Broadcasting to the masses or building communities: Polish political parties online communication during the 2011 election

The professionalisation of political communication is an evolutionary process (Lilleker & Negrine, 2002), a process that adapts to trends in communication in order to better engage and persuade the public. One of the most dramatic developments in communication has been the move towards social communication via the Internet. It is argued to affect every area of public communication, from commercial advertising and public relations to education (Macnamara, 2010). It is no longer sufficient to have an online presence; we are now in an age of i-branding; with the ‘i’ standing for interactive. Yet, trends in online political electoral campaigning over recent years indicate a shallow adoption of Web 2.0 tools, features and platforms; limited interactivity; and managed co-production. The Internet is now embedded as a campaigning tool however, largely, the technologies are adapted to the norms of political communication rather than technologies impacting upon internal organizational structures, party relationships to members and supporters, or the content and style of their communication. We examine these themes, and develop them through a focus on the targeting and networking strategies of political parties, in more detail in the context of the Polish parliamentary election of 2011. Through a sophisticated content analysis and coding scheme our paper examines the extent to which parties use features that are designed to inform, engage, mobilise or allow interaction, which audiences they seek to communicate with and how these fit communication strategies. Comparing these findings with maps built from webcrawler analysis we build a picture of the strategies of the parties and the extent to which this links to short and long term political goals. This paper firstly develops our rationale for studying party and candidate use of the Internet during elections within the Polish context. Secondly we develop a conceptual framework which contrasts the politics as usual thesis (Margolis & Resnick, 2000) with arguments surrounding the social shaping of technologies (Lievrouw, 2006) and the impact on organisational adoption of communication technologies and post-Obama trends in Internet usage (Lilleker & Jackson, 2011) and posit that, despite the threats from an interactive strategy (Stromer-Galley, 2000) one would be expected within the context of a networked society (Van Dyjk, 2006). Following an overview of our methodology and innovative analysis strategy, we present our data which focuses on three key elements. Firstly we focus on the extent to which party and candidate websites inform, engage, mobilise or permit interaction (Lilleker et al, 2011). Secondly we assess the extent to which websites attract different visitor groups (Lilleker & Jackson, 2011) and build communities (Lilleker & Koc-Michalska, 2012). Thirdly we assess the reach strategies of the websites using Webcrawler technology which analyses the use of hyperlinks and whether parties lock themselves within cyberghettoes (Sunstein, 2007) or attempt to harness the power of the network (Benkler, 2006)

Deflation for semismooth equations

Variational inequalities can in general support distinct solutions. In this paper we study an algorithm for computing distinct solutions of a variational inequality, without varying the initial guess supplied to the solver. The central idea is the combination of a semismooth Newton method with a deflation operator that eliminates known solutions from consideration. Given one root of a semismooth residual, deflation constructs a new problem for which a semismooth Newton method will not converge to the known root, even from the same initial guess. This enables the discovery of other roots. We prove the effectiveness of the deflation technique under the same assumptions that guarantee locally superlinear convergence of a semismooth Newton method. We demonstrate its utility on various finite- and infinite-dimensional examples drawn from constrained optimization, game theory, economics and solid mechanics.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figure

Fission-Fragment Mass Distribution and Particle Evaporation at low Energies

Fusion-fission dynamics is investigated with a special emphasis on fusion reactions at low energy for which shell effects and pairing correlations can play a crucial role leading in particular to multi-modal fission. To follow the dynamical evolution of an excited and rotating nucleus we solve a 2-dimensional Langevin equation taking explicitly light-particle evaporation into account. The confrontation theory-experiment is demonstrated to give interesting information on the model presented, its qualities as well as its shortcomings.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 24 eps-figure

Computer modelling of the decay of atomic compound nuclei

We present numerical algorithm which describes the decay of hot, rotating compound nuclei. This algorithm treats the fission dynamics in conjunction with light-particle (n, p, a) evaporation. The detailed results are given for the n%Pt nucleus at the excitation energy of 100 MeV

Between Europeanisation and Corporatisation : Poland’s nation branding and soft power for public consumption

Focusing on the “state” rather than the “nation,” this article explores the interplay between nation branding and Poland’s soft power statecraft. Contextualised by Poland’s European orientation in foreign affairs, this Bourdieusian study focuses on the field of diplomacy and statecraft, particularly its communicative practices for the articulation of soft power. Aided by policy documents and campaign artefacts, this analysis of interviews (n=45) with state actors and newcomers to the field, nation branders, traces their actions, and unfolds the effects of their practices on soft power statecraft. The central argument emerging from the analysis of findings rests on the cultural conditions and ideological effects of nation branding on the field. On the one hand, I find, these effects advance the process of “corporatisation” of Poland’s soft power statecraft. On the other hand, the embeddedness of nation branding in Poland marks a cultural shift in soft power statecraft towards technocratic and transactional promotional culture

