Electoral System Research Articles

Do Political Institutions Influence the Dismantling of Fossil Fuel Subsidies? Lessons from the OECD Countries and a Comparative Analysis of Canadian and German Production Subsidies

Despite a global consensus that fossil fuel subsidies should be reformed, limited progress has been made. The study assesses whether domestic political institutions insulating politicians from backlash and compensating those affected by reforms make subsidies easier to dismantle. It was found that proportional representation and corporatism were correlated with lower levels of fossil fuel subsidies in OECD countries. A comparative case study of coal production subsidies in Germany and gas production subsidies in Canada suggests that political insulation and compensation contributed towards the dismantling of fossil fuel subsidies. The findings provide an understanding of the impact of corporatism and electoral systems on reform.

“Planning for anything, not for everything:” Uncertainty and temporal coordination in social movement organizing

A month before the 2020 US presidential election, then President Trump amplified a false claim about poll watchers monitoring early voting in Philadelphia, stating “They were thrown out. They weren’t allowed to watch. You know why? Because bad things happen in Philadelphia, bad things.” The months preceding the November 3rd election featured many similar discursive attacks on the integrity of Philadelphia's election systems, part of a larger right-wing campaign to delegitimate election outcomes in advance. Fearing what this might portend for election day, dozens of local progressive movement organizations and activist groups formed the “Philadelphia Action Council” (PAC), a coordinative space for organizing and planning a mobilized response to a contested election. Strategic collective action involves the coordination of complex temporal orientations, at multiple scales, however, PAC activists couldn’t be sure when, where, or for how long they may need to mobilize, nor what sorts of targets or messages or tactics the action should be orientated around. In fact, they couldn’t be sure if they would need to mobilize at all. In this paper, I analyze the temporal structure of the PAC's “action council” model, arguing that the contingent, eventful temporality embedded in the structure of the PAC engendered similarly contingent modifications in the temporal orientations of its participants, allowing PAC activists to embrace uncertainty in ways that they typically strive to avoid. I then demonstrate how the embrace of uncertainty (somewhat paradoxically) expanded the PAC's collective capacity for improvisation and adaptation in the days following the election. This research draws on (and contributes to) critical time studies to further the emergent project of temporalities research in the field of social movements studies.

Political Apathy in 2023 General Elections in Nigeria: A Case Study of Enugu State, Nigeria

This study examined political apathy and 2023 general elections in Nigeria using Enugu state as a case study.The study raised two specific questions which were: What are the various factors responsible for political apathy in the 2023 general election in Enugu state? How has government interference contributed to political apathy during the 2023 general elections in Enugu State? The study was anchored on the class analysis theory. Using ex-post facto design the study adopted thematic content analysis to examine political apathy and 2023 general elections in Enugu. The study therefore, concluded that there are various factors responsible for political apathy in the 2023 general election in Enugu state and government interference contributed to political apathy during the 2023 general elections in Enugu State. The researcher recommended that state governments should ensure to leave up to the promises of good governance made to the people. All factors that lead to political apathy must be checkmated. Enforceable legislations against election rigging, violence, thuggery, godfatherism and the like should be put into practice. Good governance will ensure, justice, fairness, equity and inclusion for all. All federal government agencies charged with voter education like National Orientation Agency (NOA), INEC, and Ministry of Information should sustain political education at all levels of the society. Political apathy is not the solution to electoral problems rather it endangers the electoral system more. Popular participation in elections will help reduce the influence of godfathers during elections thus creating room for the emergence of credible leaders through a credible election process. Keywords: Apathy; Political Apathy, Elections; Electoral Fraud and Violence

