Elected Officials Research Articles

Causes and Consequences of Post-Election Violence in Kenya

The election of leaders by the people is the aim of democratic procedures. An electoral system is intended to ensure that the outcomes reflect the preferences of the majority of voters, providing elected officials’ legitimacy, and that the results are unchallenged in any form. The aim of this study was to identify the causes of the post-election violence. Voting theory served as the foundation for this work. A descriptive study approach using both qualitative and quantitative methods was used by the researcher. The research was carried out from July 2022 to December 2022. Political parties, political analysts, IEBC members, legislators, and voters made up the study's target population. The researcher employed the stratified random sampling technique. The target population established the strata, and a random sample was taken from each stratum. The researcher used interview guide techniques to collect data, using items that were developed from the study objectives and research questions. Questionnaires and interviews were the two main ways that data were gathered. Voters were handed questionnaires, and interview guidelines were provided for political experts, electoral experts, and IEBC officials. The information gathered through the use of questionnaires was statistically analyzed using descriptive methods. According to the findings, disputed election results, tribalism, inadequate electoral conflict resolution mechanisms, the "winner-takes-it-all" election system, perceived bias of the electoral management body, and voter incitement by politicians are among the main causes of post-election violence in Kenya since 1963. Casualties, internally displaced people, the damage to private and public property, economic instability, and emotional and psychological suffering are only a few of the key effects of the post-election violence in Kenya. The report recommends, among other things, looking at alternative choices, including mixed-member and proportional representation models, since they are more inclusive and produce fair representation, as a remedy for the existing polarizing plurality voting system.

Child Penalties in Politics

Abstract Women tend to experience a substantial decline in their labour income after their first child is born, while men do not. Do such ‘child penalties’ also exist in the political arena? Using comprehensive administrative data from Norway, we find that women are less likely than men to secure elected office after their first child is born. The effects already manifest from the nomination stage, where mothers receive less favourable rankings on party lists relative to comparable fathers. This paper broadens our understanding of a fundamental social issue in political representation and demonstrates how motherhood even affects positively selected women.

Redefining “No Evidence of a Breach” in Election Security

For legal purposes, we rightly understand the lack of evidence to mean a lack of existence. For example, many candidates in the 2022 elections baselessly claimed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. But, absent evidence of systemic fraud, the law correctly determines that President Biden was duly elected. If the law entertained any outlandish assertion regardless of evidentiary support, accusers could peddle whatever claims they please, forcing the accused to disprove them. Similar to the legal understanding of “no evidence,” many appear to believe that no evidence of a security breach in our voting equipment indicates no breach. For example, in the run-up to the 2022 elections, Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “spent months voicing skepticism that . . . a security breach ever occurred” in Coffee County’s voting machines, arguing that “[t]here’s no evidence of any of that” and therefore that “[i]t didn’t happen.” A lack of evidence is rightly equivalent to a lack of existence, for legal purposes. But, for security purposes, no evidence of a breach does not necessarily mean no breach because security breaches can occur without the target’s knowledge. Indeed, the more competent the infiltrators are, the more likely they are to commit breaches undetected. The Allies taught the world this lesson in World War II, when they infiltrated the encrypted communications of the Axis powers without being exposed. To this day, it remains an axiomatic rule of cyber security practice that one should never interpret the lack of evidence of a security breach to mean no breach. Shortly after Raffensperger claimed that a breach did not happen because there was no evidence, it was revealed that voting machines in Coffee County had been breached. This Article calls for a bifurcated understanding of “no evidence of a breach” in the context of elections. For election fraud claims, we should continue to take no evidence to mean no fraud. But for evaluating the security of our election infrastructure, officials and legal scholars must understand that a breach can still occur despite the lack of evidence of a breach. I argue that the widespread conflation of no evidence of a breach and no breach is a frequently overlooked obstacle to election security reform. If one interprets no evidence of a breach as no breach, both the public and the politicians who represent them can rationalize not spending money on updating voting equipment as long as there is no definitive evidence that it was breached. Persuading the public of the fact that security breaches can occur despite the lack of evidence, while also showing why no evidence must still be interpreted as no existence for legal purposes, is a critical challenge that scholars must meet in order to effect meaningful election security reform.

