Electoral Reform Research Articles

The European Union: Consociational Past, Centripetal Future?

ABSTRACT Consociational interpretations of the European Union (EU) are well established and help to explain the political stability of the 27-member state system. In contrast, the increasingly common centripetal elements have not yet received systematic attention. Using a framework originally designed to map the choices for divided societies, this article highlights centripetalism in EU party regulation and proposals for electoral reform. Going beyond the spatial distribution requirements that play such a central role in aggregative institutions in the EU, the article suggests that cross-national districts rather than a supra-national district provide the strongest incentive for European parties to organise EU-wide campaigns on European issues, fielding candidates with cross-national appeal. The article concludes with a reflection on the relationship between consociational and centripetal elements in the EU. It shows that consociationalism and centripetalism in the EU can continue to co-exist, though the balance is likely to change.

Support for electoral system reform among voters and politicians: Studying information effects through survey experiments

Does information about the consequences of proposals to change the Norwegian parliamentary electoral system influence voters' and politicians' attitudes towards the system? Is the willingness to accept change greater among voters/politicians who “lose” under the present electoral system? These questions are illuminated using empirical data from two identical survey experiments, with responses from both voters and politicians about 1) increased proportionality between parties (more seats for smaller parties) and 2) increased geographical proportionality (stronger representation for the more populous counties). The results show that being informed about the consequences of the proposals has a major effect on voters' and politicians' attitudes. This applies especially to the question of increased proportionality between parties, where feedback was particularly negative from respondents who were told that the proposal might weaken the larger parties’ representation and make it more difficult to establish viable governments. The responses to the question about increased proportionality between parties were also influenced by partisanship; politicians who belonged to or voters who voted for one of the smaller parties favour increased proportionality. We also find that there is limited support for the proposal to distribute parliamentary seats according to the number of inhabitants in the counties, and this support is further reduced when the respondents are informed that the measure will increase representation from the more populous parts of the country.

Decades of Party Distrust. Persistence through Reform in Italy

One common feature of the Italian political space over the past half century has been the presence of distrust in political parties and the presence of anti-system parties on both the left and the right. Discontent with existing elites and the political system has taken many forms, including referendums altering the electoral system. Both the character of the main parties and the rules by which they are elected have been reformed 4 times since the 1980s. However, as the elections of 2013 and 2018 and the referendum of 2016 demonstrate, Italians still have a high amount of resentment towards party elites and the operation of the system. Using data from Italian National Election Studies, this paper traces the development of this party resentment with a focus on three questions: 1) How has resentment towards party representiveness changed with the electoral and party reforms 2) Who was likely to hold this resentment 3) What was the party affiliation of those most resentful, or did they abstain? Results stress that socio-demographic differences had little effect on understanding the source of party resentment; distrust in parties correlates well with distrust in parliament and political administration. General social distrust did not translate into a distrust for parties. We conclude that discontent can be separated into a political dimension associated with current governance and one of a more systemic nature.

Why Woman Want Vote?: Writings of Stri Dharma on Woman’s Suffrage in Madras Presidency, 1922 – 1936

The Women's suffrage movement in India fought for Indian women's right to political enfranchisement in Colonial India under British rule. Beyond suffrage, the movement was fighting for women's right to stand for and hold office during the colonial era. In 1918, when Britain granted limited suffrage to women property holders, the law did not apply to British citizens in other parts of the Empire. Despite petitions presented by women and men to the British commissions sent to evaluate Indian voting regulations, women's demands were ignored in the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. In 1919, impassioned pleas and reports indicating support for women to have the vote were presented by suffragists to the India Office and before the Joint Select Committee of the House of Lords and Commons, who were meeting to finalize the electoral regulation reforms of the Southborough Franchise Committee. Though they were not granted voting rights, nor the right to stand in elections, the Government of India Act 1919 allowed Provincial Councils to determine if women could vote, provided they met stringent property, income, or educational levels. Madras in 1921 granted votes to wealthy and educated women, under the same terms that applied to men. In the Government of India Act 1935 the British Raj set up a system of separate electorates and separate seats for women. Most women's leaders opposed segregated electorates and demanded adult franchise. Stri-Dharma, a monthly newspaper stood for the women’s suffrage movement with the support of the Women Indian Association of Madras from 1922 to 1936.

