Politics and AIDS in Africa: research agendas in political science and international relations

Political Science as an academic discipline has been slow to grapple with the enormous implications of the AIDS crisis for much of the developing world. This article argues that important research agendas link AIDS and politics, and that more work in these areas could contribute to the struggle to cope with the pandemic. Research could also yield theoretical advances in the field of political science. Five research agendas for Africa are: variations in state response to the pandemic; the relationship between governments and NGOs; the AIDS challenge to neoliberalism; AIDS and North-South tensions; and connections between AIDS and international security issues

The Presence and Use of Interactive Features on News Websites

Although interactive features, such as comment sections, used to be rare on news websites, they are now the norm. Based on theoretical concepts of interactivity and convergence, we analyze whether diverse sites are similar in the provision and use of interactive features online. We conduct a content analysis of 155 news websites to examine the presence and use of social media buttons, lists of hyperlinks, polls, comment sections, and mobile sites. Television news and newspaper websites are compared, as are local and more broadly targeted news sites. The findings provide little evidence for interactive convergence. Rather, results reveal many differences in the adoption and use of interactive features based on medium and target. Reasons for differences across these sites are discussed