The Concept and Models of Representation

The model of representation is a theoretical framework that delineates the manner in which elected officials or political representatives are anticipated to advocate for the interests, desires, and necessities of their constituents. This study elucidates various models of representation, each presenting distinct viewpoints on the functioning of this representation. Several prominent models of representation in politics include the trustee, delegate, partisan, and political representatives. The findings indicate that there are several elements that pose challenges to the functioning of representative government. These problems include defection, corruption, and the absence of clear ideological frameworks within political parties. The study concludes by offering recommendations for increasing representative governance through practical means, including the participation of all individuals, the promotion of political equality, and the cultivation of a sense of political responsibility.

Aligning Land Grant leadership programs with the needs of elected officials through Extension: Perceptions, priorities, and participation among Florida county commissioners

Addressing complex challenges has become the norm for local elected officials, and the need for skilled leadership at the local level has never been greater. County commissioners are not only tasked with day-to-day county management but must also make crucial decisions on issues such as pandemic response, rapid population growth, and natural disasters. The purpose of our study is to assess a university-based leadership development program for county commissioners, offered in collaboration between Extension at the University of Florida and the Florida Institute for County Government. We explore attitudes toward leadership programs among Florida county commissioners, show which competencies commissioners prioritize for leadership development, and identify potential barriers to participation. We find that county commissioners believe that leadership programs improve the effectiveness of leaders and the quality of local government. Additionally, we discover that the highest priority leadership competencies are strategic planning, communication, economic trends, conflict resolution, and critical thinking. Finally, our study shows that universities that partner with county government associations to offer leadership programs can create an important avenue for rural, resource-constrained counties to build the capacity of elected officials.

Political representation and perinatal outcomes to Black, White, and Hispanic people in Georgia: a cross-sectional study

PurposeOur goal was to estimate differences in perinatal outcomes by racial differences in political representation, a measure of structural racism. MethodsWe gathered data on the racial composition of county-level elected officials for all counties in Georgia (n = 159) in 2022. We subtracted the percent of non-White elected officials from the percent of non-White residents to calculate the “representation difference,” with greater positive values indicating a larger disparity. We linked this to data from 2020–2021 birth certificates (n = 238,795) on outcomes (preterm birth, <37 weeks, low birthweight birth <2500 g, birthweight, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, cesarean delivery). We fit log binomial and linear models with generalized estimating equations, stratified by individual race/ethnicity and including individual and county covariates. ResultsMedian representation difference was 17.5% points (interquartile range: 17.2). A 25-percentile point increase in representation difference was associated with a greater risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [White: adjusted risk ratio (RR): 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI): (1.05, 1.2), Black: 1.06, 95% CI: (0.95, 1.17), other: 1.14, 95% CI: (1.0, 1.3), Hispanic: 1.19, 95% CI: (1.07, 1.32)] and lower mean birthweight for Black birthing people [adjusted beta −15.3, 95% CI: (−25.5, −7.4)]. ConclusionsParity in political representation may be associated with healthier environments.

Jimmy Carter, Vietnam, and the Rhetoric of Gratitude: Antecedents to the Noble Cause

Abstract The study of the Vietnam War and American presidential discourse has followed a somewhat meandering path. The Vietnam discourse of Jimmy Carter remains the most poorly understood of the late Cold War presidents. Throughout the 1970s, Carter participated in, and at times led, the national debate over the federal government's responsibility to Vietnam veterans. He spoke of a debt of gratitude that the American people owed to the war's veterans. As president, parts of his domestic agenda prioritized Vietnam veterans, leading him to preside over commemorative events for the war's veterans on several occasions. During his time in elective office, he alternatingly defined the purpose of the war in Southeast Asia as preserving the American way of life, promoting democracy, or defending liberty and freedom. Carter practiced an ethics of remembering that sought to redeem the American soldier, to erase the divisiveness of the past, and to “delegitimize and marginalize anti-war opinions.”1 Despite the obvious importance of both his discourse and his actions, Carter's Vietnam War rhetoric has received very little attention.

Peripheral Elites in West European Central States’ Apparatus: An Introduction

AbstractThe presence and influence of peripheral elites in national political institutions is frequently handled by the press. But, oddly enough, the lack of a comprehensive vision of this issue tends to feed flashy titles alerting about the influence of some territorial groups in central institutions such as the “Scottish Raj,” the “Tartan mafia,” or the “Cosa Scotia” in London. This article aims to provide a general theoretical framework able to orient those fragmented researches. This literature review was led from May 2018 to June 2020. It presents those results in six sections. The ways in which peripheral elites get access to central institutions are analyzed in the first section. In the second section, we introduce the literature about the presence of peripheral elites in the state apparatus, before stressing the different networks representing the interests of peripheries in the city capitals in section three. Fourth, this article points out the various career orientations of peripheral elected officials. This leads us to question their policy influence in different fields. Lastly, a short section tackles the phobias provoked by the rise of peripheral elites occupying central political positions, before proposing a general framework for orienting future research on this topic.

