Majoritarian Research Articles

Partisan districting and the adoption of proportional representation: gerrymandering and its discontents

AbstractElectoral engineering strategies in majoritarian electoral systems, in particular the possibility to contain insurgent parties by manipulating electoral districts for partisan gain, are key determinants of parties’ positions on the adoption of proportional representation (PR). Providing both qualitative and quantitative evidence, this paper demonstrates that partisan districting can be an effective strategy to protect incumbent parties’ dominant political positions. In addition, it shows how insurgent parties push for the adoption of PR to end the practice of partisan districting. Finally, it demonstrates that incumbents – in the face of increasing electoral threats – cling to the existing majoritarian system if partisan districting allows them to influence vote-seat distortions in their favor. Together, these findings suggest that the possibility to contain insurgent parties by means of partisan districting is an important but overlooked alternative to the adoption of PR. Moreover, by demonstrating that vote-seat distortions moderate the relationship between district-level electoral threats and legislators’ support for PR adoption, this paper offers an important corrective to Stein Rokkan’s influential electoral threat thesis.

Виборчі системи: переваги, недоліки, пошуки оптимальних варіантів

The article is devoted to the analysis of the features of the existing electoral systems, the determination of their advantages and disadvantages, and how exactly they correlate with the level of democracy in society. It has been established that the opponents of the majoritarian system include the following as its objective disadvantages: a) the majority system of the absolute majority – the fact that the votes cast for defeated candidates are actually lost (in addition, the number of these votes can be close to half of those cast in the district); b) the majoritarian system of the relative majority - the fact that a significant number of voters' votes (usually more than half) remain "thrown away" and are not taken into account during the distribution of mandates, and the picture of the actual ratio of political forces in the state is distorted: the party that received a minority of voters' votes , can get the majority of the parliamentary seats. That is, we can say that the majoritarian system is a "crooked mirror" in which the political essence of the state is reflected. As a rule, in countries with a majoritarian system, single-mandate constituencies are formed, the option of forming multi-mandate constituencies is less common. Elections are usually held in two or even three rounds. It has been found that the proportional electoral system with open lists, provided for by the Election Code of Ukraine for the elections of people's deputies, has a number of advantages of application in our state, namely: the general interest of citizens in the electoral process will increase, voters will be more careful in choosing worthy candidates; under this electoral system, a direct connection is established between a specific candidate and a voter, because voters know who they are voting for; the influence of corruption schemes will decrease and the chances that the parties will be able to send unprofessional candidates to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will decrease significantly; competition between politicians in the party itself should increase, each deputy will be forced to work so that he is elected by the voters, and not to think about how to buy "passing" seats.

Mono No Aware: How Conservatives Should do Change

In this paper, I describe a conservative disposition to change which is capable of operating alongside three other dispositions: First, a disposition to accept a degree of epistemic humility with respect to the kinds of change that count as an ‘intimation’ or continuation of the value contained in some given situation. Second, a disposition to acknowledge the legitimacy of democratic majorities, even when these are not always expressions of those ‘intimations’ or continuations. Third, the disposition to help alleviate recognizable injustices as these might be suffered—and understood—by minorities. A conservative disposition to preserve the value of some given status quo operates in tension with these other three, and can sometimes give way to those other dispositions. An important part of managing tensions between these dispositions is an additional practice of reconciliation, one that helps conservatives treat change in properly conservative ways. I develop an account of this practice through a reading of Junichiro Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows and the Japanese concept of mono no aware. I argue Tanizaki’s work offers an approach to change that is conservative in spirit while still being capable of accommodating itself to change which will reduce—and even eliminate—things of value that were possible prior to that change.

Winner-takes-all Majoritarian System and Irregularities in Six Election Cycles in Nigeria, 1999 – 2019

The argument that Nigerian elections are characterized by electoral irregularities since the commencement of present democratic engagement in 1999 has not been sufficiently subjected to an analytical procedure to embrace the six Nigerian election cycles. The unsettled question of irregularities that have consistently dominated elections in Nigeria is interrogated in this study. The study situates the problem within the context of winner-takes-all majoritarian electoral system (MES) and queries the implementation of the MES-driven model in an environment of do-or-die politics, weak electoral institution, and 'glorification' of clandestine electoral strategies. It further argues that the model reinforces politicians’ use of subtle strategies to increase their odds of victory and pay less or not attention to their detrimental consequences on democratic development. The study is underpinned on personal experience as active participants in Nigerian elections and available textual documents. The analysis of data supports the argument that MES-model is poorly implemented in Nigeria and promotes the crude perception of politics as a zero-sum do-or-die contest. The present deplorable state of democracy in Nigeria is a function of irregularities and their consequential composites: life-taking elections, election disputes, and voter apathy, which has been in a downward fall since 2003. These findings suggest the need for voter-driven electoral reform that will reduce tension during elections and encourage inclusivity in Nigeria. The reform should be able to institutionalize Nigeria’s electoral body and check government interference in its activities, reduce the present huge election spending, ensure proportionate distribution of votes/positions, and make public offices less financially attractive.

