Electoral Rights Research Articles

Правовой статус главы муниципального образования: актуальные проблемы поиска оптимума

The content and specific legislative amendments in the regulation of the forms of substitution position of head of the municipality in accordance with the provisions of the federal law 03.02.2015 N 8 «On amendments to articles 32 and 33 of the Federal law “On basic guarantees of electoral rights and the right to participate in a referendum of citizens of the Russian Federation” and the Federal law “On general principles of local self-government in the Russian Federation”» are analyzed in this article. Author analyzed the problems and assessed, evaluated and formulated possible trends of the realization of the institution of city-manager replacement as head of the municipality, the person elected representative body of its members and the head of the local administration, the elected head of the municipality. The liability issues of head of the municipality are analyzed, the relevance of the regulatory definition of effective measures and quality assessment of performed official functions are given, the grounds and procedure responsibility for the improper operation of a regulation of an adequate mechanism for the application of these instruments as well are presented. In terms of issues of selection of the optimal model form of substitution position of head of the municipality author concluded that constitutional due to the trend of development of municipal democracy hampered by
 conflicting decisions of the sectoral legislative regulation.

Communism Equals or Versus Nazism?

The accession of post-communist states into the Council of Europe system enlarged greatly the territory of effective protection of human rights in Europe and at the same time compelled the European Court of Human Rights to address the current effects of past violations of human rights by communist regimes. It gave the Court an opportunity to establish a legal standard of how to deal with matters such as the public presence of communist symbols and insignia, de-registration of neo-Communist parties, and the relevance of past membership in the Communist parties for an exercise of electoral rights in a newly democratized state. This opportunity was at the same time a challenge, and the Court was less than successful in meeting this challenge, despite the fact that it had already established the relevant legal standards when deciding about the cases triggered by the Nazi past. Without making it explicit, and without articulating openly the relevant differences, the Court has not established any equivalence between legal treatments of the aftermath of the two types of criminal regimes in the European recent past. The article discusses three recent cases belonging to these categories and concludes that there is a clear contrast between the Court’s treatment of “post-ommunist” cases and the same Court’s earlier treatment of equivalent “post-Nazi” cases; the article offers some explanations for the discrepancy which reflects a broader dualism in European collective memory of the past.

The Electoral Rights of Non-nationals In Europe

The Electoral Rights of Non-nationals In Europe

Compulsion as a Way of Impeding the Exercise of Electoral Rights of Citizens or the Work of Electoral Commissions

The article examines the essence of compulsion as an aggravating circumstance, basic forms of its manifestation as a way of committing a crime under art. 141 of the Criminal Code; the author makes a proposition concerning incompatibility of current Article 141 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with the basic requirements of the legal drafting methodology, which leads to the crime qualification problems. To eliminate the defects of the legal rule, it is proposed to include into Part 2 of Article 141 of the RF Criminal Code the main forms of compulsion such as violence, threat of violence, destruction of or damage to property or the threat of its destruction, dissemination of false information about the victim and her family, etc. This will allow us to apply the rule of law in question in practice.

The Electoral System, Active Electoral Rights and the Role of the Electorate in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Creation of the English-language versions of the articles published in the „Białostockie Studia Prawnicze” [Białystok Legal Studies] funded under the contract no. 548/P-DUN/2016 and 548/1/P-DUN/2016 from resources of the Minister of Science and Higher Education dedicated to the popularisation of science.

Political Representation of Ethnic Minorities at Local Level: Factors, Context and Empirical Examples

Abstract This qualitative comparative study examines all sorts of the factors which have influence on the political representation of ethnic minorities at a local level. Two dependent variables are analyzed on the four empirical cases: the level of proportionality of political representation and nature of political representation of ethnic minorities. Influence of three different independent variables is discussed further on. These variables are an electoral system, special measures for minority representation and electoral rights as all these variables could possibly have an effect on the level of political representation of ethnic minorities. The selected cases are the cities of Leicester, United Kingdom, the Finnish city of Espoo, Cluj-Napoca in Romania and Frankfurt am Main in Germany. All these cases have a substantial amount of citizens of different ethnic groups.

