Local Body Elections Research Articles

Urban Local Body in Mizoram: A Study and Analysis of The First Lunglei Municipal Council (LMC) Election

The present paper aims to examine the origins of the Urban Local Body (ULB) in the state of Mizoram. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of the development and electoral processes pertaining to the Urban Local Body (ULB) in the state. The research further examines a comparative analysis of voting behaviour in various rural local body elections and the first Lunglei Municipal Council (LMC) election. Additionally, the paper examines the electoral performance of major political parties in the first Lunglei Municipal Council (LMC) election.

Panchayat System in Karnataka: Democracy, Representation and Political Parties

Abstract: As far as the Indian sub-continent is concerned local governance/panchayat has an elaborate history. The rural population have for long practiced this system of governing themselves through their representatives. The mode of working and the powers vested in the local bodies, have not been uniform throughout. The federation conferred constitutional status to the local governance bodies in 1993 and this system has progressed in an interesting way. Karnataka, a southern State in India has been ahead of time in enacting legislations dealing with local governance. Even before the amendment inserting provisions to the Constitution of India was passed, Karnataka had and was implementing extravagant laws pertaining to panchayats. Since democracy and decentralisation are closely associated with the panchayats, the idea of representation has a key role to play. The concerns with respect to involvement and influence of political parties in the local body elections are an important aspect as well. This paper ventures out to understand the panchayat system in Karnataka, pre and post the Constitutional amendment. The paper intends to throw light on the essence of the legislations relating to panchayats in Karnataka and understand the idea of democracy, representational factor and the concept of elections on a non-party basis. The researchers have keenly pondered upon the implementation of apolitical elections in Karnataka, the flaws in the proposed phenomenon. The paper also aims to look into hurdles in the way of these local bodies and propose suggestions to get over the same. Purpose: To Analyze the panchayat system in Karnataka, both before and after the 1993 constitutional amendment. Examine the essence of Karnataka's panchayat-related legislation. Explore the concepts of democracy, representation, and non-party elections in the context of panchayats. Evaluate the implementation of non-partisan elections in Karnataka and identify potential flaws. Analyze the challenges faced by panchayats and propose solutions. Theoretical Reference: Mainly Doctrinal research methodology. Relies on primary sources like the Indian Constitution, relevant statutes relating to panchayaths, and relevant data. Draws on secondary sources like articles and research papers. Method: Analyzes relevant legal documents and scholarly works. Analytical Method of Study Comparative Studies in relation to various factors pertaining to the research between the three levels of Panchayat (Gram Panchayat, Taluk Panchayat and Zilla Panchayat) Results and Conclusion: Non-partisan elections in Karnataka are largely theoretical; political parties influence local elections. Political interference hinders effective panchayat functioning. The paper likely proposes recommendations for strengthening panchayats and minimizing political influence. Implications of Research: Provides insights into the challenges and potential of decentralized governance in India. Informs policymakers and stakeholders about improving panchayat effectiveness. May contribute to debates on non-partisan elections and local democracy. Originality/Value: The study offers a focused analysis of Karnataka's panchayat system within a specific theoretical framework. Its findings on the limitations of non-partisan elections could be valuable for other regions considering similar approaches.

Panchayat System in Karnataka: Democracy, Representation and Political Parties

Abstract: As far as the Indian sub-continent is concerned local governance/panchayat has an elaborate history. The rural population have for long practiced this system of governing themselves through their representatives. The mode of working and the powers vested in the local bodies, have not been uniform throughout. The federation conferred constitutional status to the local governance bodies in 1993 and this system has progressed in an interesting way. Karnataka, a southern State in India has been ahead of time in enacting legislations dealing with local governance. Even before the amendment inserting provisions to the Constitution of India was passed, Karnataka had and was implementing extravagant laws pertaining to panchayats. Since democracy and decentralisation are closely associated with the panchayats, the idea of representation has a key role to play. The concerns with respect to involvement and influence of political parties in the local body elections are an important aspect as well. This paper ventures out to understand the panchayat system in Karnataka, pre and post the Constitutional amendment. The paper intends to throw light on the essence of the legislations relating to panchayats in Karnataka and understand the idea of democracy, representational factor and the concept of elections on a non-party basis. The researchers have keenly pondered upon the implementation of apolitical elections in Karnataka, the flaws in the proposed phenomenon. The paper also aims to look into hurdles in the way of these local bodies and propose suggestions to get over the same. Methodology: The research is doctrinal in nature. The authors have depended on primary sources inclusive of the Constitution of India, 1950, relevant statutes, statistical data and secondary sources including articles and research papers. Results/Analysis: Apolitical elections to the local government bodies in Karnataka is a myth and it ceremoniously present on papers. Political parties, national and regional influence the electoral process at the grass root level. Interference of political parties in panchayat elections is detrimental to the working of panchayats.