Rights Consciousness in Malaysia: How an Electoral Reform Movement Fostered a Sense of Political Efficacy amongst Citizens

ABSTRACT This article focusses on how Malaysia’s Bersih movement for clean and fair elections has played a role in fostering rights consciousness in society. We examine how the expectation that the Bersih movement would be successful in reaching its aims has been related to the development of a sense of individual political efficacy – the belief that people can influence the electoral process by exercising their political rights. We draw on findings from two longitudinal surveys conducted with a convenience sample of Malaysians before and after two critical events: the Bersih 5 protests in 2016, and the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018, which saw the fall of the Barisan Nasional regime after six decades of unbroken rule. Using this data, we argue that the expectation that Bersih would be successful has been important in shaping people’s perceptions of their own political efficacy. An increased sense of political efficacy was especially apparent among Chinese and Indian minorities, compared to the Malay majority, although all three groups reported higher levels of political efficacy after Bersih 5 and GE14. These findings reflect the rise in rights consciousness, and we discuss its importance in understanding Bersih’s role in shaping democratic transition, in Malaysia.

The Problem of Police Nationalism

The Problem of Police Nationalism Jasson Perez (bio) The Capitol riot was a watershed moment for the United States. It exposed the extent to which the far right has become inseparable from the GOP and revealed the weaknesses of our electoral process under an undemocratic constitution. the violence at the Capitol also prompted another public reckoning with the purpose and function of policing in our society, which built on and contradicted the critique of policing advanced by the mass protests of 2020. In the days after January 6, many observed how differently police treated pro-trump and Black Lives Matter protesters. In response to those asking for more extensive surveillance and policing of white supremacists, abolitionists and other civil libertarians emphasized the limits of such an approach. It's clear we need political solutions to the conditions that made the Capitol riot possible. But the answer isn't just electoral reform, or policies to diminish economic and social inequality. We also need to deal with the politics of policing itself. The journalist Jeff Sharlet has given this politics a name: police nationalism. While Sharlet primarily refers to police nationalism as a right-wing project, rooted in an identity formed around "fantasizing punishment for others," there is a bipartisan political consensus that sees policing as the means to overcome the problems caused by inequality, reducing them to issues of crime and pathology. People on the left sometimes slip into this language, too, characterizing Capitol rioters, for instance, as criminal deviants who must be punished. Police nationalism is rooted in conservative ideas of law and order, expressed these days in the rhetoric of Blue Lives Matter, but it has also been sustained by decades of liberal police reform. the right sees the police as the "thin blue line" between order, stability, and security and illegitimate violence, chaos, and anarchy. Liberals instead emphasize the "law" in "law and order," appealing to proceduralism and increased professionalism as mechanisms of accountability to be strengthened so that police can serve the public good. Liberal police nationalism is inseparable from the right-wing version; the [End Page 96] Brooklyn Park police station in Minneapolis, which raised a thin blue line flag after an officer killed Daunte Wright in April, was the same police department that in 2020 was hailed as a model of liberal police reform. Looking at police nationalism help us understand the series of right-wing mobilizations that culminated in the Capitol riot. First were the anti-lockdown protests earlier in 2020; then came the counterprotests and violence aimed at Black Lives Matter protesters; finally, interwoven with both, were trump and GOP election rallies. In all these mobilizations, we could see a politics that contrasted the corruption of legal institutions with the simple justice of an order rooted in armed patriots–whether police or private citizens. these events were supported by right-wing donor networks. Violence against protesters on the left was encouraged at a high level, including legislative efforts to protect motorists who run over Black Lives Matter demonstrators. Some have pointed to the hypocrisy of pro-police rhetoric among people who violate pandemic lockdowns, or who confronted and injured police at the Capitol. It's more useful to look at how those moments are rationalized as an effort to "make policing great again," by discarding a liberal political elite who don't allow police to do their jobs and go after the real criminals. Once politicians–who are captured by a liberal elite–are no longer able to tell police what to do, they argue, we will no longer need to fight them. Right-wing police nationalists do not understand the police as a civilian force, accountable to a democratically elected government, but as a political force accountable to the vocal base of one party under a conservative and racist conception of law and order. Following the Capitol riot, hundreds of people were arrested and now face serious criminal charges. this effort seems to have had only a modest effect on trump's popularity within the GOP. Is this surprising? Confronting the rioters with legal retribution does nothing to challenge the ideological hold of white supremacy on the party. Meanwhile, around the country...

