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- All Subjects: Representative government and representation--Colombia.
- Creators: Claborn, Kelly
- Creators: Hinojosa, Magda
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Description
Words wield immense power. They help to shape realities, tell stories, and encompass deeper values and intentions on behalf of their users. Buzzwords are imprecise, trendy – and often-frustrating – words that are encountered in daily life. They frame problems, evoke emotional responses, and signal moral values. In this dissertation, I study buzzword use within the field of environmental conservation to better untangle the inherent tension they have long produced: do buzzwords help or hurt collective conservation efforts? Using a mixed methods approach, this dissertation provides descriptive and causal empirical evidence on many of the untested assumptions regarding the behavior, use, and impacts of buzzwords on conservation decision making. First, through a series of expert interviews with conservation professionals, I develop an empirically informed definition and understanding of buzzwords that builds upon the scholarly literature. It identifies eight defining characteristics, elaborates on the nuances of their use, life cycle, and context dependence, and sets forth a series of testable hypotheses on the relationship between buzzwords, trust, and perceptions. Second, I take this empirically informed understanding and employ a large-scale text analysis to interrogate the mainstream conservation discourse. I produce a list of buzzwords used across institutions (e.g., academia, NGOs) in the past five years and link them to predominant conservation frames, comparing the ways in which different institutions relate to and discuss conservation concepts. This analysis validates many long-held paradigms and ubiquitous buzzwords found in conservation such as sustainability and biodiversity, while identifying a more recently emerging framing of inclusive conservation. Third, I experimentally test a set of hypotheses on the effects that buzzwords have on decision making, as moderated through trust. This study finds evidence of a greenwashing effect, whereby buzzwords may produce marginal benefits to less trustworthy organizations through increases in credibility and group identity alignment, but do not outweigh the benefits of being trustworthy in the first place. In the face of many current global challenges requiring cooperation and collective action – such as climate change and environmental degradation – it is imperative to better understand the ways in which communication and framing (including buzzwords) influence decision making.
ContributorsClaborn, Kelly (Author) / Drummond Otten, Caitlin (Thesis advisor) / Janssen, Marcus A. (Thesis advisor) / Anderies, John M. (Committee member) / Carley, Kathleen M. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
This project is a comparative exploration of the connection between descriptive representation and the substantive and symbolic representation of ethnic minorities: do Afro and indigenous representatives effectively “stand for” group members by introducing identity and empowering descriptive constituents? Featuring reserved seats for both minority groups, Colombia is an ideal case. In combination, the institutional design of reserved seats and the tradition of mestizaje and racial democracy add complexity to analyzing these populations. Consequently, in order to assess minority representation this work adds to extant representational theory by taking into account the crystallization of minority constituencies across elections.
I use quantitative and qualitative data to comparatively assess the use of reserved seats for integrating minority identity to the deliberative process and measuring empowerment impacts for minority-majority municipalities. This data includes an original dataset of electoral outcomes across seven cycles (1990-2010) and transcripts of congressional plenaries spanning three legislative periods (2002-2014). I take into account constituency dynamics identifying the concentration and geographical sources of votes in minority districts. These outcomes translate to expectations of representative behavior, hinging on the theoretical belief that constituency dynamics act as signals of legislator accountability to minority constituents.
This dissertation is located at the intersection of the comparative politics literature on minority quotas and representation, on one hand, and ethno-racial minority politics in Latin America, on the other. I find that ongoing electoral reforms have impacted constituency outcomes in post-reform cycles. More importantly, I observe that reserved representatives from both groups have integrated identity into deliberative processes often, but that only in the case of indigenous representation has the use of identity in plenaries been responsive to constituency variables. In addition, empowerment effects are identified in indigenous-majority communities that have strong linkages to minority districts, while the same empowerment cannot be conclusively identified in Afro-majority communities.
I use quantitative and qualitative data to comparatively assess the use of reserved seats for integrating minority identity to the deliberative process and measuring empowerment impacts for minority-majority municipalities. This data includes an original dataset of electoral outcomes across seven cycles (1990-2010) and transcripts of congressional plenaries spanning three legislative periods (2002-2014). I take into account constituency dynamics identifying the concentration and geographical sources of votes in minority districts. These outcomes translate to expectations of representative behavior, hinging on the theoretical belief that constituency dynamics act as signals of legislator accountability to minority constituents.
This dissertation is located at the intersection of the comparative politics literature on minority quotas and representation, on one hand, and ethno-racial minority politics in Latin America, on the other. I find that ongoing electoral reforms have impacted constituency outcomes in post-reform cycles. More importantly, I observe that reserved representatives from both groups have integrated identity into deliberative processes often, but that only in the case of indigenous representation has the use of identity in plenaries been responsive to constituency variables. In addition, empowerment effects are identified in indigenous-majority communities that have strong linkages to minority districts, while the same empowerment cannot be conclusively identified in Afro-majority communities.
ContributorsCrissien, Jean Paul (Author) / Kittilson, Miki (Thesis advisor) / Hinojosa, Magda (Committee member) / Mitchell, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015