지방자치단체 예산의 방만운영과 낭비 예방을 위한 입법적 해결방안

Among the writings on local government operation published since the 1970s until recently in the UK, which can be said to be the suzerain of local autonomy the representative characteristic is the focus of research on the logic that threatens the traditional status of local autonomy which has been understood as a sound symbol of democracy in the past. Korea has been experiencing incomplete local autonomy with insufficient decentralization for over 30 years but it is not much different in that local autonomy is rapidly being absorbed into turbid central politics as in the UK and Western Europe. In addition to the influence of central politics lacking national trust local election officials bandwagon of popularism drives unit local governments to serious budget waste. The problems arising from the continuous budget waste and lax financial management of local governments can be limited to a unit area in a microscopic view but expand as a side effect of the nation's overall financial management in a macroscopic view. In particular, such a side effect is that it promotes distrust between social classes, while eventually causing serious obstacles in the operation of local autonomy, which is the basis of democracy. The patterns of budget waste in the budget management process of local governments typically show behaviors such as hasty decisions, exhibitionism, patronage and sharing. The main background of this problem is the selfish judgment of the political party that does not properly accept the voters' demands. In other words, rather than managing their finances soundly, they focused only on spending their budgets by pandering to popularity. It has also encouraged a waste of budget due to the private use of public powers. Therefore, we urge the introduction of a local government bankruptcy system and a taxpayer lawsuit system as a way to solve the problem. At the same time, the improvement and strengthening of the ordinance legislative power which has been continuously requested from the local government field and that is an urgent issue. Along with improvement of the current self-audit function of local governments. In the future I would like to suggest that it is necessary to establish a 'Local Board of Audit and Inspection' gradually divide the country into regions.

Studying Representation and Equity-Seeking Candidates in Canadian Elections

Every election, as Canadians sit down at the polls to cast their votes, they ask: how truly representative are our elected officials? And how can we make politicians more representative of the public? As part of the USSRF, I provided important data to answer these questions. I studied how the barriers to elected office differ among equity-seeking groups, including women, BIPOC, and 2SLGBTQ+ people, and how parties can increase their representativeness. This research falls in three streams: data collection on federal candidates, data collection on provincial candidates, and a literature review of the role of voluntary targets to increase diversity and representation in political parties. The research on federal candidates has gathered important data on candidate race, 2SLGBTQ+ identities, and political experience from archived candidate biographies and news sources. The research on provincial candidates uses similar sources to extend analyses based on federal politics to provincial politics. The literature review draws on international examples to explore the impact of voluntary targets for representation within parties. These targets have historically not been a focus of study because the presumption is that voluntary targets will not be effective, but there is evidence that they have been increasingly effective in Canadian federal and provincial parties. By assessing the factors contributing to the representativeness (or under representativeness) of our elected officials, the research builds the groundwork for future work that compares party and voter biases across under-represented groups. The research engages with public debates in popular news media, social media, and non-profit/citizen groups surrounding the representation of women, BIPOC, and 2SLGBTQ+ people. The implications of this research are tangible for people, especially those belonging to marginalized groups, because the way we relate to the systems of power that govern us are crucial in understanding relationships of trust between citizens and the state.

U.S. agency growth aspirations and the effect of ideological extremism

AbstractDoes ideological extremism curb a public agency's desire to grow? This article theorizes that changes in the political environment affect a public agency leader's growth aspirations. Specifically, increased ideological extremism across an agency's elected principals leads an agency leader to be more cautious and less growth‐minded. The assessments of over 10,000 American state agency leaders are studied across 11 points in time from 1964 to 2018 and matched to data capturing the leader's ideological environment. Agency leaders, who face heightened extremism from elected state officials, are found to report a reduced interest in future growth. The results are strongest during periods of divided government, which may occur because the signal sent from greater extremism is more useful to agency leaders during these periods. When aggregated across thousands of agencies, the article's findings imply a driver of slower growth in the future size and scope of government.