Re-visiting ‘Solidarność’: Propaganda of protest and campaigning of the social movement

This article analyzes Polish Solidarity’s propaganda practice. Drawing from a discursive archive comprising cultural artifacts, the movement’s policy statements, and augmented by interviews, this Foucault-inspired study reveals how “propaganda of protest” became a “pillar” of the Solidarity movement’s campaigning. This study analyzes propaganda strategies and tactics for mobilization and political engagement among Poles, and how campaigning aided power shifts between the movement and the authorities. Contextualizing this analysis in the Sovietized settings, this study shows that propaganda was inherent to Solidarity’s transgressive and subversive campaigning in multiple areas of the movement’s agency: mobilization and support building, construction of collective identities, coalition-building, issues management and policymaking, and implementation. Finally, I argue, that the qualities of Solidarity’s propaganda were culturally-grounded, based on the self-presentation strategies as well as the zeitgeist belief in engagement of workers’ with trade unionism rather than policies of the state socialist regime

Towards corpo-nationalism: a Bourdieusian study exploring the relationship between national branding and the reproduction of Polishness (1999 - 2010).

This thesis interrogates the relationship between the emerging transnational field of nation branding practice and Polish national identity discourse. It sets the analysis of its findings in the contexts of the dominant neo-liberal political economy and promotional culture in Poland, but its examination considers the socio-historical conditions of the post-Soviet era accompanying nation branding as a nation building process. By considering specific settings, it outlines a reflexive case study, addressing a shift in the economy of practices at the crossovers of the Polish state’s structures, business groups, the mass media, and cultural intermediaries of nation branding. This study draws from Bourdieu’s theoretical oeuvre, nationalism scholarship, and corporate communications models. First, it demonstrates the growing impact of corporate communications models on the state as a democratic polity. Second, it sketches out the foundations for the empirical part of the study. Methodologically, it uses an interpretive approach to reveal collective action accompanying the nation branding exercise in Poland. It draws from a range of data to reconstruct the contested vision of the field of nation branding and the dynamics of the relationship between institutional and individual actors performing nation branding in Poland. The findings of this study unfold the implications of the imposition and invasion of nation branding within the Polish field of power, specifically with regards to the marketisation of Polish national identity, its co-construction and reproduction; attempts to further corporatise overseas propaganda on behalf of the Polish field of power; and a growing impact of private sector consultants on public policy making in post-Soviet Poland. Primarily, this thesis argues that one of the biggest consequences of the invasion of nation branding in Poland is the emergence of corpo-nationalism - a form of economic nationalism which was a weak component, until now, of political economy changes in Poland, post 1989

The Populist Style and Public Diplomacy: Kayfabe as Performative Agonism in Trump’s Twitter Posts

This article theorises the interplay between public diplomacy and populism. Building on Baudrillard’s simulacra, we advance the hybridity approach to soft power statecraft by analysing a cultural shift in US presidential public diplomacy. Using discourse analysis, we uncover how, rather than aiding the building of relationships with foreign publics, Donald Trump has brought to the field cultural codes alien to public diplomacy, imploding the meanings central to the endogenous norms of diplomacy, and turning towards an agonistic relational dynamic with foreign publics. This article reveals how digitalisation enables the expansion of Trump’s populist style and foregrounds the populist cultural shift visible in his Twitter discourse. To reveal this dynamic in granular detail, we propose ‘kayfabe’ as an epistemic lens for the interpretation of the populist style at the core of Trump’s ‘simulated public diplomacy’. As well as considering how socialities are re-shaping relational dynamics, this article unpacks the tensions that stem from the expansion of populist style into the realm of presidential public diplomacy. Finally, we reflect on the implications of the epistemic crisis of US public diplomacy for the larger strategic landscape of political uncertainties associated with the proliferation of populism in the field

On calmness conditions in convex bilevel programming

In this article we compare two different calmness conditions which are widely used in the literature on bilevel programming and on mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints. In order to do so, we consider convex bilevel programming as a kind of intersection between both research areas. The so-called partial calmness concept is based on the function value approach for describing the lower level solution set. Alternatively, calmness in the sense of multifunctions may be considered for perturbations of the generalized equation representing the same lower level solution set. Both concepts allow to derive first order necessary optimality conditions via tools of generalized differentiation introduced by Mordukhovich. They are very different, however, concerning their range of applicability and the form of optimality conditions obtained. The results of this paper seem to suggest that partial calmness is considerably more restrictive than calmness of the perturbed generalized equation. This fact is also illustrated by means of a dicretized obstacle control problem