Дистанционное электронное голосование: опыт применения в России и за рубежом

The purpose of the article is to study the use of remote electronic voting (DEG) in Russia and a number of foreign countries that have been using this innovative technology for a long period of time during local and national elections (Estonia and Switzerland), as well as those who refused to use it (Germany) due to various political risks. The cases of four countries (Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Estonia) are considered. The study is conducted using the case study method, which allowed us to identify the positive and negative sides of online voting, identify and propose ways to prevent both obvious and potential political risks associated with the widespread use of DEG in practice. Comparative studies are among the auxiliary tools for comprehensive coverage and analysis of the issues under consideration, which made it possible to compare the forms of DEG, their organizational and legal support in Russian and foreign legislation. The theoretical significance of the study is determined by the results of a comprehensive analysis obtained during an excursion into the history of the testing of DEG and the forecast of its further use both in Russia and abroad, structuring the stages of application during elections of various scales, making this method of expressing the will of voters legally binding, or limiting or prohibiting its use both domestically and abroad. for compatriots living abroad. The practical significance of the work consists in offering effective ways of public control over the course of the DEG, which will contribute to increasing confidence in the results of online voting. The authors propose the gradual introduction of DEG and only in regions capable of providing high-quality technical equipment and the possibility of public control over both voting and vote counting. The voter should have the opportunity to vote using a paper ballot in case he changes his mind and decides to express his will in the traditional way, even on the day of voting. Using the example of the cases of four states in which this technology was used with varying degrees of intensity, the authors conclude that it is necessary to use an inclusive (i.e. open) the DEG model and its various modifications (for example, such as the electoral blockchain), so that potential mobile voters have no doubts about the transparency of this method of expressing their will and the ability to track the cast vote at any stage of the electoral process, which will contribute not only to legitimizing the results obtained, but also to increasing confidence in the electoral system as a whole.

Electoral System in Singapore

Singapore's electoral system has changed significantly since the country gained independence in 1965. This essay offers a thorough examination of the evolution of the electoral system, emphasizing significant institutional developments, legislative adjustments, and their effects on democratic government. Singapore’s electoral scene has steadily changed to include elements of multiparty competition and electoral reforms, after initially being characterized by single-party domination under the People's Action Party (PAP). Group participation Constituencies (GRCs) were introduced in 1988 with the intention of guaranteeing minority participation; nonetheless, they have faced criticism due to their propensity to curtail political competition and variety. In addition, the impartiality and openness of the Elections Department's function as an independent organization in charge of overseeing electoral procedures have come under scrutiny. In an apparent effort to increase political diversity and minority participation, recent changes to electoral legislation have instituted programs like the Reserved Presidential Election and Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs). Concerns about the degree of true political plurality and the effect of new laws on democratic ideals still exist, nevertheless. Voter involvement and election rhetoric have also been found to be significantly influenced by social media and civil society activities. Through a critical analysis of the election system's history, this study advances our knowledge of Singapore's political environment and its consequences for democratic administration. It emphasizes how crucial it is to continue with changes to improve political inclusion, election integrity, and citizen participation in the democratic process.

Crisis of Mega-Corruption on the Eve of Indonesian General Elections: Its Implications for The Quality of Elected Governance

Corruption cases in Indonesia typically peak in the year leading up to general elections, often accompanied by the emergence of the National Mega Corruption phenomenon. The high logistics costs of general elections have historically fueled corruption. This study analyzes corruption, including mega corruption, following Indonesia’s adoption of an open election system and assesses the impact of corruption on government service quality and regulations. Research methods include Exploratory Data Analysis, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), and Comparative Ordinary Least Square. Findings show that (1) Democracy in Indonesia is closely linked to corruption and mega corruption at both central (executive and legislative) and regional (regional head election) levels; (2) Corruption and mega corruption trends preceding general elections are expected to persist in the 2024 and 2029 elections; (3) Political corruption leads to poor government service quality and regulation; (4) The shock of pre-election corruption will affect government quality for over two decades. This research emphasizes the need for electoral process and corruption enforcement reforms in Indonesia. Unmitigated, pre-election corruption can lead to poor governance and reduced public welfare.

Rethinking representative democracy in Croatia

The article analyses the development of representative democracy in Croatia from its independence to today. During the 1990s, Croatia changed its electoral system several times and had a bicameral parliament. With the constitutional changes implemented in 2001, the legislative power was organized on a unicameral principle. At the same time, the previous semi-presidential system was replaced by a parliamentary one. These changes represent only the basic framework within which representative democracy in Croatia developed over time. An important milestone in this development was the introduction of preferential voting at the national elections in 2015, which allowed the voters to vote for a particular list and a specific candidate on that list. According to some, this improved the problematic state of inner-party democracy, although, for others, the reform was not far-reaching enough. Given that representative democracy does not function in a vacuum, the article also considers the impact of direct democracy on the functioning of representative democracy in Croatia. Referring to the Croatian experience, it argues that this complementary form of democracy had a positive impact on the quality of representative democracy in the country. Nevertheless, in the face of representative democracy in Croatia, many open questions still need to be addressed. The most important one is how to increase the turnout in the elections, which is still comparatively low and arguably related to the low trust in politics.