Multi-seat Districts and Larger Assemblies Produce More Diverse Racial Representation

This study considers the relationship between three key components of electoral systems and racial representation in legislative office. Recent scholarship in comparative politics has shown that these components — the number of seats being contested per district (district magnitude), the size of an assembly or council, and the rules that allocate seats from votes (electoral formula) — are jointly predictive of the number of political parties that contest and win seats in national legislatures. To test how well these institutions can account for racial representation as well, we examine election results from 159 ethno-racially diverse cities in 13 U.S. states and three more countries (Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands) from 2010 – 2019. We find that larger assembly sizes and district magnitudes are associated, both separately and jointly, with larger numbers of parties seating candidates of color. Our results suggest that these basic electoral system features should figure more prominently into U.S. debates about electoral reform.

БАРЬЕРЫ В ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ КАРЬЕРЕ ЖЕНЩИН: ОБЗОР СОВРЕМЕННЫХ ПРАКТИК В ЗАРУБЕЖНЫХ СТРАНАХ

Based on the study of existing practices from different countries the article attempts to determine the existing barriers in the political career of women, which vary in different countries depending on the established and changing political culture, constitutional and electoral reforms. It also analyzes the foreign countries experience in moving towards gender parity at the highest level of political institutions, like national parliaments. It is concluded that such mechanisms as quotas, including internal party quotas, have served very effective in increasing a number of women in the power structures. Following the analysis of data for different countries, a conclusion is also drawn that after achieving the gender balance or gender parity in parliaments questions arise about the real influence of women on decision-making, while the mechanisms that have shown their effectiveness, but are somewhat outdated, are being rethought.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Ecuador During The COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020, Ecuadorian politics was not only constrained by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also stirred by political instability and an intense online electoral campaign. In this article, we outline the Ecuadorian economic, social, and political context from February 2020 to February 2021. Then, we explore the core measures and overall impacts of the COVID-19 on Ecuadorian politics. We also present the main institutional and policy changes, bearing in mind that 2020 was the last year of Lenín Moreno’s presidential term. In addition, this article examines the latest electoral reform and the main issues of the electoral campaign, as well as the key results of the national and Andean elections of February 2021.

¿Presidente o príncipe? Una crítica maquiaveliana a Roque Sáenz Peña y la reforma electoral de 1912

The article analyzes the book The President, by Julio Costa (governor of the province of Buenos Aires in the 1890s), published simultaneously with the electoral reform of 1912. It is argued that the relevance of this text lies in three axes. First, it shows key topics of the public debate of that moment: representative government, political parties, secret and mandatory voting. Second, it ponders universal suffrage in the name of preserving traditions and the defense of freedom. Thus, it offers indications of possible crossings between conservatism, liberalism and democracy in Argentina of 1910s. Finally, the book displays a severe criticism of Roque Sáenz Peña inspired by The Prince, the famous text by Nicolò Machiavelli. From this point of view, it integrates a broader sequence, so far little explored: a political reflection grounded in the Florentine author about the vicissitudes of Argentine public life of the first decades of the twentieth century.

