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Copyright of Revista de Estudos da Linguagem is the property of Revista de Estudos da Linguagem and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ciencia y Sociedad is the property of Ciencia y Sociedad and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study examines the role of political punditry at a time when Big Data is playing a greater role in campaign journalism. It focuses on the dispute between data journalist Nate Silver and the pundits over his predictions during the 2012 U.S. presidential election. A qualitative content analysis is used to assess the online commentary in the weeks before the election. Silver's supporters touted his statistical approach while critics questioned Silver's methods and cited their own gut feelings about the campaign's outcome. When the election results vindicated Silver, most pundits resolved their cognitive dissonance by declining to give him any credit. The research suggests pundits not only favored their own party in their predictions but also tried to keep uncertainty about the elections results alive and bolster the value of their work. This research not only suggests a new method for covering America's political process, but adds to our understanding of political punditry and the advancement of Big Data journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the impact of populist sentiment on musical representation in the general U.S. presidential election campaigns of 2012 and 2016. Topics covered include the roles of populist rhetoric and policy in the 2016 campaigns of Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, popular music's role as an integral element in the 2012 campaigns of Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama, and how popular music pedagogizes the electorate.

Relying upon the results of a randomized, post-test only, control group experiment, we examine the effects of The New York Times endorsement of Barack Obama on potential voters in the 2012 presidential election (N=443). Our findings show that the Times endorsement mattered to exposed respondents. Specifically, they used the Times endorsement as a candidate evaluation cue in the real world. Different respondents, however, responded to the Times endorsement cue differently. Those who viewed the Times favorably accepted the endorsement and evaluated President Obama more positively and Mitt Romney more negatively after viewing it. Conversely, respondents who viewed the Times unfavorably rejected the endorsement and evaluated President Obama more negatively and Mitt Romney more positively after viewing it. In more general terms, our findings show that even in information-saturated, highly salient election campaigns, voters rely to some extent on shortcuts and cues when they evaluate candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory, mixed-methods study uses data gathered during the previous U.S. presidential election in 2012 to evaluate student political engagement and digital culture. Survey results and media diary entries revealed that college students enrolled in a media literacy course during Super Tuesday or Election Day gravitated toward low-barrier political actions and expressive modes of citizenship, and they were most engaged when there was a social component to following election news. These results, coupled with recent data on political engagement and media consumption, present an opportunity to consider the role of digital platforms and online communities in the 2016 election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (PTA), as amended, authorizes funding for the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide suitable office space, staff compensation, and other services associated with the presidential transition process (3 U.S.C. § 102 note). Section 6 of the PTA directs the President to include in his budget request, for each fiscal year in which his regular term of office will expire, "a proposed appropriation for carrying out the purposes of this Act." The President's FY2013 budget proposal included $8.95 million in funding for the 2012-2013 presidential transition. Of this sum, not more than $1 million was to be used for training and orientation activities under specified provisions of the PTA. These recommendations were endorsed by Congress and included in the Continuing Appropriations Resolution of September 28, 2012 (P.L. 112-175). In the event the President-elect is the incumbent President, or the Vice Presidentelect is the incumbent Vice President, no funds may be spent on the provision of services and facilities to this incumbent. Any funds appropriated for such purposes are to be returned to the Treasury. From enactment of the PTA in 1964 (P.L. 88-277) through the presidential transition of 2008-2009, most PTA-authorized appropriations were provided after the election of the incoming President and Vice President. The Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-283) amended the PTA and included several other provisions to provide additional support to eligible candidates for pre-election transition planning. These provisions had effect for the first time during the 2012 presidential election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's perspective on the 2012 elections in the U.S., summarizing and analyzing national election results using key variables, with a particular focus on the presidential election. The author points out the reelection of President Barack Obama on November 6, 2012, making him only the second Democrat since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to win the distinction. It says that the president won his reelection by 51-47 percent of the popular vote, against his opponent Mitt Romney.

The U.S. Presidential campaign of 2012 saw an upsurge in politically conservative stances and heated discourse with pundits debating issues pertaining to immigration, women's reproductive rights, gay marriage, and unemployment. Woven into this mesh of political diatribe were concerns regarding the growth of hate and extremist groups within the United States. This paper will examine the political discourse on issues underlying the 2008 and 2012 Presidential campaigns as concerns regarding traditional family structure, immigration, and a host of other hotly debated social issues could be argued to be an instigating factor in the growth of the white supremacy and extremist movements across the country. It is hypothesized that increasingly mean spirited political rhetoric combined with an escalation of conspiracy theories and right-wing paranoia has resulted in an environment conducive to the growth of hate and extremist groups. Results will indicate a surge in extremist and hate group membership from 2007 to 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the expectations and hopes raised from the election of Barack Obama as the 44th U.S. president and his doctrine towards Africa.

The author discusses the views of law professor Lawrence Zelenak on the video evidence against Republican candidate Mitt Romney for lamenting the facts related to payment of income tax during presidential campaigns of 2012. Topics discussed include the impact of distorting tax policies on the condition of federal taxation, impact of these fiscal policies on the economic conditions of population, and the implementation of mass tax theory after the World War II.

The day after the 2012 presidential election results were declared that Barack Obama won his second term with 332 electoral votes and 51 percent of the popular vote, political pundits and media analysts began focusing on how the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, lost the election. Romney himself responded, in light of his defeat, that Obama followed the "old playbook" of using targeted initiatives to woo specific interest groups, "especially the African-American community, the Hispanic community and young people." He further asserted that the President painted him (Romney) as anti-immigrant. Some Republicans like Bobby Jindal (Governor of Louisiana) denounced Romney's comment by saying that he was "absolutely wrong." The question remains: How did Obama win? Would minority students perceive and react differently from those of the media political analysts and/or voters polled at the time of the election? This paper aims to answer this question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the relationship between feminism and democracy along with the feminist political movement during the 2012 presidential election in the U.S. Topics discussed include the impact of the democratic principles of democracy on feminist movement, reproductive and abortion rights of women and women participation in democracy. Also discusses abortion restrictions and U.S. government policies for women rights.