Citizenship between Empire and Nation: Remaking France and French Africa, 1945–1960. By Frederick Cooper (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014) 512 pp. $45.00

This monograph offers a new dimension of analysis with regard to choices and decisions about citizenship in France’s sub-Saharan African territories. These choices, which were essential during the late colonial period, call into question the narrative of African leaders seeking the nation-state as principal model of identification. The result is highly convincing, magisterial, and elegantly written. The analysis also sheds light on the complicated interplay between debates at the political top, conflicts and resolutions on the territorial level, and the practicalities of creating and adapting civil status on the ground.Cooper’s book is not a manual on French decolonization, although it completes the existing state of analysis by Chafer and others, including Cooper’s own Decolonization and African Society.1 Notwithstanding the fact that the book discusses “French Africa,” it is mainly concerned with processes in Senegal and Dakar, not with territorial developments in, say, Dahomey, Upper Volta, or Niger (a priority that is fully justified, given the wealth of material already in the book). On the conceptual level, it offers an excellent discussion about France’s policy regarding citizenship as it was defined in Paris and Dakar and convincing evidence that challenges the apparent dichotomy between empire and nation-state (431).The many impressive elements of Cooper’s narrative include a brief overview of citizenship in the French (and French imperial) context (13–18), a case study about electoral rights for women in Senegal, as part of a discussion of postwar developments (46–50); a masterful analysis of Léopold Sédar Senghor’s arguments at the Constituent National Assembly in 1946 and elsewhere (80–83); and a view about the fundamental uncertainty besetting all of the groups within the assembly (102–103). A particularly important chapter that discusses the definition of citizenship and the status of imperial citizenship follows (126–131, 153–163). In his fourth chapter, Cooper studies African mobilization—for example, through the battle against forced labor and the installation of parallel, grassroots administrative structures in the territories (168–174)—and claims for equality in labor issues (179–185).The book then presents an insightful discussion of the plans and projects for reform of the French Union, working toward a federal solution of some kind (192–194). Interpreting the loi-cadre of 1956, Cooper revisits the old claim of “territorialization” and the misunderstandings that characterized the reform process (220–226, 239–240). En passant, Cooper submits a useful appreciation of “Eurafrica” as a political idea of the period, and a new explanation for the conflict between Charles de Gaulle and Sékou Touré at the occasion of the Constitutional Referendum of September 28, 1958 (264–270, 311–324). Especially impressive are Cooper’s discussions of the complex conditions under the French Community from 1958, the idea of multinationalism, and the process of creating separate citizenships after the explosion of the Community.Cooper’s monograph does not present a particular multidisciplinary approach; the book does not need one to interest historians concerned by interdisciplinary questions. Cooper describes legislative processes in ways that illuminate the history of laws about citizenship, and he engages with the concept of the nation-state (pointing out its relative importance for African leaders) in ways that are mindful of the interpretations current in political science. The three case studies that Cooper presents in the final part of the book are also crucial, for political scientists and sociologists, to an understanding of the relevant political processes—the political crisis of 1962 in Senegal, the French immigration policies of 1974, and the politics of ethnonational exclusion in Côte d’Ivoire until 2011. As a historian of citizenship and empire, Cooper sets a standard that is likely to last for a long time.

О назначении досрочных выборов

Every year the Russian Federation holds thousands of elections — primary, early, occasional, runoffs, etc. This article describes a great number of early election campaigns in Russia, reflects some discrepancies in the statistics, and also reveals some problems of an election process. The author touches upon the following points: 1) proves that early elections are called due to early termination of powers of the elected authorities and officials; 2) demonstrates a variety of the RF constituent entities’ legal approaches to determining of initiators of early election calling; 3) suggests an all-in-one approach to early election calling — by election committees. In her article the author uses statistical technique, comparative juridical and legal modelling methods. As a result the author proposes some amendments to the RF Federal Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right of Citizens of the Russian Federation to Participate in a Referendum”. The author assumes that it is the election committees that should call for early elections, and not the elected public authorities or local governments.

