Talking Like a Populist? Exploring Populism in Six Western Democracies

This dissertation focuses on when and why political parties ‘talk like populists’—or use populist ideas, concepts, and frames to appeal to voters. By analyzing the campaign speeches and party manifestos of all parties contesting elections since 2002 in Austria, France, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, I find that parties’ use of populism is substantively linked to outsider or challenger status and does not appear to be a useful rhetoric for governing. Overall, I find that mainstream parties have not increased their populism in the last two decades while populist parties have decreased their reliance on populism in response to electoral success

Profiles of Key Democracy and Good Governance NGOs/Agencies

Often referred to as an infrastructure or a‘democracy bureaucracy’, the worldwide net- work of democracy promotion and good governance non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations (IOs), and bilateral agencies is immense and multi- faceted. Although they share a general mission of promoting democracy, each operates with varying goals and foci ^ and somewhat different definitions of democracy. Nevertheless, they share many common ends: free and fair elections, a responsive and participatory citizenry, rule of law, and transparent institutions

Religion and the Prospects for “Thin” Politics

Religion is a common source of “thick” morality and therefore a common obstacle to public policy consensus in pluralistic societies. But religion also adapts its thick moral commitments to prevailing social, cultural, and procedural dispositions. Engaging the model of “thick moralities and thin politics” proposed by Benjamin Gregg (), I explore the process by which religion adapts to the demands of normatively “thin” politics. To conceptualize this, I survey how American Christianity is negotiating aspects of postmodernism and how this negotiation offers one way to understand religion’s increased engagement with politics at the level of thin normativity. Thus, I would add to Gregg’s model by focusing on one example of a transition from “thick to thin”

The Emerging Church and Global Civil Society: Postmodern Christianity as a Source for Global Values

The subject of this essay is the relationship of religion, as a source of values, to the construction of a more robust global values discourse. A specific focus is how religion, specifically Christianity, is influenced by postmodernism to better inform normative thinking on global civil society (GCS). To this end, I argue that religion\u27s role in the global values discourse is enhanced by a dynamic process of adaptation and transformation as part of the larger process of globalization. 1 Significantly, religion is not simply back as the re-enchantment and de-secularization literature contends but also manifesting in fundamentally new and potentially productive ways. To unpack what one dimension of this process looks like and its implications, I analyze the texts of the emerging church conversation.2 I argue that the emerging church\u27s appropriation of postmodernism-evinced in its theology and practice-offers insight into why religion is changing and how this transformation is positioned to affect the values discourse at the heart of GCS. In sum, its affect centers on both de-linking Christianity from the nation-state as a repository of values and suggesting an anti-foundational approach to ethics-ethics without absolutes that contributes more substantively to the possibility of GCS

Is Anybody There? Exploring the Role of Social Presence in an Online Political Science Research Methods Class

Social presence, or the “being there” and “being real” presence of others in an online learning environment, is widely considered to have a positive impact on student motivation and participation, actual and perceived learning, course and instructor satisfaction, and retention in online courses (Richardson et al. 2017; Oh et al. 2018). Several aspects of social presence remain understudied however, such as how gender, class rank, and other demographical characteristics may influence perceptions of social presence and condition the relationship between perceptions of social presence and academic performance or course satisfaction. Furthermore, although studies of the impact of social presence abound, few studies examine the impact of perceptions of social presence on academic performance and course satisfaction across modalities – sections of online and face-to-face classes

PhD revisited: Approaches to English as a foreign language (EFL) reading instruction in Norwegian primary schools

This chapter reports a doctoral study (Charboneau, 2016) that investigated the use of four approaches to EFL reading instruction in Norwegian 4th–5th grades. The study used a mixed-methods approach comprising a questionnaire sent to teachers throughout Norway and a case study of four schools. The results suggest it was challenging to provide differentiated teaching to meet students’ abilities and needs. The chapter discusses implications for EFL reading instruction, and suggestions for future research.publishedVersio