PENGUATAN LITERASI POLITIK DAN LITERASI MEDIA BAGI GENERASI CERDAS MENUJU PEMILU 2024

The 2024 general election is a political democracy through the electoral system. This involves young people who are the largest group of voters. However, the findings in the field are that the younger generation lacks political literacy and media literacy. So there needs to be a socialisation of strengthening political literacy and media literacy for the younger generation. In order to increase the ability and knowledge of the younger generation related to political literacy and media literacy. The activity was aimed at 25 partners. The implementation of the event went well and was classified as on target, on time, and on purpose. As well as showing results according to the target indicators of the success of programme achievements. The results of monitoring and evaluation on the results of the questionnaire show that all partners have strongly agreed on this socialisation event and can be held further events. The interview results showed that partners experienced changes and increased understanding and actions on partners related to political literacy and media literacy. In particular, partners are able and skilled in searching, selecting and disseminating political information appropriately and using social media more wisely and can help the public regarding public information.

Strategic choices and electoral gains: unpacking constituency campaign effectiveness in Germany's mixed-member electoral system

ABSTRACT Election campaigns are a critical component of democratic competition, and existing literature has extensively discussed the rise in personalization and localization in recent campaigns. However, the extent to which campaign strategies influence electoral success remains controversial. Therefore, our study examined the impact of candidate – and constituency-centred campaigns on nominal and party-list votes in mixed-member electoral systems and investigated which strategies were most effective on election day. Our analysis draws on representative national candidate surveys for German federal elections in 2009, 2013, and 2017. Our findings indicate that personalized campaign communication significantly affects electoral success, with greater emphasis on the candidate than the party, resulting in increased nominal votes. Our results also suggest that parties benefit from personalized campaigns as they increase party-list votes as well. However, neither localized campaign issues nor candidate-centred campaign organization pay off in electoral terms. Furthermore, candidates’ party affiliation significantly influences electoral success, demonstrating the continued relevance of parties to campaign dynamics and electoral outcomes.

Assessing the Relationship Between Compulsory Voting and the Over-Representation of Extreme Parties

In this paper, we address the issue of partisan bias in compulsory voting systems. Given the current global trends – declining trust in mainstream political parties, rising support for left- and right-wing radicals, growing populism and anti-elite sentiment – we seek to determine how they manifest themselves in an environment where citizens are required to vote by law. To answer this question, a quasi-experimental design is proposed. The data show that forced activity does not affect either extreme forces support rates (from a cross-country perspective) or the rationality of their voters (from an individual-level perspective). As far as we know, this is the first attempt to generalize the role of compulsory voting in extreme politics, as well as the first one to refute this role with ample evidence.

ELECTRONIC VOTING USING DECENTRALIZED SYSTEM BASED ON ETHEREUM BLOCKCHAIN

Electronic Voting Using Decentralised System Based On Ethereums Blockchain is a system made in the form of application used for Electronic Voting. This is done to solve the current problem on conventional electronic voting system where the integrity of the data can not be as certain and the result of the vote can be tampered malicious actors. To solve this problem, an electronic voting system will be built that store the data of election results on blockchain to ensure the integrity of the data. The creation of the system involves using the Solidity language, a Turing Complete programming language used on Ethereum. Source code that will be run will rst need to be compiled into Bytecode, which will then in turn run on Ethereum Virtual Machine. The finished program will then be decentralised using Blockchain. KEYWORDS – Blockchain, Decentralised System, Electronic Voting, Ethereum, Smart Government

The Urgency of Establishing an Electoral Judicial Institution as an Effort to Strengthen the Electoral System in Indonesia