Principles of Passive Electoral Rights: System and Cooperation with Constitutional Rights and Freedoms in Russia

Principles of Passive Electoral Rights: System and Cooperation with Constitutional Rights and Freedoms in Russia

The Quasi-Constitutional Right to Vote in the United Kingdom

The concept of a constitutional right to vote is familiar to lawyers and citizens in the United States. In contrast, the United Kingdom lacks a developed constitutional doctrine of voting rights: there is relatively little case law and limited academic discourse on the subject. Constitutional law and practice have long honored the authority of electors to choose members of Parliament, but the notion that this is a justiciable constitutional right (as distinct from a general political liberty) is a relative novelty. Its basis lies in the electoral rights included in the Human Rights Act 1998, and in judicial doctrine developing those protections. This article considers this short history of voting as an actionable human right, and argues that the right remains at best a quasi-constitutional one, bearing some features of a full constitutional right to vote and lacking others. Some of those deficits may be curable within the existing legal and political regimes for its protection; others would require more radical constitutional reform.

Voting from Abroad: 2012 Elections and the Overseas Koreans' Vote

Overseas Koreans participated for the first time in South Korea’s national assembly and presidential elections in 2012. This paper on the electoral rights for overseas Koreans and their participation in the 2012 elections show how their rights and votes from abroad challenges the traditional understanding of political community and representation in nation-states. The role of digital technologies, particularly the use of internet portals and social media by the Korean state and its electoral candidates in promoting overseas Korean electoral rights and their campaigns, are considered. Such digital mediums and its influence on the nature of public opinion, vote choice, campaigns and electoral outcomes are also closely examined.

Citizenship and Political Participation: The Role of Electoral Rights Under European Union Law

As a contribution to a collection focusing on immigration in Ireland, this paper provides the broader EU political and legal context to issues of political participation of non-citizens in domestic elections. The paper surveys both the EU electoral rights themselves, under the EU Treaties, and also the intersection between these rights and national political practices which grant, or deny, political participation rights to all migrants, regardless of whether they are EU citizens or third country nationals.

The municipal power in the aspect of the electoral rights of the voters

У статті досліджуються окремі проблеми, пов’язані переважно з розвитком людських уявлень про муніципальну владу в історико-правовому контексті. Вивчаються основні форми народовладдя, що існували протягом людського розвитку на місцевому рівні. Розглядаються різноманітні типи виборчих систем у різних європейських країнах. З’ясовується питання про те, яка виборча система є найбільш оптимальною на місцевих виборах у сучасній Україні.

Principles of administrative and legal provision of electoral rights of citizens of Ukraine

In the scientific article the author analyzes the principles of administrative and legal support of electoral rights of citizens of Ukraine. Analyzed the domestic and international legislation. Allocated General industry and special principles.

State of Electoral Rights in Conflict Situation: The Case of Manipur, India

State of Electoral Rights in Conflict Situation: The Case of Manipur, India

Electoral Rights: Concept and Theory

This paper attempted to analyze electoral rights, how it develops within the democratic framework and its correlation with universal and regional human rights charters. The exercise of right to vote adds to the individual’s self-respect, dignity, sense of responsibility, political and civic education. In the democracy, if the election is unable to be organized in a regular interval, that may not be treated as democracy on the one hand, and violation of political right like electoral rights on the other. Electoral rights -- those political rights, the right to vote and right to be candidate is the most important political right which is treated as electoral rights. It concluded with observation citing the nuance of electoral rights. Indeed it is an attempt to develop a conceptual thought for the understanding of electoral integrity.

Respect for Civil Liberties During the Third Wave of Democratization: Presenting a New Dataset

The literature on state repression has increased voluminously in recent decades. However, First Amendment-type civil liberties have not received much attention compared to neighbouring freedoms such as electoral rights and physical integrity rights. This neglect is arguably related to the lack of high-quality disaggregated measures. In this paper, we present a new dataset on respect for civil liberties—the Civil Liberties Dataset (CLD)—which includes indicators on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, freedom of religion, and freedom of movement for 207 countries in the period 1976–2010. An assessment of the levels, development, sequencing, and correlates of civil liberties not only reveals a number of interesting patterns, it also shows that the CLD has a competitive edge vis-a-vis extant measures. We conclude that the CLD opens new avenues for research on state repression in general and civil liberties in particular.

