2010 may not have marked the first ‘internet election’, but digital platforms are of ever increasing importance in political campaigning

Predictions that an upcoming national election will be ‘the’ internet election have been circulating in the UK and other advanced democracies since the late 1990s. Rachel Gibson and Marta Cantijoch study the UK’s general election in 2010 and find that while ecampaigning still lagged behind traditional media and mobilisation tools, there is reason to believe the internet will play a much larger role in the 2015 election and politics more generally

The Contract for College

Rising college costs, combined with major policy changes in financial aid, have made college less affordable for today's generation of young people. The Contract for College would unify the existing three strands of federal financial aid--grants, loans and work-study--into a coherent, guaranteed financial aid package for students

Toxic Baby Furniture: The Latest Case for Making Products Safe From the Start

Estimates indoor pollution levels of formaldehyde -- linked to increased risks of allergies, asthma, and cancer -- emitted by cribs, changing tables, and other baby furniture. Makes suggestions for avoiding exposure and for regulatory action

Social media helps forge links with voters, but the ‘ground war’ remains much more important for election campaigns

The question of whether web 2.0 technologies work in ‘getting out the vote’ is one that remains the subject of some debate. Rachel Gibson outlines new research suggesting that while online has a role in reaching voters, traditional methods still remain powerfully persuasive

We Carry Them Forward: A Performer\u27s Guide to Heggie and Scheer\u27s Iconic Legacies: First Ladies at the Smithsonian

Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s 2015 song cycle Iconic Legacies: First Ladies at the Smithsonian offers an interesting challenge for a singer. First Ladies of the United States – real people – make up the characters of the cycle, requiring the singer to know their histories and their personalities rather than making arbitrary acting decisions. Heggie and Scheer insist that the singer honor each woman by telling her story with emotional authenticity. This document provides the singer guidance, offering historical context for each story and biographical information for each woman. Each of Mr. Scheer’s texts are examined, exploring his treatment of time, the concept that the women are ghosts, and his expressive use of rhyme and repetition. Mr. Heggie’s music is analyzed, following his use of half steps, scales, chromatic passages, manipulation of motives, quotes from “My Country, ‘tis of Thee,” and spoken words. Heggie uses these techniques to emphasize emotional aspects of the stories, so the singer must know the woman’s stories and realize that his music is meant to be emotionally representative. With knowledge of each woman’s stories and personalities, and an understanding of Heggie’s emotional music, the singer fulfills her duty to perform these songs with emotional authenticity

How parties and voters can reclaim the democratising potential of the internet

Rachel Gibson discusses some of the ways through which citizen campaigning may revitalise public faith in democracy and the political process, but also how it may create a new political elite

Party Change, Social Media and the Rise of ‘Citizen-initiated’ Campaigning

This article argues that digital media are introducing a new grassroots-based mode of ‘citizen-initiated campaigning’ (CIC) that challenges the dominant professionalized model of campaign management by devolving power over core tasks to the grassroots. After defining the practice through reference to the 2008 campaign of Barack Obama and online parties literature, we devise a measure of CIC that is applied to UK parties in the 2010 election. Our findings show that CIC is emerging outside the U.S. and adoption is associated with major party status, although it may be of particular appeal to political actors facing a resource deficit. The conclusions focus on the implications of CIC for new forms of party membership, indirect voter mobilization and the contextual factors influencing this new model of campaigning. </jats:p

From the Ulama to the Legislature: Hermeneutics & Morocco’s Family Code

This study examines the role that Islamic law has played thus far in reforming the Moroccan Family Code, also known as the Moudawana. When King Mohammed VI reformed this law in 2004, Morocco received immediate international praise for its liberal strides towards gender equality. Through this study I investigated the hermeneutical tools and methods of ijtihad employed both by the drafters of the Moudawana and by activists leading up to the 2004 reforms. I then investigate impediments to the implementation of this Code in providing substantive legal rights to Moroccan women and the role that interpretation of Islamic law plays in these barriers. I will also situate this in larger debates concerning the role of CSOs in authoritarian regimes, the international regime’s conception of universal human rights and state control of religion. Finally, this study examines the strengths and challenges facing the Islamic feminist movement and assesses the potential for this movement to produce further reforms to the Moudawana and increase gender equality in Moroccan society

Hyperlinks and networked communication: A comparative study of political parties online

This study analyses hyperlink data from over 100 political parties in six countries to show how political actors are using links to engage in a new form of 'networked communication' to promote themselves to an online audience. We specify three types of n

Examining the issues & challenges of email & e-communications. 2nd Northumbria Witness Seminar Conference, 24-25 Oct 2007 Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne.

These proceedings capture the content of the second Witness Seminar hosted by Northumbria University’s School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences. It followed the success of the first witness seminar in terms of its format and style but differed in that it focused on one topic - managing email and other electronic communications technologies from a records perspective. As before the witnesses were invited to share their views and opinions on a specific aspect taking as their starting point a pertinent published article(s). Three seminars explored the business, people and technology perspectives of email and e-communications, asking the following questions: What are the records management implications and challenges of doing business electronically? Are people the problem and the solution? Is technology the problem or panacea? The final seminar, 'Futurewatch', focused on moving forward, exploring new ways of working, potential new technologies and what records professionals and others need to keep on their radar screens