Periodically, every five years, general elections are held as a form of democracy in Indonesia. During elections, political issues are often followed by controversies, conflicts, and disputes in local power competitions. These issues include cheating, money politics, and vote manipulation. The purpose of this study is to encourage the establishment of a permanent electoral court in the constitutional system and in the form of a state institution to handle any existing election results disputes, whether for the presidential election, legislative election, or regional election. To achieve the electoral justice system's legal certainty and utility principles. The research method was used qualitatively with a case study research design. The results indicate that the establishment of an election court institution is essential, considering elections are held regularly and periodically as part of people's sovereignty representation and efforts to establish a fair electoral system. An election court institution is necessary for Indonesian elections, tasked with handling every election dispute, thereby allowing the Constitutional Court to focus solely on testing laws against the 1945 Constitution. This journal concludes that an electoral justice institution needs to be established permanently, with competent judges and resources to handle every election-related case to realize an electoral justice system.

Judicial Competence and Consistency in the Constitutional Court’s Decision about Open List Proportional Representation

The Constitutional Court often creates new norms that affect the electoral system. Still, sometimes, the Constitutional Court decides cases examining the Election Law as an open legal policy. Therefore, the question is whether the Constitutional Court decides the case in accordance with its competence and consistency in determining cases No. 22-24/PUU-VI/2008 and No. 114/PUU-XX/2022 related to the application of an open list proportional representation system in the DPR and DPRD elections. The purpose of this study is to examine further the competence and consistency of the Constitutional Court in deciding the two cases. This research uses doctrinal research methods. The approaches used in this research include statute, conceptual, historical, and comparative approaches related to the issues being studied. As a result of the study, it was found that the competence of the Constitutional Court in deciding cases No. 22-24/PUU-VI/2008 and No. 114/PUU-XX/2022 was in the context of exercising its authority to examine laws against the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, not as a determinant that regulates and determines which system is most appropriate to be used in the electoral system in Indonesia. The Constitutional Court showed its consistency in deciding the two cases. In its ratio decidendi, the Constitutional Court uses Article 22E paragraph (1) as the basis for its legal considerations so that elections are held with the widest possible participation of the people on the principles of democracy, direct, honest, and fair. This consistency is very important to maintain in order to preserve and sustain the reform mandate that has been crystallized in the 1945 Constitution.

ELECTION OF JUDGES TO THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: PROPOSALS FOR REFORM WITHOUT AMENDING THE STATUTE

AbstractIn November 2023 the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and Security Council elected (in one case, re-elected) five judges to the International Court of Justice. The electoral system is considered to be overly politicized and to pay lip service to the requirements that judges must be elected on the basis of their qualifications, regardless of their nationality, and that in the body as a whole, the representation of the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world should be assured. Several amendments to the system of nominations and elections have been proposed that would require a reform of the Court's Statute. This article proposes four measures that could be adopted without amending the Statute or encroaching on the prerogatives of national groups, UN organs or Member States: (1) ensure the representation of the principal legal systems, in part by promoting regional diversity on the bench; (2) remove the use of nationality as a factor in casual elections; (3) establish a vetting process and public hearings; and (4) promote a single vote for Security Council members. It argues that the measures proposed would lead to a change in the present culture of nominations and elections towards one that favours the qualification of the judges over political considerations.

Separating the Accountability and Competence Effects of Mayors on Municipal Spending

Abstract The Italian legislation provides a two-term limits for mayors, but it allows term-limited mayors to pass on the torch to one of their deputies as candidates for mayorship. We exploit this feature of the electoral system to design a novel identification strategy for separating the effects of ‘accountability’ (the difference in performance between two politicians facing different incentives in terms of re-elections) and ‘competence’ (the difference in performance between two politicians with different experience in policy making). Using a panel of 1203 Italian municipalities, from 1998 to 2015, we find a significant role for competence but not for accountability in affecting municipal spending. Specifically, second-and-last-term mayors, and first-term mayors with previous experience as executive officers, spend less, on average, than inexperienced first-term mayors. We also discuss the policy implications of this finding.