Democratic Paradoxes: Women's Rights and Democratization in Kuwait

The 1999 decree by Kuwait's emir granting women electoral rights, and its subsequent parliamentary rejection, is more than just an instance of women's oppression in action. It also demonstrates a potential paradox between two axes of democratization: liberalization, the existence of a sphere of meaningful public contestation, and participation, that the right to participate in that sphere is extended to all. In Kuwait, 1999 represents an instance where those two axes were in direct competition. This article explores the 1999 enfranchisement as a way of understanding this democratic paradox and then follows these issues through the successful 2005 enfranchisement and the election of female Assembly members in 2007 and in the 2012, post-Arab Spring elections.In 1999, Kuwaiti women had the right to vote for six months, during which time there were no elections. The basic facts of this curious moment in Kuwaiti politics are these. The Kuwaiti National Assembly was dissolved on May 4, 1999, for the third time in Kuwaiti history; for the first time, elections were scheduled within two months, as is required by the constitution. On May 16, the emir, Shaykh Jabir al-Ahmad Al Sabah, decreed that Kuwaiti women would have the right to vote and be elected in the parliamentary elections in 2003. Immediately, there was an outpouring of support from high-ranking women within Kuwaiti society, women's rights activists in Kuwait and abroad, and international actors, such as religious leaders and Western governments. There was also immediate opposition to the decree, both from Islamists within and outside Kuwait who opposed women's voting rights on religious grounds and from liberals who said that the decree was an unconstitutional attack on the power of the National Assembly.When the parliament reconvened on July 17, it contained both strong Islamist and liberal blocs - 20 Islamists, 16 liberals, and 14 pro-government elected members, in addition to 15 government-appointed cabinet members. Immediately, the constitutionality and permissibility of the emir's decree became hot topics for debate, as the new assembly had to confirm or reject all of the decrees passed during the suspension. Many liberals and most Islamists opposed the decree, while the pro-government members followed the government line. On November 23, the Assembly rejected the emir's decree by a vote of 41 to 21. However, a group of liberals, who supported women's voting rights but opposed the emir's action, introduced an identical bill. On November 30, the parliament-initiated bill failed, by a vote of 32 to 30. All 15 of the government-appointed members of parliament supported the bill, as did 15 elected members, but two elected supporters of women's rights abstained. All 32 votes against the bill came from elected members. The National Assembly did not pass legislation giving Kuwaiti women the right to vote until May 16, 2005; women were able to vote for the first time in 2007.Following the coverage in the Western media, a reader would find herself confined to a single narrative about Kuwaiti women's oppression at the hands of Kuwaiti men and the conflict between traditional Islamic values and modern liberal values. But in the Kuwaiti context, the issue of women's political rights is part of a broad system of contestation that marks struggles over the consolidation and increasing strength of democratic institutions. This decades-old policy controversy is not merely an interesting footnote to the story of women's rights in the region; rather, it helps to demonstrate important tensions in the relationship between democratic institution-building, women's rights, and the multiplicity of actors involved in both processes.In this article, I use the example of the 1999 failed enfranchisement to explain the way that these tensions are constitutive of the politics of democratization in Kuwait. I begin by exploring the two elements of democratization I am discussing here: open contestation and full participation. …

Regime Types and Democratic Sequencing

Many countries today appoint their governments on the basis of competitive elections but fall short with respect to other properties of liberal democracy. Such regimes can be classified in a conceptual typology based on a hierarchical distinction between electoral rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Empirical realities provide an almost perfect match with this hierarchy as high respect for the rule of law hardly ever exists without high respect for civil liberties, which almost never exists without high respect for electoral rights. This finding questions the potential of an ‘authoritarian’ pathway to liberal democracy which privileges the rule of law over electoral rights.

Biračko pravo kao ljudsko pravo

The article analyses the significance of the suffrage and its basic elements, as one of the vital guarantee of the exercise of political rights of citizens in a democratic society and in a legal system. The first part of the article is dedicated to the basic characteristics of human rights. Suffrage is the first analysed as a part of the widest unity - as a human right, and afterwards as a political and electoral right. After analysis of the basic characteristics and features of suffrage, the author outlines general conclusions on suffrage and its importance.