Politics of fear in Brazil: Far-right conspiracy theories on COVID-19

In this article, we present an analysis of narratives mobilised by extreme right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, from March to December 2020. Our research indicates that, throughout that year, despite changes in the categories used, fear was continuously mobilised by the Brazilian president connecting an alleged ‘communist conspiracy’ to the coronavirus pandemic by creating narratives around the terms ‘Chinese virus’ and ‘Chinese vaccine’. Mapping these conspiratorial discourses, we hope to better understand (1) how Bolsonaro converts conspiracy theories into official state discourse as well as public policy, and (2) how Bolsonaro and his mediatic representatives weaponise tensions between individual freedom and public healthcare and the scientific community. Taking this scenario into account, we analyse how Bolsonaro uses social fear during the pandemic as part of his permanent campaign in a process resulting in serious risks to both public health and democracy.

Impact of Accelerometer Placement on Modal Extraction of Offshore Wind Structures

The modal parameters extracted from a structure by accelerometers can be used for damage assessment as well as model updating. To extract modal parameters from a structure, it is important to place accelerometers at locations with high modal displacements. Sensor placement can be restricted by practical considerations, and installation might be conducted more based on engineering judgement rather than analysis. This leads to the question of how important the optimal sensor placement is, and if fewer sensors suffice to extract the modal parameters. In this work, an offshore wind substation (OSS) from the Wikinger offshore wind farm (owned by Iberdrola) is instrumented with 12, 3-axis accelerometers. This sensor setup consists of 6 sensors in a permanent campaign where sensors were placed based purely on engineering judgement, as well as 6 sensors in a temporary campaign, placed based on a placement analysis. An optimal sensor placement study was conducted using a finite element model of the structure in the software package FEMtools, resulting in optimal layouts. The temporary campaign sensors were placed such that they, in combination with the permanent campaign, can be used to complete the proposed layouts. Samples for each setup are processed using the software ARTeMIS modal to extract the mode shapes and natural frequencies through the Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI) technique. The frequencies found by this approach are then clustered together using a k-means algorithm for a comparison within clusters. The modal assurance criterion (MAC) values are calculated for each result and compared to the finite element model from which the optimal sensor placement study was conducted. This is to match mode shapes between the two and thus determine the importance of off diagonal MAC elements in the sensor optimization process. MAC values are also calculated relative to a cluster-averaged set of eigenvectors to determine how they vary over the 1.5 months. The results show that for all sensor layouts, the three lower frequency modes are consistently identified. The most optimized sensor layout, consisting of only 3 sensors, was able to distinguish an additional, higher frequency mode which was never identified in the 6-sensor permanent layout. However, the reduced sensor layout shows slightly more scatter in the results than the 6-sensor layout. There is a higher signal to noise ratio in the temporary campaign which results in scatter. We conclude that with an optimized placement of accelerometers, more modes can be identified and distinguished. However, off diagonal elements in the original MAC matrix, as well as loss of sensor degrees of freedom, can result in additional scatter in the measurements. Some of these findings can be extended to other offshore jacket structures, such as those of wind turbines, in that it gives a better understanding of the consequence of an optimal sensor placement study.

Facebook as a ‘trusted space of everyday communication’: Parties, citizens and direct representation

Detailing processes related to direct representation in a longitudinal fashion, the study at hand gauges the degree to which Swedish political parties have utilized their Facebook pages during a four-year period covering two elections. Moreover, the study provides insights into citizen interaction by measuring the types of engagement preferred by Facebook users in relation to the party pages. Results indicate that while the bulk of parties appear as largely organizing their online activity in relation to election campaigns, the small, non-parliamentary Pirate Party emerges as taking an approach more in line with the permanent campaign aspect of direct representation. Moreover, while results indicate that citizens are indeed engaging with parties on Facebook, they do so mostly through ‘liking’ rather than commenting ‐ arguably a tendency suggesting limited interest in online discussion and deliberation.

“Deliverology” and Evaluation: A Tale of Two Worlds

In recent years, the new political governance, a partisan model that contributes to a permanent campaign, gained ground in public organizations. In this new context, “deliverology” is portrayed as an innovative method to help governments implement new policies and deliver on election promises. This article presents the similarities and diff erences that exist between “deliverology” and evaluation. Is deliverology really something new or is it another case of old wine in a new bottle? Is deliverology a substitute for or, instead, a complement to institutionalized evaluation? To what extent does new political governance (exemplified by deliverology and performance measurement) undermine evidence-based decision making? What is the value-added of deliverology? These questions are addressed through a critical reflection on deliverology and its value-added in Canada, where evaluation became institutionalized in many departments and agencies under the influence of results-based management, promoted by the advocates of new public management over four decades.r four decades.