Participation of Youth in Urban Local Body Elections in India

The progress and development of the nation lies in the hands of young generation. The youth populace are the pillars of the society. India is a young nation as it comprises of greater number of youth populace. The political system of the country determine the growth and development of nation. The youth populace has significant features such as powerful decision making skill, innovative thinking, highly knowledgeable and educated. These dominant features will make them to shine in the political activities. The urban governance acts as an intermediary among the people and government. This study investigates the significance of youth populace in the urban local body elections in India. The research design is exploratory and descriptive in nature. The research performs a quantitative analysis using the SPSS version 23 software package, through survey assessment from youth respondents in Kochi, India. A structured questionnaire survey method is used to gather the data from the youth populace in Kochi. The main idea behind the survey method is to collect the data relating to the perception of youth populace regarding urban local body elections and their engagement in the political activities. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and ANOVA test are performed in the research. The outcomes of the study revealed that the youth populace are aware about the significance of urban local body elections. Furthermore, the study recommends that the challenges faced by the youth populace in the political system are to be eradicated and the opportunities should be provided to them in future elections.

CouncilMARK™ Revisited: measuring the effectiveness of New Zealand’s local government once more

This article reviews the results of the second tranche of assessments for CouncilMARK™ , Local Government New Zealand’s voluntary quality enhancement programme. Those councils that were reassessed generally showed either a modest improvement or no change in the four priority areas assessed (governance, financial decision making, service delivery and communication). The business and corporate focus of CouncilMARK means that it yields scores that diverge markedly from those obtained by the New Zealand Local Government Survey, which focuses on public and business perceptions of council activities. The implementation of CouncilMARK has not arrested the decline of voter turnout in local body elections. Moreover, there have been no changes to either the programme’s priority areas or its procedures that recognise recent local and international research which consistently advocates a more people-focused approach to the activities of local government.

Reservation and How it has taken its Turn Recently: An Insight into Vikas Kisanrao Gawali Vs. State of Maharashtra

The supreme court on 6th December, 2021 stayed the 27% reservation for the OBCs in the local body elections, in the new petition filed by Rahul Ramesh Wagh. The supreme court noted the decisions held earlier this year in Vikas Kisanrao Gawali v State of Maharashtra. An important stance taken in the judgement was that political backwardness does not necessarily mean the same as social or economic backwardness. Therefore, reservation policies with respect to political backwardness should not be constructed with social and economic backwardness in mind.

Buying and Selling of Vote in Local Body Elections: A Case Study of Telangana

This research is an in-depth study on the influence of money in local body elections in India, particularly Gram Panchayat, which is the lowest tier of local governance, and consequences thereof. The age of the voters, genders and their education plays a significant factor in stigmatising the vote-buying behaviour. Women, youths and educated have more stigma towards vote buying. Vote buying takes different forms in different places and is more intense in some places than others. The degree to which democracy is afflicted by these ills, and the particular kind of damage inflicted, thus vary. Vote-buying, should also be noted, has consequences that extend beyond the political realm. Certain kinds of vote buying affect the economy by driving up land prices and concentrating landownership which may have long-term political implications. Most of the cases of the incidence of money is found in the places where real estate business is booming with huge population. The competition is more in the Panchayats where there is more income and grants available in these bodies.

Age and Environmental Citizenship: A Case Study of Media Coverage of the 2019 Local Body Elections in New Zealand

Environmental issues in the coverage of the elections are usually framed in relation to voters’ attitudes towards the specific problems, for instance, water quality or land use. The environment is not given standing in these discussions, rather, it is an instrument or resource for voters. In this article we investigate the relationship between news and politics by looking at media coverage of the 2019 local body elections in New Zealand. We follow a call to put place at the centre of journalism research and to investigate the emerging forms of environmental citizenship. We focus on a media market at each end of New Zealand’s two main islands and relate analysis of the coverage of local body elections coverage to related social groups engaged in environmental issues. The objective of our article is to consider the extent to which age plays a role in media representation of environmental issues in the context of local body elections.