Teaching Political Science Research Methods Across Delivery Modalities: Comparing Outcomes Between Face-to-Face and Distance-Hybrid Courses

What delivery modality is most effective in teaching undergraduate, political science research methods? Using systematically collected data from two academic terms and employing a quasi-experimental design, this paper explores variation in learning outcomes between face-to-face and distance-hybrid course offerings. Variation in the dependent variable is observed through measuring attrition (drop or failure), course performance among those who pass, and course satisfaction. While any evidence of difference in attrition rates is marginal when controlling for sex, age, university experience, a background in similar coursework, or whether the course is taken by a major, there is no evidence that modality predicts performance among those who successfully complete the course. Distance-hybrid learners are less satisfied with the class overall, unless you control for knowledge gains, math anxiety, and especially social presence. Perceptions of a learning community predict satisfaction for learners across both modalities, but when modeled controlling for other subjective outcomes, we predict higher satisfaction for distance learners. This suggests that the best pathway to equalize outcomes across delivery modalities is to work hard to overcome the social presence gap experienced by students learning in a distance-hybrid environment

Social Presence as Best Practice: The Online Classroom Needs to Feel Real

As universities around the world stopped delivering face to face classes, the nonintentional creation of many online digital learning spaces has led to much speculation on “best practices” for virtual course delivery. Our evidence shows that the highest educational value comes from optimizing the “social presence” of your classroom environment. Using data collected from an undergraduate political science research methods course prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, across 3 semesters at a large public university, we find by maximizing perceptual social presence - or the feeling that a student is actively engaged in a “real” classroom environment, students report greater satisfaction with their education, perform at a higher level, and have greater knowledge gains. Interacted with the course modality, the course performance impact of social presence is amplified for those taking coursework online versus taking it face to face. The limitation of asynchronous delivery adopted as “best practice” by many colleges is the substantial social presence deficit produced, and as a result, we recommend faculty and curriculum developers promote the intentional hybridization of asynchronous content with scheduled synchronous learning opportunities so that faculty and students can “keep it real”

Kalavryta and Kerpini Fault Block: Investigation into correlation and nature of sub-horizontal layers; Corinth Graben, Greece.

Master's thesis in Petroleum geosciences engineeringThe Gulf of Corinth is located in West-Central Greece and is the result of a Pliocene-Recent, asymmetric extensional rift system. The region offers an excellent opportunity to study rotated fault blocks and the various syn-depositional sedimentary environments that form within them. The focus area for this study are the two fault blocks: Kerpini and Kalavryta. These two fault blocks were studied in order to map a series of sub-horizontal sedimentary layers found in the two fault blocks, ascertain their nature, determine the relationship with each other and the relationship with surrounding sediment (which usually has a moderate to steep southward dip). Previous studies in the area have neglected to address the sub-horizontal sedimentary layers, and have classified them as basal conglomerate (Ford et al., 2013). In order to fully understand the sub-horizontal layers (assumed to be younger), the underlying sediment had to be mapped. Geological maps were created of the study area, mapping both structural and stratigraphic features. Maps were digitized and the data was later analysed with the aid of numerous images recorded in the field. A total of 8 separate outcrops of sub-horizontal sediments have been identified; 2 of these were later dismissed as ‘dipping’ sediment during analysis. This was based on dip angle/dip direction and flow direction within these two units. The remaining 6 units have been correlated based on location, flow direction and texture. The lower-lying (older) sediment was determined to be part of a massive alluvial fan that originated from the Kalavryta Fault, flowing N/NNE, covering the area. This study places the lower-lying sediment to pre-Kerpini Fault. The sub-horizontal layers (late-syn / post Kerpini Fault) have a more fluvial character and show an E/NE flow direction, entering the fault blocks from the SW and are assumed to flow towards the Dhoumena Fault Block, but not continuing east towards the Vouraikos River. This study has provided a new model on the sedimentation of the Kerpini Fault Block by addressing a problem that was not previously answered. Additionally, it contradicts some pervious ideas about the development of the Kerpini Fault Block