Pub Date : 2021-03-25DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2021.1907938
F. Bossuyt
ABSTRACT This article examines to what extent human rights NGOs influence the European Union (EU)’s promotion of human rights in the post-Soviet space, and what factors explain that influence. The article hypothesises that there will be variation in the extent to which human rights NGOs influence the EU’s human rights promotion depending on a number of factors relating to how human rights NGOs gather and transmit information. To test the hypothesised explanations, a multivariate regression analysis is applied based on data retrieved through an online survey with human rights NGOs. The article finds that human rights NGOs have a moderate degree of influence on the EU’s human rights promotion in post-Soviet countries. The NGOs’ influence depends on whether they provide information timely, whether the information provided fulfils the officials’ informational needs and is based on (scientific) research, and whether the NGOs use different tactics for conveying the information to the officials.
{"title":"The influence of interest groups on the EU’s foreign policy: assessing and explaining the influence of human rights NGOs on the EU’s human rights promotion in the post-Soviet space","authors":"F. Bossuyt","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2021.1907938","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2021.1907938","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines to what extent human rights NGOs influence the European Union (EU)’s promotion of human rights in the post-Soviet space, and what factors explain that influence. The article hypothesises that there will be variation in the extent to which human rights NGOs influence the EU’s human rights promotion depending on a number of factors relating to how human rights NGOs gather and transmit information. To test the hypothesised explanations, a multivariate regression analysis is applied based on data retrieved through an online survey with human rights NGOs. The article finds that human rights NGOs have a moderate degree of influence on the EU’s human rights promotion in post-Soviet countries. The NGOs’ influence depends on whether they provide information timely, whether the information provided fulfils the officials’ informational needs and is based on (scientific) research, and whether the NGOs use different tactics for conveying the information to the officials.","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"356 - 370"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2021.1907938","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48657185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-19DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2021.1902629
M. Sundström, E. Zhukova, Ole Elgström
ABSTRACT Since 2014, Sweden has pursued the world's first Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP). However, the effectiveness of its policy promotion depends on how Sweden's efforts to spread this norm-based policy are perceived and evaluated by other states. We argue that a policy promotion effort has to be perceived as legitimate, coherent and salient by target populations in order to be effective. We investigate the extent to which it is the case in national newspapers of 17 countries, representing world and regional powers. We demonstrate that most coverage of the FFP is rather modest, notably in non-Western countries. Further, we argue that the coverage of Sweden's FFP in foreign media is influenced by three challenges: (1) an absence of a universal definition of FFP; (2) a clash between ideals of FFP and Swedish “traditional” security and commercial interests; (3) an uneasy relationship between the concept of feminism and media in many countries.
{"title":"Spreading a norm-based policy? Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy in international media","authors":"M. Sundström, E. Zhukova, Ole Elgström","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2021.1902629","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2021.1902629","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Since 2014, Sweden has pursued the world's first Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP). However, the effectiveness of its policy promotion depends on how Sweden's efforts to spread this norm-based policy are perceived and evaluated by other states. We argue that a policy promotion effort has to be perceived as legitimate, coherent and salient by target populations in order to be effective. We investigate the extent to which it is the case in national newspapers of 17 countries, representing world and regional powers. We demonstrate that most coverage of the FFP is rather modest, notably in non-Western countries. Further, we argue that the coverage of Sweden's FFP in foreign media is influenced by three challenges: (1) an absence of a universal definition of FFP; (2) a clash between ideals of FFP and Swedish “traditional” security and commercial interests; (3) an uneasy relationship between the concept of feminism and media in many countries.","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"439 - 460"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2021.1902629","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47296294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-19DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2021.1902628
Afrimadona
ABSTRACT This article explores whether party polarisation in the American Congress affects the length of legislated sanctions. While Congress can enact sanctions, it usually authorises the president to waive, suspend or terminate them. However, Congress can prevent the president from ending a sanction if both parties can cooperate to block the presidential proposal or pass a sanction bill challenging the presidential preference. Borrowing from moderate polarisation argument that both parties can cooperate only when they are moderately polarised, I argue that the probability of sanction termination declines if Congress is moderately polarised but increases when Congress is either least or extremely polarised. This is because only under moderately polarised Congress can both parties cooperate to stop the sanction termination. I test this argument using TIES data (1945–2005) and find support for this expectation. This research contributes to our knowledge on the role of congressional dynamics in shaping American foreign policy.