Making equal rights to health an election issue in NZ local body elections

Abstract In New Zealand there are 20 district health boards (DHBs) with local elections every 3 years. There is low voter turnout for these, we suspect because the public has low cognizance of the role DHBs have in governing their health and disability system. Good governance ensures everyone whatever ethnicity, gender or sexual proclivity, from birth to old age, able or disabled, mentally well or unwell, drugfree or addicted, has equal rights of dignified access to healthcare. Without public engagement in DHB elections, the community risks having candidates elected that also don't understand their role through a preventative public health framework or human rights lens. The United Community Action Network (UCAN) developed a human rights framework and Health Charter for people driven into poverty by the costs of staying well in NZ. The framework outlines 6 social determinants of health needing protection through policy, to ensure all enjoy their rights to health. UCAN and the Public Health Association of New Zealand (PHA) partnered to raise public and the candidates' awareness during 2019 elections, of these social determinants causing inequity in health outcomes. A series of short explainer-videos were created for sharing through social media during the election build-up period, helping to promote PHA Branches' public Meet the Candidates events. Post-election, a longer film was produced to send to the elected DHB members. Our theory of change centred on spotlighting health inequity for voters, so that they would elect DHB members who had the greatest understanding and commitment to addressing this issue. With shareable videos we aimed to attract audience, raise awareness and debate the policy solutions to health inequity with candidates, enabling more informed choice amongst the voting public. Post-election, we maintain supportive relationships with the elected DHB members that promised their commitment to our Health Charter during their campaigns. Key messages Using videos and social media, local body elections provide an opportunity to promote everyone’s right to affordable healthcare, supporting and informing voter decision-making. UCAN's Health Charter is an advocacy resource for raising awareness of the social determinants of health inequity and poverty for people with mental illness, addiction and disability.

Twenty-five Years of the Constitution Seventy-fourth Amendment Act (74th CAA),1992: Promise and Performance

The Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992, completed 25 years of implementation. All states in India amended the municipal laws in conformity with the Act and are implementing them. As a consequence, provisions have been made to hold urban local body elections regularly, reservations to women and weaker sections, constitute election and finance commissions, and district and metropolitan planning committees. However, a closer analysis, after 25 years of its implementation, brings out certain deficiencies. The states seem to be half-hearted to decentralise democracy, reluctant to empower urban local bodies, functionally and financially and unwilling to clothe them with autonomy. It is time to revisit the Act, review its performance based on 25 years of experience and suggest measures to achieve the objectives that lay behind its enactment.

Diversity in Reporting? A Study of the News coverage of the 2016 New Zealand Local Body Elections

This study offers an analysis of print news media coverage of the 2016 New Zealand Local Body elections, focusing on reportage around issues of diversity. This study builds upon a prior project by the Media Observatory group at Auckland University of Technology of the 2014 New Zealand General election that also examined issues of diversity. The function of news media in democratic societies is crucial. For a nation-state that is as cosmopolitan and diverse as New Zealand, issues of inclusivity and representation are critical considerations for news media. This study employs content analysis and examined news coverage of local body elections and analysed 198 Local Elections newspaper articles from the eight weeks prior to 8 October 2016 in one nationwide newspaper and four Auckland community newspapers. It focuses on The New Zealand Herald, East & Bays Courier, Manukau Courier, North Shore Times, Central Leader and the Western Leader. The analysis of the 2016 Local Election news coverage demonstrates a predominant focus on the mayoral candidates to the detriment of other aspects of local election voting, and a focus on campaign strategy over social issues impacting the electorate. The Local Election coverage placed particularly strong focus on “youth” as a social group in contrast to other classified groups such as Māori, Asians, Pacific Islanders, the elderly, and dependents. The Local Election coverage also represented a diversity of social issues, from housing, transport, to business and economy, environment, and law and order. The coverage provided ample space for words and perspectives from the electoral front-runners, local government representatives, and for public voices but it also paid minimal attention to non-mayoral voting categories, non-front runner candidates, and non-Auckland geographical locations, although this latter point was perhaps unsurprising, given the newspapers sampled in the study.

