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WORDS MATTER
World Affairs, Volume 186, Issue 3, Page 530-571, FALL 2023.
Twitter is regarded today as an essential communication platform of U.S. diplomacy. Of all diplomatic tweets, those published by U.S. presidents carry the greatest weight and hold great potential to influence perceptions of the country. In this study, we conduct cross-presidential comparative analyses on an original dataset of over 2,000 tweets published by the first two presidents of the Twitter era. In particular, we test the commonly held notion that the substance and tone of Barack Obama's communication reflected positively on America's image abroad, with the potential to expand soft power—a vital foreign policy asset—while Donald Trump's communication reflected negatively on America's image, potentially eroding the nation's image and its soft power. Findings demonstrate that what and how presidents communicate on Twitter may produce profound and disparate impacts on America's image abroad and on U.S. soft power.
Twitter is regarded today as an essential communication platform of U.S. diplomacy. Of all diplomatic tweets, those published by U.S. presidents carry the greatest weight and hold great potential to influence perceptions of the country. In this study, we conduct cross-presidential comparative analyses on an original dataset of over 2,000 tweets published by the first two presidents of the Twitter era. In particular, we test the commonly held notion that the substance and tone of Barack Obama's communication reflected positively on America's image abroad, with the potential to expand soft power—a vital foreign policy asset—while Donald Trump's communication reflected negatively on America's image, potentially eroding the nation's image and its soft power. Findings demonstrate that what and how presidents communicate on Twitter may produce profound and disparate impacts on America's image abroad and on U.S. soft power.
Lockdown, information quality, and political trust: An empirical study of the Shanghai lockdown under COVID-19
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Ahead of Print.
Many countries have adopted various measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The regulation measures of lockdown have triggered changes in public political trust in the government (including in its competence, benevolence and integrity). Information shapes the attitudes and values of residents; this paper aims to study the effect of a lockdown on political trust and the moderating effect from quality of government shared information. From 12 March to 31 May 2022, Shanghai implemented strict lockdown measures. In this study, we randomly sampled the participation information of 1063 participants. Data-based regression analysis shows that lockdown has had a negative impact on all subcategories of political trust. However, timely and accuracy information weakens its negative effect. The accuracy of information moderates the relationship between lockdown and political trust in competence and integrity, while a sufficient supply of information moderates the relationship between lockdown and political trust in benevolence.Points for practitionersThis study explores how different dimensions of information quality affect each component public’s political trust, and thereby inspires practitioners to strategically improve information communication in crisis.
Many countries have adopted various measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The regulation measures of lockdown have triggered changes in public political trust in the government (including in its competence, benevolence and integrity). Information shapes the attitudes and values of residents; this paper aims to study the effect of a lockdown on political trust and the moderating effect from quality of government shared information. From 12 March to 31 May 2022, Shanghai implemented strict lockdown measures. In this study, we randomly sampled the participation information of 1063 participants. Data-based regression analysis shows that lockdown has had a negative impact on all subcategories of political trust. However, timely and accuracy information weakens its negative effect. The accuracy of information moderates the relationship between lockdown and political trust in competence and integrity, while a sufficient supply of information moderates the relationship between lockdown and political trust in benevolence.Points for practitionersThis study explores how different dimensions of information quality affect each component public’s political trust, and thereby inspires practitioners to strategically improve information communication in crisis.
Multilevel power structure and local compliance with government transparency mandates: evidence from China’s environmental transparency reform
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Ahead of Print.
Despite the ample literature on government transparency, our knowledge about how the vertical power structure of governments shapes local compliance with government transparency mandates is still limited. This study sets out to address this gap. Specifically, we investigate how the central government's environmental information disclosure (EID) signal and provincial governments’ conflicting signal of economic growth affect, independently and interactively, city governments’ compliance with central EID mandates in the center-province-city hierarchical structure in China. We argue that the central EID signal positively affects city compliance, while the provincial signal of economic growth reduces it. Moreover, the provincial signal of economic growth negatively moderates the impact of the central EID signal. Empirically, with a panel dataset for city-level governments from 2008 to 2018, we found robust evidence strongly supporting our theoretical hypotheses.Points for practitionersThis research reveals the influences of the complex dynamics among governments at different levels on local compliance with government transparency mandates. The findings suggest that the maneuvers of middle-level governments in a multilevel power structure and the interactions among multiple conflicting policy goals should be taken seriously by practitioners when designing policies to promote government transparency reforms.
Despite the ample literature on government transparency, our knowledge about how the vertical power structure of governments shapes local compliance with government transparency mandates is still limited. This study sets out to address this gap. Specifically, we investigate how the central government's environmental information disclosure (EID) signal and provincial governments’ conflicting signal of economic growth affect, independently and interactively, city governments’ compliance with central EID mandates in the center-province-city hierarchical structure in China. We argue that the central EID signal positively affects city compliance, while the provincial signal of economic growth reduces it. Moreover, the provincial signal of economic growth negatively moderates the impact of the central EID signal. Empirically, with a panel dataset for city-level governments from 2008 to 2018, we found robust evidence strongly supporting our theoretical hypotheses.Points for practitionersThis research reveals the influences of the complex dynamics among governments at different levels on local compliance with government transparency mandates. The findings suggest that the maneuvers of middle-level governments in a multilevel power structure and the interactions among multiple conflicting policy goals should be taken seriously by practitioners when designing policies to promote government transparency reforms.
Autonomy and Struggle in Times of Viral Borders: Venezuelans Across the South American Andes During Covid-19
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