Dynasties and Democracy: The Inherited Incumbency Advantage in Japan by Daniel M. Smith

Reviewed by: Dynasties and Democracy: The Inherited Incumbency Advantage in Japan by Daniel M. Smith Arthur Stockwin (bio) Dynasties and Democracy: The Inherited Incumbency Advantage in Japan. By Daniel M. Smith. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA, 2018. xviii, 359 pages. $65.00, cloth; $30.00, paper. In one particular aspect of its political system, Japan is an international outlier. The Japanese since 1945 have elected to their House of Representatives a higher proportion of members belonging to political "dynasties" than any other comparable democracy or semidemocracy. The nearest comparator is the Republic of Ireland, where political "families" are a widely recognized feature of the political landscape. Daniel Smith, in one of the most fully researched studies of Japanese politics to appear in recent years, combines close scrutiny of such Japanese "dynasties" with international comparison. His theory combines rational choice with historical institutionalism, and his methodology involves complex statistical analysis. Having many parliamentary representatives related to others from the same biological family has implications for democracy. This may be especially serious where a member of Parliament (MP) "inherits" a parliamentary seat, in other words where a close relative of the existing holder [End Page 145] (typically son or son-in-law in Japan's male-dominated society) is elected in his place for the same electoral district. Smith opens chapter 7 with a telling quotation from Tom Paine, who in 1776 declared that since hereditary succession in politics "opens a door to the foolish, the wicked and the improper, it hath in it the nature of oppression. … and when [hereditary politicians] succeed to the government [they] are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions" (p. 239). As a rational political scientist, Smith does not engage in such polemics, but he is concerned with the normative implications of hereditary succession in politics. His prime task, however, is to unearth the nature and causality of this phenomenon in Japanese politics. He uses the Japanese House of Representatives Elections Dataset (JHRED) and, for international comparison, the Dynasties in Democracies Dataset, which covers 12 advanced industrial democracies. Even though his research covers Japanese parties in general, he concentrates on the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been politically dominant since 1955 and where dynasties have been most prominent. Following historical institutionalism, Smith examines Japanese episodes of institutional reform, especially the electoral reform to the House of Representatives that occurred in 1994. This reform replaced a system originating in the mid-1920s, but which operated in its mature form between 1947 and 1994, when it was referred to as "SNTV in MMDs" (single nontransferable vote in multimember districts). Nearly all electoral districts elected three, four, or five members of the Lower House. This meant that for the LDP, different candidates for the same district competed with each other as much as they did with candidates of other parties. Smith rightly argues that under that system, conservative electors were voting for a candidate rather than for the LDP as a party. This in turn privileged name recognition, giving the son of a previous candidate a distinct advantage over his rivals. The heyday of political dynasties came in the years leading up to 1994. Under the post-1994 system multimember districts were replaced by single-member districts plus a minority of seats decided by proportional representation (PR). However, the seats elected through PR provided a second chance for LDP candidates defeated in single-member first-past-the-post (FPTP) districts. In much-diluted form, this recreated competition between fellow LDP candidates in the same geographic area. The reform decreased the number of dynasties, but many of them still survived. Smith is inclined to explain this by path dependency, reinforced by the weakly counterbalancing element of the parallel PR districts. Moreover, leading politicians such as Koizumi Junichirō, Abe Shinzō, Fukuda Yasuo, and Asō Tarō were all members of family dynasties. He accepts that not only do dynasties remain, but that they are particularly numerous in the cabinet, where dynasty members in recent cabinets have touched 60 per cent. He admits on [End Page 146] page 215 that "keeping track of dynastic politics at the top levels of power is enough to make one's head...

Cambio de las reglas del juego: reforma de elección después del 88

El artículo explora los proyectos de reforma política en el caso brasileño desde un aspecto inexplorado: las estrategias para maximizar las ganancias electorales inherentes a las propuestas de reforma electoral. Para ello, analizamos las Propuestas de Reforma Constitucional (PEC) presentadas en el Congreso Nacional sobre el tema de los 29 años de democracia brasileña y creamos una base de datos con 493 observaciones con 52 variables que agrupamos en 5 categorías de análisis. De la literatura (Benoit, 2007; Boix, 1999; Colomer, 2004, 2005, 2018) pretendemos inferir sobre los diseños propuestos en los PEC, evaluando las posibles ganancias y pérdidas estratégicas para las partes. Los resultados muestran que los PEC no parecen estar guiados por intereses estratégicos de las partes, como se predice en la literatura. Por el contrario, la investigación sugiere una racionalidad normativa (sin maximizar las ganancias).

