Artikkelen presenterer en analyse av det norske ISA forsøket Ungtrafikk. Forsøket pågikk i Karmøy... more Artikkelen presenterer en analyse av det norske ISA forsøket Ungtrafikk. Forsøket pågikk i Karmøy fra august 2006 til januar 2008, med 50 deltakere mellom 18 og 25 år. Det utvikles en typologi ut fra deltakernes motiv for å delta i forsøket. Denne typologien benyttes til å studere variasjoner i deltakernes holdninger til sikker ferdsel, forventinger til forsøket og deres faktiske
//Accepted for publication in Political Studies// Support parties play a crucial, but underexpose... more //Accepted for publication in Political Studies// Support parties play a crucial, but underexposed, role under minority rule. They secure the government’s place in office and exercise policy influence through legislative coalitions. This paper examines whether support parties are unfettered by the liabilities of policy responsibility. Incumbents struggle with the cost of ruling in elections and in day-to-day party and issue competition. Support parties, lacking the formal responsibility of office, could arguably escape the negative consequences of policy influence. Two studies illustrate this mechanism. First, we find that Scandinavian support parties that exercise policy influence through participation in budget coalitions avoid electoral losses. However, unlike opposition parties from the government bloc that do not participate in budget coalitions, support parties are unable to increase their vote share. Second, we look closer at one support party, analysing its agenda-setting be...
This article investigates the determinants of knowledge and acceptability of hydrogen vehicles an... more This article investigates the determinants of knowledge and acceptability of hydrogen vehicles and filling stations among residents in the Greater Stavanger area on the west coast of Norway and compares the results with the findings from a London case study. The data were collected from 1000 residents and based on the survey developed and used by O'Garra, et al. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2005; 30: 649-659. The results indicate that hydrogen as a fuel for transport is better known in Greater Stavanger and also that the population is clearly more favourable towards the introduction of hydrogen vehicles. Although only just over one third are clearly in favour of the introduction of hydrogen vehicles in London, the number in Greater Stavanger is close to 60%. The key determinants of acceptability discussed are prior knowledge and awareness of hydrogen, sociodemographic background variables and environmental knowledge. In addition, the study also explores the effects of proximity to the filling station. The site for the location of the London filling station was a matter of public controversy and met with resistance from people living close to the filling station. Based on these experiences, the Greater Stavanger sample was divided into two. One sample was drawn from residents living within a 1-km circle of the location of the filling station, and one control sample was drawn from the Greater Stavanger area. Somewhat surprisingly, the support for the introduction of hydrogen vehicles is greater among people living closer to the filling station than in the region as such.
The paper puts forward, and empirically explores, claims on how the literature on political agend... more The paper puts forward, and empirically explores, claims on how the literature on political agendasetting could inform the concept of mediatized politics. It uses as a starting point the lack of empirical research within mediatization studies, arguing that the field of political agenda-setting offers important supplements through systematic investigations of the media's role in promoting social problems on the political agenda. However, this does not imply a straight-forward merging of the two traditions. Instead, I discuss how agenda-setting perspectives offer a more active and visible role for political actors and political logics in the media-politics relationship, presenting analyses that find media influence on political issue attention to be conditioned by policy responsibility and the competition between opposition and government. Furthermore, the paper takes issue with the zero-sum game interpretation of the media-politics relationship, where mediatization necessarily implies decreasing political influence. Future research, on both mediatization and agenda-setting, need to address how the media (re)distributes power between different actors or institutions in politics. As a first step towards this goal, I show that opposition parties (in some respects) are more mediatized than government, but that this constitutes an opposition strength in party competition.