The article provides details about the lack of significant competition in U.S. presidential post-election period as of 2004. Topics reviewed include ballots as means of determining the votes' winner, U.S. president's Barack Obama's victories by margin during the 2008 and 2012 elections, and the significance of voting results in the elections mentioned in Ohio, United States. U.S. voting laws in relation with the tendency mentioned are also discussed.

The article looks at the possible measures to optimize U.S. presidential election system in the context of the 2012 presidential elections. Special attention is paid on the usage of voting-related data in facilitating the voting process and optimizing U.S. voting legislation. The establishment of the U.S. Commission on Election Administration, designed to ease voting management is also reviewed.

The article discusses measures to reduce long waiting lines in the context of U.S. presidential elections in 2012. Details related to possible ways of decreasing waiting time, including absentee voting, online voting, and increasing the number of voting places are presented as well. Means of optimizing the voting management system and legislation are reviewed as well.

The article presents a research on long voting lines during the U.S. 2012 presidential elections. Topics discussed include public opinion polls in relation to the 2008 and 2012 U.S. presidential elections, the longer average waiting time for African American, Hispanic, and urban voters, consistently long waiting times in states like Florida, Virginia, and Maryland, and possible legislative measures that might be devised to reduce the length of voting queues.

This is a comparative study about how college students decide to vote in presidential elections in Boston and San Jose, Costa Rica. Specifically, the research investigated what cultural factors influenced college students to vote in the 2010 presidential election in Costa Rica and the 2012 presidential election in the United States. Given the lower level of political participation amongst youth in comparison to the rest of the population and a similar governmental form in Costa Rica and in the United States prove them to be comparable areas of study. The research is an analysis of both primary and secondary qualitative and quantitative sources obtained in both countries primarily during the 2012 calendar year. Between the two countries close to 200 students were surveyed and nearly 30 were interviewed in regards to the topic. The investigation has found that in both countries active, personal mobilizations of students prove to be effective in influencing college students to vote in elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The section presents abstracts of articles on topics related to politics, including the 2012 Congressional election in the U.S., the re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama and elections in the German Bundestag.

Obama's re-election was anything but sure up until election day: Although the President enjoyed an incumbency advantage and benefitted from an unopposed re-nomination, he was confronted with a high unemployment rate and a worrying budget deficit. Whereas Romney had to fight for his party's nomination until April, Obama was able to replenish his campaign chest and wage an effective negative campaign against Romney during the primary period which laid the groundwork for his victory in the general election. But a lacklustre performance in the first television debate almost changed the dynamics of the race. In the end, Obama's presidency was rescued by voters' enhanced economic expectations which could lean on a modest drop in unemployment, Obama's successful disaster management of hurricane Sandy and his forceful presidential campaign which was able to beat back the attacks of the Republican super PACs. Obama's second term will be confronted with difficult challenges of a divided government: Should his aspired gun control legislation go too far, he could endanger possible compromises with Republicans when it comes to immigration reform and deficit reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of who would run against President Barack Obama in 2012 was also a question about the future ideological direction of the Republican Party. Since the Tea Party movement had proven in the 2010 midterm elections that it was capable of moving the party's center of gravity to the right, the roles in the nomination race seemed to be clearly defined: Mitt Romney, the comparatively moderate candidate of the party establishment, faced a number of contenders who vied for the party base's support by casting themselves as the conservative alternative. In the end, Romney prevailed: He had the best campaign operation, disposed of superior financial resources, and enjoyed the most persistent support of other prominent Republicans. In addition, Romney's rivals never succeeded in uniting the opposition against him behind one candidate. Nevertheless, he had to move even closer to the conservative base in order to clinch the nomination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 presidential campaign seemingly broke barriers of both race and gender in the United States, as both parties offered competitive female candidates for the highest national offices and the first African-American man was nominated and subsequently elected to the chief executive. Yet many of our other political institutions lack diversity. This paper aims to explore the changing composition of Congress and whether Obama's election marked a substantial change in both the representation of racial and gender diversity and the policies pursued by the legislature. Evaluating whether the administration shift influenced the demographic structure of Congress and the agenda and issues on which it concentrated could provide valuable insight into the potential magnitude of impact that Obama's electoral victory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses U.S.-China relations as of January 2013. It says that the U.S. and China focused their energies domestically during the last 4 months of 2012 with the convergence of the U.S. presidential elections on November 6 and China's leadership transition on November 8-14. It discusses the tension between China and the U.S. over the former's maritime disputes with its neighbors in the East China Sea and the South China Sea where China urged the U.S. to remain neutral.

The article offers the author's insights on several challenges in the U.S. foreign policy that will be faced by the next administration after the 2012 election. He highlights the murders of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and colleagues in Benghazi, Libya, which has become a campaign topic. He discusses the challenges, which include extricating the nation from conflicts, relations with Russia, and long-term relations with Islamic countries.

The article focuses on voter suppression tactics used in the 2012 U.S. presidential and congressional elections. Topics include the record levels of political participation by voters in the 2008 U.S. presidential elections, efforts to curtail voters' rights, and the anti-democratic efforts to stifle the votes of groups including African Americans, the poor, and young people.

An essay is presented on the state of international human rights under U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, focusing on the institutional limitations which govern Obama's involvement in the detention of alleged terrorists at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, as well as the reported human atrocities in countries such as Iraq and Libya. According to the article, Obama's human rights policies are governed by topics such as re-election and opposition from members of the U.S. Congress.