Prospects Of Electoral Reform In Algeria Post-Hirak Of February 22nd:, A Comparative Study Of The Most Significant Changes In The Electoral Process

Prospects Of Electoral Reform In Algeria Post-Hirak Of February 22nd:, A Comparative Study Of The Most Significant Changes In The Electoral Process

The Redistributive Effects of Enfranchising Non-Citizens: Evidence From Sweden

We study theoretically and empirically the redistributive effects of extending voting rights to non-citizens. Our model predicts a tax increase when newly enfranchised voters represent a sufficiently large fraction of voters. We study the 1975 Swedish electoral reform that extended voting rights to non-citizens in municipal elections. In the first term after the reform, there was a tax increase that was not repeated in subsequent terms. This increase was stronger the greater the foreign population in the municipality. This effect was concentrated in municipalities where the size of the non-citizen population was large enough to upturn the previous electoral outcome.

Ranked-Choice Voting, Runoff, and Democracy: Insights from Maine and Other U.S. States

In recent years, a growing number of scholars and policymakers have called for electoral reform in the United States; many suggest ranked-choice voting (RCV), with a few proposing runoff. The expected benefits include greater openness of the electoral arena to new parties, greater ideological moderation, and greater voter satisfaction. To what extent did RCV and runoff live up to these expectations in the United States in 2020? Whereas until recently the impact of RCV could be assessed only for local elections, we take advantage of the implementation of RCV in Maine to assess together the effects of the three distinct rules — RCV, runoff, and plurality — in federal elections. Across a dataset for twelve competitive 2020 federal elections, the electoral arena was more open to new parties and candidates under RCV in Maine than under runoff or plurality elsewhere. Also under RCV in Maine, one candidate broke the national pattern of ideological polarization. Yet, in the context of Maine’s political history, these gains were modest. Further, RCV has been fiercely opposed by Maine’s Republican Party, especially after a loss in a 2018 congressional election by a Republican to a Democrat in a “come-from-behind victory.” (In a “come-from-behind” victory under RCV, the winner of the first-preference votes loses after the allocation of additional-preference votes.) In a survey experiment administered on 3,471 registered voters throughout the U.S., voters were less satisfied with RCV than with runoff or plurality, and especially less satisfied with a come-from-behind victory. Overall, these results highlight the challenges that arise with change; voters and candidates require time to understand and adapt to new electoral rules.

Practical implications for the electoral system: New Nation Movement NPC v President of the Republic of South Africa

In New Nation Movement NPC v President of the Republic of South Africa, the Constitutional Court declared parts of the Electoral Act 73 of 1998 unconstitutional in so far as the Act does not provide for independent candidates to stand for political office in the national and provincial legislatures. The court has given the National Assembly two years to redesign the electoral system. Given the constitutional and logistical constraints, the legislature will probably not be able to avoid a major electoral reform. It will be very hard to justify that voters may select a candidate of their choice only when such a candidate runs as an independent but not when a candidate elects to run on a party ticket. The best option would therefore be to introduce a mixed electoral system which combines constituency-based elections with proportional representation of political parties. To keep ballots manageable it would be appropriate to use other electoral design tools such as an entrance hurdle for political parties and deposits and/or nominations by registered voters supporting independent candidates as well. Such a reform might contribute to weed out candidates tainted by corruption because the capacity of political parties to shield them from the electorate in closed lists where the voters have no say about which candidates get elected will be constrained.

