotland: Conservative narratives of nation, union, and Scottish independence","authors":"Coree Brown Swan, Paul Anderson","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1392346","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1392346","url":null,"abstract":"The United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union reignited the debate about Scottish independence, requiring statewide political parties to rearticulate the case for the Union. The UK Conservative Party, as the party of government and one with a tumultuous history vis-à-vis Scotland and devolution, was at the fore in making this case. This article explores representations of Scotland, its position within the United Kingdom, and Scottish nationalism as a political force by the Conservative Party at a prolonged moment of significant political and constitutional tension. We focus, therefore, on 2019 to 2024, a parliamentary term and political period defined by protracted debates on Scotland’s place within the Union, playing out against the backdrop of the Brexit negotiations, the Covid-19 pandemic, and a worsening cost-of-living crisis. To this end, we draw upon parliamentary debates, two daily English newspapers (The Daily Telegraph and the Sun) and two online right-leaning news sites (ConservativeHome and The Spectator online). Our analysis identifies three distinct but interrelated strands in Conservative representations of Scotland, each of which is centred on a contrast. First, a distinction between an inclusive unionism versus a narrow nationalism; second, a largely economic narrative, contrasting a prosperous union with the economic risks of independence; and finally, a contrast between governmental competence at Westminster and the SNP-led Scottish Government failing Scotland. These contrasting narratives elucidate the ways in which Conservatives construct representations of Scotland, particularly at moments of constitutional contestation.","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" 47","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141372716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public trust and state management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria","authors":"K. Q. Abayomi","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1334827","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1334827","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic generated an unprecedented global crisis with long-lasting consequences. In this study, I examine the bi-directional nexus between public trust and the management of the pandemic in Nigeria. I argue that there is a relationship between government management of public policies and the level of public trust. The research draws on the Theory of Trust, in-depth interviews (IDI), and focus group discussions (FGD) and is supported by other secondary sources. I found that the main reason for citizens’ resistance to major policies introduced to contain the spread of the pandemic was due to an entrenched lack of trust in the government, its agencies, and officials. The findings also indicate that a lack of transparency and accountability in the management of the pandemic deepened the already fractured public trust. This was particularly visible in the shrouded pattern of disbursing cash transfers, allegations of corruption against the managers of the pandemic, and evidence of concealed palliatives meant to cushion the negative economic effects of the pandemic. The article recommends that the government needs to promote public trust by adopting an open governance approach that institutionalises transparency and accountability, fosters constant and consistent citizen engagement on government policies and programmes, strengthens critical agencies, and engenders a sense of belonging for all citizens.","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":" 32","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141372546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Analyzing the rhetoric of contemporary BSMRSTU student movements: manifestations and social implications in Gopalganj, Bangladesh","authors":"Abul Kalam, Md. Al-Mamun","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1307615","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1307615","url":null,"abstract":"The rich tapestry of student politics and movements in Bangladesh is marked by a history of significant contributions to the country's sociopolitical landscape. This study was prompted by a keen interest in exploring the dynamics of contemporary student movements at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University (BSMRSTU), Gopalganj, and their interplay with the broader sociopolitical climate of Bangladesh. A critical examination of these movements reveals a complex web of motivations, strategies, and outcomes that both mirror and influence national sociopolitical dialogues.Employing qualitative research methods, including in-depth interviews (IDI) with 26 individuals directly affected by the culture and mechanics of these movements, this study uncovers the nuanced ways in which student activism at BSMRSTU mobilizes cultural ideologies toward societal change. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were utilized to select participants, revealing that the rhetoric of movements—framed around justice, rights, equality, and reform—plays a crucial role in recruiting and energizing participants.However, this investigation also highlights a darker facet of these movements: the destructive consequences of specific actions, such as property damage, which not only impact the immediate community but also fuel further unrest. The prevalence of movements centered on themes of injustice underscores the urgent need for both governmental and academic institutions to engage more constructively with student concerns. Addressing this gap requires a nuanced understanding of the motivations behind student movements and a commitment to implementing policies that nurture a culture of dialogue and reform.This study, therefore, problematizes the contemporary student movements at BSMRSTU by questioning the balance between activism and the potential for unintended consequences, urging a reevaluation of how such movements are perceived and managed in the context of Bangladesh's evolving sociopolitical milieu. For harmful movement culture in academia to be prevented, government and university authorities must take student movements seriously and implement policies and strong norms.","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141376850","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Emotions of fear and anger as a discursive tool of radical right leaders in Central Eastern Europe","authors":"Vít Hloušek, M. Meislová, Vratislav Havlík","doi":"10.3389/fpos.2024.1385338","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1385338","url":null,"abstract":"The paper examines how the radical right parties´ leaders work with emotions while addressing their voters and sympathizers on Twitter/X social media. We focus on the “supply side” on the level of leaders´ discourses. The goal is to demonstrate how they work with emotions, especially those of fear and anger. The context represents Russian aggression against Ukraine, because, typically, circumstances of a crisis bolster the ability of radical right leaders to use emotional rhetoric devices. Czechia, Hungary, and Slovakia represent three particularly relevant and distinctive cases among the CEE countries according to the relevance, relative strength, and stability of radical right parties. We examined social media, particularly Twitter, since it is one of the most prominent tools of political communication today, especially for populists. We collected the data of all Tweets between February 24, 2022 and February 24, 2023. We combined a systematic quantitative content analysis with a more in-depth qualitative analysis of the key characteristics of the discursive construction of the two most salient emotions: anger and fear. We did not confirm the assumption that they would utilise the war in Ukraine since most tweets addressed issues related to domestic politics. The research, however, confirmed that despite differences, anger and fear play a substantial role in the emotional repertoire and represent necessary rhetorical devices. Our findings concur with the literature on radical right populism and its employment of emotional discourse. We found that even a crisis in international politics has been reframed primarily as a domestic issue and integrated into classical discursive practices.","PeriodicalId":502753,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Political Science","volume":"352 11‐12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141380661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}