Ranking voting systems and surrogate weights: Explicit formulas for centroid weights

One of the most important issues in the field of ranking voting systems is the choice of the weighting vector. This issue has been addressed in the literature from different approaches, and one of them has been to obtain the weighting vector as a solution to a linear programming problem. In this paper we analyze some models proposed in the literature and show that one of their main shortcomings is that they cannot guarantee the uniqueness of the solution, so the winner or the final ranking of the candidates may depend on the chosen weighting vector. An alternative to these models is the use of surrogate weights, among which rank order centroid (ROC) weights stand out as the centroid of a specific simplex. Following this idea, in this paper we show the explicit expression for the weights that form the centroid of diverse simplices utilized in ranking voting systems, and we also see that certain surrogate weights frequently employed in literature can be derived as extreme cases where the simplices collapse into a single vector. Moreover, we argue that averaging two weighting vectors can be a valid approach in some cases and, in this way, we can get weighting vectors that closely resemble those used in some sports competitions.

FUTURE OF BLOCKCHAIN GOVERNANCE: EXPLORING DECENTRALIZED DEMOCRACY

Blockchain technology presents a paradigm shift in governance, offering decentralized frameworks that challenge traditional centralized systems. This paper delves into the concept of decentralized democracy within blockchain governance and its implications for the future. The paper outlines the foundational principles of blockchain, highlighting its ability to facilitate transparent, trustless transactions through distributed consensus mechanisms. The paper then examines various governance models, from centralized to decentralized approaches such as on-chain governance and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), assessing their strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, the research explores the concept of decentralized democracy, elucidating how blockchain enables transparent, auditable voting systems for direct stakeholder participation in decision-making.

A Voting System Based on Blockchain Technology

Abstract: Electronic voting, also known as e-voting, has been utilized in various forms since the 1970s. It offers significant advantages over traditional paper-based systems, such as improved efficiency and reduced errors. However, there are still obstacles to overcome in order to widely adopt e-voting systems, particularly in terms of enhancing their resilience against potential faults. Blockchain, a revolutionary technology of our time, holds the potential to enhance the overall resilience of evoting systems. This research paper aims to leverage the benefits of block-chain, including cryptographic foundations and transparency, to develop an effective e-voting scheme. The proposed scheme adheres to the fundamental requirements for evoting systems and achieves end-to-end verifiability. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the proposed e-voting scheme and its implementation using the Multichain platform. Furthermore, it presents a thorough evaluation of the scheme, successfully demonstrating its effectiveness in achieving an end-to-end verifiable e-voting system

E-Voting System Using Blockchain

Abstract: Since the 1970s, electronic voting (e-voting) has evolved, offering efficiency and reduced errors, but faces challenges in security and accessibility. Blockchain technology emerges as a disruptive force with potential to fortify e-voting systems. Voting is fundamental to democracy, yet concerns over reliability and accessibility persist. E-voting, while introduced to address these concerns, remains costly and centralized. Blockchain’s decentralized nature holds promise for overcoming these challenges. This study introduces e-Vote, a blockchain- based voting system designed for privacy, accessibility, and security. Leveraging Ethereum’s blockchain and smart contracts, e-Vote offers a scalable framework for university level elections. Utilizing cryptographic techniques such as homomorphic encryption, e-Vote ensures voter privacy. Our implementation, tested on Ethereum’s Testnet, demonstrates usability, scalability, and efficacy. Successful integration of e-Vote requires two key components: the Election Commission, managing elections and candidates through smart contracts, and the voter’s module, enabling individuals to cast ballots for their respective constituencies, with each ballot recorded on the blockchain to prevent tampering.

Analysis of Coercion-Resistant for E-Voting System based on Blockchain

Abstract: Election absenteeism rates are steadily rising, partly a result of the distance required to cast a vote. The use of electronic voting procedure would eliminate the need for travel and enhance voter turnout. In addition, compared to the conventional paper ballot voting technique, this reduces dangers like manipulations and produces results more quickly. A remotely electronic voting system should, nevertheless, adhere to the highest standards of security, dependability, and transparency given the significance of an election. Numerous remote e-voting systems, many of which are based on blockchain technology, were examined in this literature review. Blockchain technology provides for the removal of the Trusted Third Party (TTP) and the decentralization of transactions while also providing transparent and completely secure data storage, making it a new technical foundation for many different types of IT applications. The use of smart-contract technology, which automates and executes user agreements, is also permitted. The authors of this study examine the most insightful blockchain-based e-voting options. The lack of openness and auditability in conventional voting methods can be addressed by blockchain technology. A reliable computing platform is offered by running a self-enforcing e-voting system on a blockchain for real-time data verification