Recent studies have drawn attention to the political contingencies of the media's political agend... more Recent studies have drawn attention to the political contingencies of the media's political agenda-setting influence, finding for instance that issues from the media agenda are more likely to attract attention if a party enjoys ownership of the issue. Supplementing the debate on why political parties respond to news, this paper argues that ownership is only part of the picture and that policy responsibility, together with news tone, constitutes a stronger explanation of news politicization. Opposition parties respond to bad news because they reflect negative developments in social problems that the government could be held responsible for. The government responds to good news that reflects positive developments in social problems because this could politicize policy success, but is also forced to react when news explicitly address government responsibility, and thereby, threatens its image as responsive and competent. Furthermore, it is shown that news tone and policy responsibility condition the incentive to politicize owned issues from the media agenda. Thus, opposition parties will not politicize owned issues when news is good because this could draw attention to government success, while government is unable and unwilling to prioritize owned issues when news is bad and instead is likely to make use of its ownership strengths when news is good and the pressure to respond is low. The arguments are tested on a large-N sample of radio news stories from Denmark (2003Denmark ( -2004)). Opposition response is measured through parliamentary questions spurred by the news stories, while government response is indicated by references to these stories in the prime minister's weekly press-meeting. Results confirm the expectations, suggesting that parties care more about the tone of news stories and the type of attention they might produce, rather than what type of issues they could serve to politicize.
The literature on media appearances of political actors have repeatedly documented the so-called ... more The literature on media appearances of political actors have repeatedly documented the so-called "incumbency bonus", meaning that parties and politicians in government have more media coverage than those of the opposition. This bias is normally attributed to news criteria that reflect political power, such as relevance and the elite status of actors. Supplementing existing perspectives, this study puts forward a new explanation of the incumbency bonus. We argue that variations in the media dominance of incumbents are the result of the interplay between journalistic norms and political context. Outside election campaigns, political news is driven by the "watch dog" norm. Thus, the media focus on societal problems, and this produces a critical emphasis on incumbent actors. But when party competition intensifies, either during campaigns or when issues become salient, the norm of objective and impartial journalism results in a more balanced coverage where challengers increase their presence. The argument receives support through multivariate models of incumbent and challenger appearances in Danish radio news broadcasts over a 20-year period. Finally, in terms of democratic implications, the importance of the watch dog norm challenges the assumption that the incumbency bonus constitutes an electoral asset. Media dominance is closely related to the government's responsibility for all kinds of problems, and thus, we find that incumbent support dwindles with increases in their media appearances.
Artikkelen presenterer en analyse av det norske ISA forsøket Ungtrafikk. Forsøket pågikk i Karmøy... more Artikkelen presenterer en analyse av det norske ISA forsøket Ungtrafikk. Forsøket pågikk i Karmøy fra august 2006 til januar 2008, med 50 deltakere mellom 18 og 25 år. Det utvikles en typologi ut fra deltakernes motiv for å delta i forsøket. Denne typologien benyttes til å studere variasjoner i deltakernes holdninger til sikker ferdsel, forventinger til forsøket og deres faktiske
//Accepted for publication in Political Studies// Support parties play a crucial, but underexpose... more //Accepted for publication in Political Studies// Support parties play a crucial, but underexposed, role under minority rule. They secure the government’s place in office and exercise policy influence through legislative coalitions. This paper examines whether support parties are unfettered by the liabilities of policy responsibility. Incumbents struggle with the cost of ruling in elections and in day-to-day party and issue competition. Support parties, lacking the formal responsibility of office, could arguably escape the negative consequences of policy influence. Two studies illustrate this mechanism. First, we find that Scandinavian support parties that exercise policy influence through participation in budget coalitions avoid electoral losses. However, unlike opposition parties from the government bloc that do not participate in budget coalitions, support parties are unable to increase their vote share. Second, we look closer at one support party, analysing its agenda-setting be...
This article investigates the determinants of knowledge and acceptability of hydrogen vehicles an... more This article investigates the determinants of knowledge and acceptability of hydrogen vehicles and filling stations among residents in the Greater Stavanger area on the west coast of Norway and compares the results with the findings from a London case study. The data were collected from 1000 residents and based on the survey developed and used by O'Garra, et al. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2005; 30: 649-659. The results indicate that hydrogen as a fuel for transport is better known in Greater Stavanger and also that the population is clearly more favourable towards the introduction of hydrogen vehicles. Although only just over one third are clearly in favour of the introduction of hydrogen vehicles in London, the number in Greater Stavanger is close to 60%. The key determinants of acceptability discussed are prior knowledge and awareness of hydrogen, sociodemographic background variables and environmental knowledge. In addition, the study also explores the effects of proximity to the filling station. The site for the location of the London filling station was a matter of public controversy and met with resistance from people living close to the filling station. Based on these experiences, the Greater Stavanger sample was divided into two. One sample was drawn from residents living within a 1-km circle of the location of the filling station, and one control sample was drawn from the Greater Stavanger area. Somewhat surprisingly, the support for the introduction of hydrogen vehicles is greater among people living closer to the filling station than in the region as such.