The New Zealand Print Media and the 2004-2007 Local Elections: A Case Study

Voters gain their information from news media, and in particular from print media, about politicians. More importantly, voters develop their understanding of political processes based on what they read. In this paper, I examine the print media coverage of the campaign introducing new electoral system Single Transferable Vote (STV) in the New Zealand Local Body Elections 2004 and 2007 compared with the campaign introducing Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system in the 1996 national election. I focus particularly on the coverage of the alternative electoral system, STV, by two newspapers – the Dominion Post and the Otago Daily Times from the perspective of type, nature, and number of the articles published and the attitudes toward encouraging participation and introducing new electoral system [STV]. The study shows that both newspapers offered a significantly poorer coverage of the 2004 and 2007 local elections compared to the campaign in 1996 national election. This also might lead to the prediction of one of the reason decreasing or increasing voter turnout.

Women Empowerment Through Panchayat Raj Institutions -- A Case Study of District Kupwara of J&K State

Women empowerment refers to the process by which women acquire due recognition at par with men, to participate in the development process of the society through the political institutions as a partner with human dignity. Of late, one of the major instruments of delivering recognition and power of decision making to the population in general and women in particular has been the emergence of Panchayati Raj Institutions. In this paper an attempt has been made to examine the impact of 33 percent reservation in local body elections on empowerment of rural women in Kashmir. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part covers the conceptual and theoretical aspect which reviews a number of existing documents on women and panchayat raj. The second part of the paper discusses the empirical findings like the electoral process, socio-economic back ground of the women leaders, their performance and also highlights people’s perception towards them. The study has been conducted in November-December, 2012 in district Kupwara.

Participatory GIS in action, a public health initiative from Kerala, India

Abstract. Community ownership is essential for sustainable public health initiatives. The advantages of getting active involvement of homebound village women in a public health campaign to establish community health surveillance are being reported in this paper. With the support of the local self government authorities, we had selected 120 village women, and they were given extensive training on various healthcare schemes, home based management of local ailments, leadership skills and survey techniques. Afterwards, they had been asked to share their knowledge with at least 10-15 women in their neighbourhood. This had improved their status in the neighbourhood, as more and more people started getting their advice on healthcare and social services related matters. Subsequently, they had collected the socio-demographic and morbidity details of the entire households, including the geometric coordinates (longitude and latitude) of the households and public offices. In this process, they began to use the geographic position system (GPS) machines, dismissing the myth that women are not that techno savvy, further improving their acceptability in the community. Many among them were seen proudly describing the implications of the thematic maps to the village people and line department staff in the monthly subcentre meetings. Many were offered seats in the local body elections by leading political parties, a few of them did stand in the elections and three of them had won the elections. This experience reinforces our belief that the empowerment of villagers with newer technology could be a public health tool with much wider positive implications.

Women empowerment through panchayat raj institutions-A case study of District Kupwara of J&K State

Women empowerment refers to the process by which women acquire due recognition at par with men, to participate in the development process of the society through the political institutions as a partner with human dignity. Of late, one of the major instruments of delivering recognition and power of decision making to the population in general and women in particular has been the emergence of Panchayati Raj Institutions. In this paper an attempt has been made to examine the impact of 33 percent reservation in local body elections on empowerment of rural women in Kashmir. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part covers the conceptual and theoretical aspect which reviews a number of existing documents on women and panchayat raj. The second part of the paper discusses the empirical findings like the electoral process, socio-economic back ground of the women leaders, their performance and also highlights people's perception towards them. The study has been conducted in November-December, 2012 in district Kupwara

Incumbency in the 1980 Local Body Elections

Incumbency in the 1980 Local Body Elections

Patterns of Party Support in Wellington City Local Body Elections, 1974 and 1977

Patterns of Party Support in Wellington City Local Body Elections, 1974 and 1977

Turnout in Wellington city local body elections

Turnout in Wellington city local body elections

Women’s Participation in New Zealand Local Body Elections

(1977). Women’s Participation in New Zealand Local Body Elections. Political Science: Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 95-114.

Local Body Elections

Local Body Elections