{"title":"Party polarisation in the American Congress and the duration of legislated economic sanctions, 1945–2005","authors":"Afrimadona","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2021.1902628","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2021.1902628","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article explores whether party polarisation in the American Congress affects the length of legislated sanctions. While Congress can enact sanctions, it usually authorises the president to waive, suspend or terminate them. However, Congress can prevent the president from ending a sanction if both parties can cooperate to block the presidential proposal or pass a sanction bill challenging the presidential preference. Borrowing from moderate polarisation argument that both parties can cooperate only when they are moderately polarised, I argue that the probability of sanction termination declines if Congress is moderately polarised but increases when Congress is either least or extremely polarised. This is because only under moderately polarised Congress can both parties cooperate to stop the sanction termination. I test this argument using TIES data (1945–2005) and find support for this expectation. This research contributes to our knowledge on the role of congressional dynamics in shaping American foreign policy.","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"419 - 438"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2021.1902628","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48262855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-17DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2021.1902055
Fumihito Gotoh
ABSTRACT Since the 1980s, American-led financialization promoting capital and labour mobility has influenced Asia, but the Japanese and Chinese trajectories in financialization of consumption (consumer credit development) have diverged, with the 1995–2013 contraction in Japan contrasting with the skyrocketing growth in China since 2010. I argue the divergence can be attributed to the varying levels of compatibility between American financial norms and their social norms, the different timings of their integration into the global economy (the influence of ‘embedded liberalism’ or neoliberalism), and the interests of key actors of each country. Anti-liberal Japanese elites reversed the financialization of consumption to preserve anti-capitalistic ‘industrious norms’ and strong attachments to intermediary organisations, which are the cornerstones of their dominance. In contrast, economic rationalism embedded in Chinese society since late imperial China, when capital and labour mobility was enhanced by removing fixed intermediary organisations considerably under autocracy, has facilitated China’s financialization of consumption.
{"title":"Social norms and (de-)financialization: Japan’s and China’s divergent paths in consumer credit","authors":"Fumihito Gotoh","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2021.1902055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2021.1902055","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Since the 1980s, American-led financialization promoting capital and labour mobility has influenced Asia, but the Japanese and Chinese trajectories in financialization of consumption (consumer credit development) have diverged, with the 1995–2013 contraction in Japan contrasting with the skyrocketing growth in China since 2010. I argue the divergence can be attributed to the varying levels of compatibility between American financial norms and their social norms, the different timings of their integration into the global economy (the influence of ‘embedded liberalism’ or neoliberalism), and the interests of key actors of each country. Anti-liberal Japanese elites reversed the financialization of consumption to preserve anti-capitalistic ‘industrious norms’ and strong attachments to intermediary organisations, which are the cornerstones of their dominance. In contrast, economic rationalism embedded in Chinese society since late imperial China, when capital and labour mobility was enhanced by removing fixed intermediary organisations considerably under autocracy, has facilitated China’s financialization of consumption.","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"397 - 418"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2021.1902055","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43800934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-15DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2020.1868102
Beatriz Tomé-Alonso
ABSTRACT This article explores the interaction between international and domestic arenas by studying the mechanisms through which domestic actors incorporate international factors into their strategic decisions. More specifically, it investigates whether and how the international context, regional examples, and third-party actors’ foreign policies impact the process of inclusion of the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD) into Moroccan political institutions. The main contention is that the PJD selectively incorporates international experiences and insights. This article examines this dynamic by investigating the interplay of two main mechanisms, learning and adaptation, that connect internationally generated experiences and circumstances and the PJD’s strategic decisions. It focuses on three main phases of the PJD’s inclusion process: (a) the party’s first steps in the parliament (1996–1999), (b) the first years of the reign of Mohamed VI (1999–2010), and (c) the PJD’s electoral victories after the 2011 regional anti-authoritarian protests (since 2011–2012).
{"title":"What does the PJD learn from the outside? International factors and Islamist politics in Morocco","authors":"Beatriz Tomé-Alonso","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2020.1868102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2020.1868102","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article explores the interaction between international and domestic arenas by studying the mechanisms through which domestic actors incorporate international factors into their strategic decisions. More specifically, it investigates whether and how the international context, regional examples, and third-party actors’ foreign policies impact the process of inclusion of the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD) into Moroccan political institutions. The main contention is that the PJD selectively incorporates international experiences and insights. This article examines this dynamic by investigating the interplay of two main mechanisms, learning and adaptation, that connect internationally generated experiences and circumstances and the PJD’s strategic decisions. It focuses on three main phases of the PJD’s inclusion process: (a) the party’s first steps in the parliament (1996–1999), (b) the first years of the reign of Mohamed VI (1999–2010), and (c) the PJD’s electoral victories after the 2011 regional anti-authoritarian protests (since 2011–2012).","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"201 - 224"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2020.1868102","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46803770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-15DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2020.1870257
Giulia Cimini, Beatriz Tomé-Alonso
ABSTRACT Since 2011, considerable upheavals in domestic politics, shifting regional power balances and international shocks have been greatly affecting Islamist movements and parties coming to the forefront of the political arena in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. This Special Issue combines a more theoretical reflection upon the underappreciated interaction of domestic, regional and international factors with an empirical focus on the development of Islamists. It also enriches the case history of comparative politics analyses through the investigation of new relevant rational actors in countries whose political trajectories differ considerably. By opting for an inside-out perspective and actor-centered approach, we aim to overcome the ‘compartmentalization' of the three levels of analysis and the ‘obsession’ with moderation for Islamists. Borrowing a set of mechanisms first identified by social movement and policy diffusion literature, this introduction lays out the analytical framework informing all the contributions which is based on adaptation, learning, competition, and collaboration dynamics.