Proportional Representation and Right-Wing Populism: Evidence from Electoral System Change in Europe

How much do electoral institutions matter for the rise of populist parties? Evidence on this question is mixed with some scholars arguing that the role of electoral rules is small. We provide new evidence for the impact of electoral system change. The United Kingdom's adoption of a proportional electoral system for European elections in 1999 provides a unique opportunity to study the link between electoral rules and the ascendancy of right-wing populist parties. Employing both synthetic control and difference-in-difference methods, we estimate that the electoral reform increased the vote share of right-wing populists by about 12 to 13.5 percentage points on average. During a time when populism was rising across Europe, the reform abruptly shifted populist votes in the UK above the European trend and above more plausible comparison cases. Our results also imply that caution is needed when empirical results based on partial reforms are extrapolated to electoral system change.

Od zahteva za slobodne i poštene izbore do izborne reforme - dijalog vlasti i opozicije u Srbiji 2019. godine

This article analyses the context that led to a dialogue on electoral conditions between the Serbian government and the opposition by applying the methodological matrix of standards for "free and fair" elections as defined by international organizations. Serbian electoral law has implemented international standards, but all electoral cycles have shown a certain level of irregularities that call into question the integrity of a number of electoral processes in the 2012-2017 interval. Two rounds of interparty dialogue produced only partial results. By amending a number of laws, certain election procedures were improved, but they remained in the shadow of unresolved crucial problems. Public broadcasting services remained closed to opposition parties and alternative policies, and the pressure on voters remained present. Instead of improving election conditions, major electoral reform was carried out. The electoral threshold was lowered from 5% to 3%. This form of electoral engineering carried out by the government did not diminish the boycott of the opposition, but it brought about significant changes in the electoral system, the effects of which were felt in the next elections. The epilogue of the dialogue was a boycott of the election by a part of the opposition parties, a politically unrepresentative parliament, and the Serbia's return to the ranks of authoritarian, hybrid regimes in index bases that measure the quality of democracy. The announcement of early elections immediately after the constitution of the national parliament and a new round of dialogue on electoral conditions show that the problem of electoral integrity is still waiting for a solution.

Die Präsidentschaftsvorwahlen der Demokraten 2020: Eine Rückkehr zur parteielitengesteuerten Kandidatennominierung vor 2016?

The presidential primaries of 2016 were seen as proof that the parties had finally lost control over the nomination of their presidential candidates. The new rules for the selection process benefited unconventional, populist candidates such as Trump or Sanders. In contrast, the 2020 Democratic primaries showed, as argued by some, that party insiders did have the power to impose the candidate of their choice after all. Such a conclusion could be premature. The Democratic contest, documented here from beginning to end, revealed many of the same problems that plagued the Republicans four years earlier. It was thanks to two exceptional factors alone that party insiders finally took the reins: the existentially felt need to beat Trump, and the impossibility of forcing the public to vote in large droves in the midst of the pandemic. Had these constraints not existed, most probably Sanders would have emerged victorious in the primaries. This leaves primary election reform on the agenda, for which some suggestions are made in conclusion.

Strengths and Challenges of Federal Governance in Nepal: Re Thinking with Rural Development Approach

Rural development in Nepal is a complex phenomenon. It is an interaction among economic, social, political and cultural factors. The concept of rural development is a process of wholistic development and change to improve rural livelihood. Rural development is linked with infrastructural development, commercialization of agriculture, proper utilization and of resources, food security, creating opportunities, inclusive development in the rural area and positive change in overall society. The main objective of the study is to assess the strength and challenges of federal governance in Nepal. Further, the study had reviewed the existing governance status in Nepal including Local Self Governance Act (LSGA) 1999 and its impact in the country. It aims to identify the rural development approach for the proper development of the nation with need based or right based approach. The study was conducted in the descriptive and exploratory design. The secondary data were only used in the study. The major sources of data were collected from the MoFALD, Central Library of TU, CBS, CEDA library, Nepal Rasta Bank Library, NPC, Public Information Centre, World Bank, Nepal etc. Nepal is still anxious to see and enjoy “democracy dividends” – social welfare, justice, equity, and equal access to resources and power. A reflection on the above calls to question certain issues that stands as challenge(s) to democratic governance in Nepal. These issues remain critical governance problems: leadership challenges, corruption, lack of transparency, and system of electoral reforms, rising civil strife, poverty, unemployment, lack of human security and human rights.