Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: In the United States, “The power to go to war was not left to solitary action by a single executive, but to collective decision making through parliamentary deliberations.” (Fisher 4) While presidents may not have the ability to single-handedly declare war, they have sought other measures of gaining war powers. Hence, as George Edwards notes: “Both politics and policy revolve around presidents’ attempts to garner public support, both for themselves and for their policies.” (P. 4) In other words, presidents often engage in permanent campaigns when pursuing support for given policies. This paper seeks to show that, prior to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration undertook a permanent campaign to persuade the American public that war with Iraq was necessary for the security of the American people. Analysis of the speeches given by members of the Bush administration prior to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the available poll data reveals that the White House not only engaged in a permanent campaign style of informing the public, but was also successful to some degree in moving public opinion. If one accepts as a goal of democracy the limiting of domination of those less powerful, then the idea that the White House has the power to dominate the discourse regarding whether or not this nation should go to war, perhaps the most important decision facing any nation, should be unsettling to every American.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: What are the main similarities and differences between students of
journalism in the Nordic countries? Is it possible to speak of a common
Nordic journalistic identity with common professional ideals and motives
among the next generation of Nordic journalists? Are the differences
found related more to national differences or to intra-national
differences according to the various educational models for the schools?
What about gender differences? Do such differences constitute a
“constant” factor of difference in journalistic ideals and preferences
across the nations, or do they vary?

The data is based on a quantitative web survey of every new
journalism student at 19 Nordic schools of journalism in autumn 2005,
where 600 students responded (64% of the population).

The main focus of the study is on be on social recruitment, their motivations for studying journalism, their adherence to various journalistic ideals,
their view on what a ‘good journalism education’ should consist of, and
their preferred future work place.

The results are analyzed with reference to other international studies to provide a cross-cultural perspective.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Debates about religious symbols in public places and the post-9/11 controversies about the compatibility of Islam and democracy within and beyond Europe indicate the coming of a major new conflict area in liberal democracies. This paper starts with the observation of an ongoing and in some respects increasing significance of religion in the politics of Western democracies and links it to processes of pluralization and globalization, which in turn are related to migration moves across the world. Based on a typology of nationality codes in 19 Western democracies, the paper asks what role religion, understood as confessional legacy, individual religiosity, institutional actors and Christian parties, play in shaping citizenship policies. It follows the “family of nations” concept in comparative policy research (Castles) and argues that the interplay of nation building, religious traditions and church-state-relations brings religion back into this highly secular policy domain.

Publication Type: Poster