{"title":"Rethinking Islamist politics in North Africa: a multi-level analysis of domestic, regional and international dynamics","authors":"Giulia Cimini, Beatriz Tomé-Alonso","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2020.1870257","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2020.1870257","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Since 2011, considerable upheavals in domestic politics, shifting regional power balances and international shocks have been greatly affecting Islamist movements and parties coming to the forefront of the political arena in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. This Special Issue combines a more theoretical reflection upon the underappreciated interaction of domestic, regional and international factors with an empirical focus on the development of Islamists. It also enriches the case history of comparative politics analyses through the investigation of new relevant rational actors in countries whose political trajectories differ considerably. By opting for an inside-out perspective and actor-centered approach, we aim to overcome the ‘compartmentalization' of the three levels of analysis and the ‘obsession’ with moderation for Islamists. Borrowing a set of mechanisms first identified by social movement and policy diffusion literature, this introduction lays out the analytical framework informing all the contributions which is based on adaptation, learning, competition, and collaboration dynamics.","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"125 - 140"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2020.1870257","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48370433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-15DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2020.1868103
Giulia Cimini
ABSTRACT This article stresses the importance of learning in the transformation of an incumbent Islamist party within the context of polity re-configuration. Borrowing from the literature on diffusion and learning, it offers a case study of how Tunisia’s Ennahda Movement responded to the interplay of multi-level challenges. Main argument is that Ennahda has significantly re-tailored its positioning since the critical juncture of 2013, not only by taking the route of moderation once again, but also by exercising self-restraint under the impulse of external counter-examples. Based on process-tracing readings, the analysis contained herein demonstrates how key regional and domestic events have helped reshape the party’s political discourse and practices, designed to maximise the likelihood of its survival and progressive empowerment in a more markedly hostile environment. The paper thus empirically identifies three main strategies implemented by the party and reflecting learning on its part: readiness to negotiate, a reassuring attitude, and self-containment.
{"title":"Learning mechanisms within an Islamist party: Tunisia’s Ennahda Movement between domestic and regional balances","authors":"Giulia Cimini","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2020.1868103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2020.1868103","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article stresses the importance of learning in the transformation of an incumbent Islamist party within the context of polity re-configuration. Borrowing from the literature on diffusion and learning, it offers a case study of how Tunisia’s Ennahda Movement responded to the interplay of multi-level challenges. Main argument is that Ennahda has significantly re-tailored its positioning since the critical juncture of 2013, not only by taking the route of moderation once again, but also by exercising self-restraint under the impulse of external counter-examples. Based on process-tracing readings, the analysis contained herein demonstrates how key regional and domestic events have helped reshape the party’s political discourse and practices, designed to maximise the likelihood of its survival and progressive empowerment in a more markedly hostile environment. The paper thus empirically identifies three main strategies implemented by the party and reflecting learning on its part: readiness to negotiate, a reassuring attitude, and self-containment.","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"160 - 179"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2020.1868103","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43044387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-02-26DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2021.1891681
Emanuela Bozzini, Daniela Sicurelli
ABSTRACT Chinese food policy has changed over the last two decades from a productivist focus to embracing a precautionary approach to food safety. What are the drivers of this change? And what are the implications for the Chinese political regime? While acknowledging the relevance of global dynamics, we claim that domestic dynamics have largely accounted for this change. A series of food scandals in the 2000s has caused concerns among Chinese consumers and ultimately lead to a contested governance of food safety in the nation that has challenged the legitimacy of the regime itself. The government has responded by introducing new precautionary measures, as theorists of responsive authoritarianism would predict. Contrary to such predictions, though, the Chinese government toughened provisions to repress violations. Due to these characteristics, we conclude that the Chinese approach to food safety that emerged after the food scandals can be synthesised as a form of precautionary authoritarianism.