The paper puts forward, and empirically explores, claims on how the literature on political agend... more The paper puts forward, and empirically explores, claims on how the literature on political agendasetting could inform the concept of mediatized politics. It uses as a starting point the lack of empirical research within mediatization studies, arguing that the field of political agenda-setting offers important supplements through systematic investigations of the media's role in promoting social problems on the political agenda. However, this does not imply a straight-forward merging of the two traditions. Instead, I discuss how agenda-setting perspectives offer a more active and visible role for political actors and political logics in the media-politics relationship, presenting analyses that find media influence on political issue attention to be conditioned by policy responsibility and the competition between opposition and government. Furthermore, the paper takes issue with the zero-sum game interpretation of the media-politics relationship, where mediatization necessarily implies decreasing political influence. Future research, on both mediatization and agenda-setting, need to address how the media (re)distributes power between different actors or institutions in politics. As a first step towards this goal, I show that opposition parties (in some respects) are more mediatized than government, but that this constitutes an opposition strength in party competition.
Recent studies have drawn attention to the political contingencies of the media's political agend... more Recent studies have drawn attention to the political contingencies of the media's political agenda-setting influence, finding for instance that issues from the media agenda are more likely to attract attention if a party enjoys ownership of the issue. Supplementing the debate on why political parties respond to news, this paper argues that ownership is only part of the picture and that policy responsibility, together with news tone, constitutes a stronger explanation of news politicization. Opposition parties respond to bad news because they reflect negative developments in social problems that the government could be held responsible for. The government responds to good news that reflects positive developments in social problems because this could politicize policy success, but is also forced to react when news explicitly address government responsibility, and thereby, threatens its image as responsive and competent. Furthermore, it is shown that news tone and policy responsibility condition the incentive to politicize owned issues from the media agenda. Thus, opposition parties will not politicize owned issues when news is good because this could draw attention to government success, while government is unable and unwilling to prioritize owned issues when news is bad and instead is likely to make use of its ownership strengths when news is good and the pressure to respond is low. The arguments are tested on a large-N sample of radio news stories from Denmark (2003Denmark ( -2004)). Opposition response is measured through parliamentary questions spurred by the news stories, while government response is indicated by references to these stories in the prime minister's weekly press-meeting. Results confirm the expectations, suggesting that parties care more about the tone of news stories and the type of attention they might produce, rather than what type of issues they could serve to politicize.
The literature on media appearances of political actors have repeatedly documented the so-called ... more The literature on media appearances of political actors have repeatedly documented the so-called "incumbency bonus", meaning that parties and politicians in government have more media coverage than those of the opposition. This bias is normally attributed to news criteria that reflect political power, such as relevance and the elite status of actors. Supplementing existing perspectives, this study puts forward a new explanation of the incumbency bonus. We argue that variations in the media dominance of incumbents are the result of the interplay between journalistic norms and political context. Outside election campaigns, political news is driven by the "watch dog" norm. Thus, the media focus on societal problems, and this produces a critical emphasis on incumbent actors. But when party competition intensifies, either during campaigns or when issues become salient, the norm of objective and impartial journalism results in a more balanced coverage where challengers increase their presence. The argument receives support through multivariate models of incumbent and challenger appearances in Danish radio news broadcasts over a 20-year period. Finally, in terms of democratic implications, the importance of the watch dog norm challenges the assumption that the incumbency bonus constitutes an electoral asset. Media dominance is closely related to the government's responsibility for all kinds of problems, and thus, we find that incumbent support dwindles with increases in their media appearances.
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