The Role of Regional Bawaslu as a Supervisor in the Prevention and Hndling of Election Administration Violations in the City of Sukabumi

Background. General elections are held simultaneously, including the election of members of the House of Representatives, members of the Regional Representative Council, President and Vice President, and to elect members of the Regional People's Representative Council, where in each process towards general elections there are several stages that need to be carried out by election participants. Purpose. In the general election stages, there are often negligence committed by election participants, one of which is election administration violations, election administration violations are violations committed by election participants or election organizers during the election stages. Method. In this research, the author uses normative juridical research methods that are qualitative in nature. Results. Based on the findings made by the Sukabumi City Bawaslu, there were 19 findings of administrative violations in Sukabumi City committed by 2019 election participants, including 16 violations of campaign props and 3 violations of campaigns without notification letters to the police. From the findings by the Sukabumi City Bawaslu related to administrative violations, the Sukabumi City Bawaslu is authorized to receive, examine, review, decide reports from the public or findings by the Election Supervisor related to alleged election administration violations. From the alleged violation of election administration, the settlement uses a fast event in accordance with Article 40 of Perbawaslu No. 8 of 2022. From the many findings of alleged election administration violations, Bawaslu of Sukabumi City made several prevention efforts including appeals, Bawaslu of Sukabumi City delivered appeals to the community, election officials, and election officials. Conclusion. Socialization, namely the implementation of the initialization of election rules and regulations and coordination to the community, election participants, and local government agencies, as well as law enforcement agencies conducting cooperation with coordination with law enforcement agencies related to elections.

NJAMHAA mourns the death of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver

NJAMHAA mourns the death of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver

STATE OWNED ENTERPRISES: 05 YEARS OF THE NEW CORPORATE GOVERNANCE RULES

ABSTRACTObjective: This article intends to address the new Brazilian regulatory environment created by the SOEs Law (Law No. 13,303, of June 30, 2016) which created new corporate governance rules in state-owned enterprises for the election of directors, officers and fiscal council members, with the purpose of protecting the public companies, the mixed joint-stock corporation and its subsidiaries ("state-owned") against any possible (and unfortunately common) political-partisan interference in the appointment of the members of these top-level management positions in the SOEs. The article will also present cases of progress, setbacks, and the future of this new Brazilian legal norm.Methodology: Review of the bibliography and analysis of judicial and administrative precedents involving the application of new corporate governance rules for state-owned enterprises.Results: It is possible to conclude that the new corporate governance rules were created by Law No. 13,303, of June 30, 2016 with the purpose of protecting the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) against any possible (and unfortunately common) political-partisan interference in the appointment of the members of the top-level management positions in the SOEs.Contributions: From the results found, it is possible to verify: (a) One of the most relevant aspects of the Law No. 13,303, of June 30, 2016 was the creation of academic background, professional experience and professionalization for the top-level management of state-owned enterprises, as usual in the private sector. (b) that the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) determined the application of the new corporate governance rules for state-owned enterprises; (c) the Judiciary, especially the Federal Supreme Court (STF), can make a relevant contribution if it decides to apply these new rules of governance corporate in order to mitigate political-partisan interference in the appointment of the members of these top-level management positions in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

MODERN PRACTICES OF COMBATING BUREAUCRACY IN WESTERN EUROPE

The article is devoted to the disclosure of modern practices of countering bureaucracy in Western Europe. Based on the results of the analysis of the scientific literature on this problem, it was proved that the mechanisms of countering bureaucracy began to form around the relevant legal field, the main of which are: ensuring the election of officials and the possibility of their recall; increasing the responsibility of officials; change of the remuneration system; reducing the field of application of "personal discretion"; conclusion of fixed-term contracts, contracts; control, revision and audit; expansion of opportunities to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens; reducing the limits for the use of personal discretion; professional education. The key areas of implementation of public sector reforms are highlighted: reducing the size and scope of public sector powers; improvement of the system of providing state (administrative) services; as short as possible terms of obtaining public services; change of the civil service management system; introduction of new mechanisms of relations with the public, ethical norms and standards for civil servants; changing the pay system for officials. It is proved that the opposition to bureaucracy in Western Europe had the character of improvement, rationalization of bureaucracy, subordination of its professional activities to the interests of citizens and civil society.