{"title":"Precautionary authoritarianism and the contested governance of Chinese food safety","authors":"Emanuela Bozzini, Daniela Sicurelli","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2021.1891681","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2021.1891681","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Chinese food policy has changed over the last two decades from a productivist focus to embracing a precautionary approach to food safety. What are the drivers of this change? And what are the implications for the Chinese political regime? While acknowledging the relevance of global dynamics, we claim that domestic dynamics have largely accounted for this change. A series of food scandals in the 2000s has caused concerns among Chinese consumers and ultimately lead to a contested governance of food safety in the nation that has challenged the legitimacy of the regime itself. The government has responded by introducing new precautionary measures, as theorists of responsive authoritarianism would predict. Contrary to such predictions, though, the Chinese government toughened provisions to repress violations. Due to these characteristics, we conclude that the Chinese approach to food safety that emerged after the food scandals can be synthesised as a form of precautionary authoritarianism.","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"336 - 355"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2021.1891681","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48243328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-02-18DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2021.1884376
Kaiping Zhang, Baogang He, Jinjin Wu
ABSTRACT It remains contested whether Chinese public consultation practices can be called local deliberative democracy or a sort of consultative authoritarianism. Yet, these different evaluations lack an appreciation of regional variations as well as underlying drivers. This study fills this gap by developing a political economy approach and constructing panel data of 36 Chinese cities over 12 years. Our study reveals that the functional purpose of appeasing social conflicts serves a key underlying incentive that drives China’s deliberative turn, yet heavier dependence on foreign investment in a local economy hinders public consultation. Content analysis of 3082 public hearing documents further shows that adoption of public hearings varies by regions with economically and politically advantaged municipalities being more likely to adopt consultative institutions for transparency. This study brings together the scholarship of contentious politics and deliberative politics while offering a nuanced understanding of regional differences of public consultation.
{"title":"Double trouble? Effects of social conflict and foreign investment on consultative authoritarianism in China","authors":"Kaiping Zhang, Baogang He, Jinjin Wu","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2021.1884376","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2021.1884376","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT It remains contested whether Chinese public consultation practices can be called local deliberative democracy or a sort of consultative authoritarianism. Yet, these different evaluations lack an appreciation of regional variations as well as underlying drivers. This study fills this gap by developing a political economy approach and constructing panel data of 36 Chinese cities over 12 years. Our study reveals that the functional purpose of appeasing social conflicts serves a key underlying incentive that drives China’s deliberative turn, yet heavier dependence on foreign investment in a local economy hinders public consultation. Content analysis of 3082 public hearing documents further shows that adoption of public hearings varies by regions with economically and politically advantaged municipalities being more likely to adopt consultative institutions for transparency. This study brings together the scholarship of contentious politics and deliberative politics while offering a nuanced understanding of regional differences of public consultation.","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"371 - 396"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2021.1884376","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43205555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-02-05DOI: 10.1080/13569775.2021.1884397
Ric Neo
ABSTRACT This article examines developments in Malaysia regarding ‘fake news', analyzing how state actors sought to securitise the issue - or construct it as a national security threat - to justify broad crackdowns. As a research focus, it asks: how has the previous administration under PM Najib Razak sought to crackdown on fake news? Why were the securitisation efforts resisted, leading to the repeal of the Anti-Fake News 2018 bill? Drawing on primary survey data and through a case study, this study finds that the securitising actors' lack of legitimacy, low resonance of discourses employed, and the presence of a credible opposing narrative are important factors leading to securitisation failure. Interestingly, results show that although the threat of fake news had acquired a broad consensus, efforts to frame it as a threat lapsed because the actor's legitimacy was in doubt. Empirically, this study sheds light on policymaking processes in Malaysia, a ‘flawed semi-democracy’.
{"title":"The failed construction of fake news as a security threat in Malaysia","authors":"Ric Neo","doi":"10.1080/13569775.2021.1884397","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2021.1884397","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines developments in Malaysia regarding ‘fake news', analyzing how state actors sought to securitise the issue - or construct it as a national security threat - to justify broad crackdowns. As a research focus, it asks: how has the previous administration under PM Najib Razak sought to crackdown on fake news? Why were the securitisation efforts resisted, leading to the repeal of the Anti-Fake News 2018 bill? Drawing on primary survey data and through a case study, this study finds that the securitising actors' lack of legitimacy, low resonance of discourses employed, and the presence of a credible opposing narrative are important factors leading to securitisation failure. Interestingly, results show that although the threat of fake news had acquired a broad consensus, efforts to frame it as a threat lapsed because the actor's legitimacy was in doubt. Empirically, this study sheds light on policymaking processes in Malaysia, a ‘flawed semi-democracy’.","PeriodicalId":51673,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Politics","volume":"27 1","pages":"316 - 335"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13569775.2021.1884397","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44256276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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