Hambatan Keterwakilan Politik Perempuan Di Indonesia

This study identifies the factors that prevent women in Indonesia from achieving elected office in the provincial level in Indonesia. The results showed that lack of access to financial resources, internal party politics, and women's marital status can be barriers to women achieving elected office. However, access to social and political networks that provide women with key resources, belonging to the dominant religion in your region, and age lead women to greater political success. These findings are based on the interpretation of statistical correlations and content analysis results from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The aim of this research is to provide evidence-based findings and recommendations, which can be used to increase the electability of women political candidates in elections.

Prioritizing Career Management Activities on Youth Leaders’ Retention: A Spherical Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process-Based Approach

As youth organizations play a vital role in nation-building, retaining elected officials is essential for organizations to maintain created value. Youth are distinct from previous generations in their attitudes, behaviors, and personalities, and retaining them requires a distinct management strategy. This study aims to provide decision-makers with a more effective and efficient instrument for evaluating the types of career management activities contributing to the retention of SK Chairpersons. This study uses a spherical fuzzy analytic hierarchy-based approach to examine factors and activities according to their importance. It was conducted at Talakag, Bukidnon, participated by the SK Federation with twenty-nine (29) SK Chairpersons. The results indicate that "leadership and Management" is the most important factor, that "supportive leadership" has a significant impact on their retention, and that "development-oriented career management activities" have the greatest influence on increasing the retention of SK Chairpersons. To accomplish more with youth programs and activities, the federation, under the supervision of the Barangay Council in each barangay, should prioritize Career Planning and Reflection, Performance Feedback, and Skill Development.

How Political Content in Us Weekly Can Reduce Polarized Affect Toward Elected Officials

ABSTRACTPoliticians invest a lot of energy into managing their image, with the hope that the public views them favorably. In sharing details about themselves, elected officials want to be seen as people, not just as politicians. Are these efforts successful? I explore this question using an experiment inspired by a column in the celebrity entertainment magazine Us Weekly. I find that politicians who share nonpolitical autobiographical details about themselves secure warmer evaluations from the public. Reading this type of personalizing information also can contribute to ratings of elected officials that are less polarized by partisanship. While personalizing information boosts favorability toward politicians across party lines, members of the opposing party are particularly likely to report warmer affect toward the politician about whom they read. This suggests that this type of soft news coverage has the potential to depolarize partisan evaluations of politicians.

Perceived racial efficacy and voter engagement among African Americans

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to provide clarity on the link between Black people’s perceptions of racism in American institutions and society and voter engagement. We hypothesize that Black people with high feelings of racial efficacy, or the belief that government and society operate in a racially equitable manner, the more likely they will be to vote. Conversely, Black people with low racial efficacy are discouraged from voting. However, confidence in in-group leaders and movements can counteract the demobilizing risk of low racial efficacy. Our analysis uses data from an African American Research Collaborative national survey of 1200 Black voters. Analysis of turnout in 2016 finds that Black people with low racial efficacy were significantly less likely to vote, all else being equal. However, we find that having highly favorable attitudes toward Barack Obama, Black Elected Officials, and Black Lives Matter recovers the propensity to vote for low racial efficacy Blacks back to levels comparable with their racially optimistic peers. Finally, we conclude with a survey experiment which demonstrates that priming Black people with a low racial efficacy environment results in reduced faith in government, in part corroborating the causal direction theorized in our study.

Can policy instruments shape the policy problems they aim to solve? How interest registers redefined conflicts of interest

By analysing the policy process leading to the introduction of interest registers in France and Sweden, this article argues that their use as a policy instrument was crucial for acknowledging and defining conflict of interest as a problem. It challenges rationalist approaches to public policy that focus on how the adoption of policy solutions follows the identification of policy problems, instead, favouring the acknowledgement of how problems and solutions can exist independently. To identify how interest registers became a preferred policy solution, the article traces how policies from the UK and US were integrated in the global anti-corruption toolkit in the 1990s and subsequently adopted in France and Sweden in the 2010s. It uncovers the sequencing of events, and, specifically, the evolution of public discourse on conflicts of interest around the adoption of public interest registers. It shows that interest registers contribute to (re)define the problem of conflict of interest in new contexts of adoption. The sequencing of events suggests that the problem of conflict of interest was rarely used before the instrument’s adoption and, what is important, did not have a clear ‘stabilised’ shared meaning. Interest registers thus give reality to the problem and modify its definition. By establishing which interests are to be declared in standardised forms, interest registers define new ‘risk areas’ for corruption. They also convey the idea that the problem relates to an asymmetry of information between elected officials and voters that can be corrected through transparency measures, shifting the locus of problem-solving responsibility to the public.