NATIONALISM AS A CONTEMPORARY MENACE: READING TAGORE’S THE HOME AND THE WORLD AS A COSMOPOLITAN TEXT

As the calls for global peace and peaceful coexistence grow louder, nationalism, often tearing apart the oldest and largest democracies, emerges as one of the formidable menaces to mankind today. It is a resurgent force in major democracies across continents. In Asia and particularly in the Indian subcontinent, it emerges in response to the colonial hegemony and the emulation of Western values. But it soon assumes a religious dimension. Tagore, in its rise as a global phenomenon, sees a threat to global peace and fraternity, an onslaught on human dignity, and calls it a 'destructive enthusiasm,' an 'epidemic of evil,' an edifice of illusions, and moral annihilation. Against the background of fragile peace and shattered human existence. This study investigates how nationalism dehumanizes people, kills a human character, distorts perceptions, divests them of moral ideals, reduces a man's life to a mechanical existence, and releases a demon of ethnonationalist violence by using text analysis as its research method. The study shows how the author's cosmopolitan vision is capable of guiding mankind in these troubled times. Besides, it shows how his vision can help people overcome this mass delusion and foster global understanding and peaceful coexistence.

스위스 협의민주주의에 관한 고찰

Consociational democracy was systemized by A. Lijphart in the early 20th century as a democratic model suggested as an alternative to limits of majority democracy that a winner takes all. A. Lijphart points out forming the largest government, recognition of mutual veto power, member proportional of the parliament and cabinet, and recognition of a minority of autonomous rights as prerequisites for consociational democracy. According to these elements, Switzerland is applicable to a consociational democratic state of the typical Bottom-up structure that completed present federalism based on decentralism which recognized equal rights regardless of the alliance size starting from the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 13th century. Especially, initiative and referendum done at the level of the 26 states and more than 2,000 Gemeindes can be the key resident participation system which checks the nation and local governments and enables sharing power through equal participation as the new opportunities that minority opinions are not excluded but included. Especially, because the initiative and referendum systems are linked together and play a role of controlling power and have the structure that they can be done regarding taxation, increases in budget, etc which have an important effect on local finance, they more accord with the idea of local self-government that the residents themselves are the main agents of the regions. And because they have the structure that oppositions to local councils' decisions can be done by initiative and referendum, they make the residents play an enough role as the final surveillant of local decisions. Because communications between residents and regions, among residents, and regions and the central government continue to be done in the initiative process, referendum, and general assembly of the residents and the preparation process in the resident participation system of the swiss style like this, the resident participation system in the Swiss consociational democracy is the most important element of discussion premised on conversations and communications. In comparison with this, because the Korean resident participation system has the structure that initiative and referendum are not mutually linked but separately operated, it's the structure synergy effects of participation cannot be created. And because important details from a position of the residents are mostly excluded from resident participation, it is the structure that it is hard for the residents to actively participate in them. In addition, in the structure that local councils examine and vote for ordinances proposed by the residents, the need for changing their roles to more active for resident participation is raised because they are not different from the existing committees' examination. If legal consideration like this is done, the resident participation system which has more expanded since 2021 can play a role of driving the development of Korean local self-government and democracy.

The rule of unreason: Analyzing (anti‐)democratic regression

The rule of unreason: Analyzing (anti‐)democratic regression

White psychodrama

White psychodrama

A number most convenient? The representational consequences of legislative size

This paper explores the political representational consequences of the size of democratic legislatures, which it makes the case for viewing as a feature of the electoral system. Focusing on descriptive representation, we argue that larger legislatures facilitate the descriptive representation of traditionally underrepresented groups, and that this effect should be stronger in majoritarian electoral systems. We find support for the hypothesis about the greater impact of legislative (assembly) size in majoritarian systems using a cross-national analysis of women's representation. We then employ a within-case empirical analysis of the descriptive representation of several racial and ethnic minorities and women in (majoritarian) U.S. state legislatures. Support for the hypothesis about the effects of relative legislative size (the ratio of seats to persons) is found for most minorities and women. More mixed but still somewhat supportive findings emerge about absolute legislative size (the raw number of seats).

Being a master of metaphors

Being a master of metaphors

The Men of Mobtown: Policing Baltimore in the Age of Slavery and Emancipation

The Men of Mobtown: Policing Baltimore in the Age of Slavery and Emancipation

Польша Сенатын реформациялаудың геополитикалық аспекті

The Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, which has relatively small powers in comparison with the lower house - the Sejm. In the world, only a few countries are electing the second chamber in direct elections, which is the case in Poland with the use of the majoritarian voting system. In the public debate, there is a discussion about changing the manner in which the Senate is elected and the scope of its competencies. The Senate has a long tradition in Poland. In the current formula, with the use of 100 single-member constituencies, it has been operating since 2011. Among the possible directions of changes, it is possible to indicate a switch in the electoral law from a majoritarian system to a proportional system or complete abolition of elections to the Senate. Instead, the composition of the chamber could be appointed by local government bodies, in particular the provincial government, or by appointment by the president or the Sejm. The chamber could include "senators for life" - people of merit for the country and former presidents and possibly prime ministers.

Is Symbolic Religious Establishment Permitted Within the European Convention? A Legal, Political, and Pragmatic Perspective

Abstract This article discusses the role of the European Court of Human Rights in regulating the symbolic establishment of religion by the Convention States in their public sphere. The analysis starts from the rather controversial Lautsi decisions and distinguishes three perspectives on such cases. The legal perspective focuses on the way the Court would usually answer a legal question underlying a controversial subject as an interpretation of the Convention and Protocols understood as the living instrument it is today. The political perspective focuses on the preferred solution of the democratic majority in the relevant the Convention State, which is sometimes diametrically opposed to the Court’s assessment. The pragmatic perspective explains how the Court deals with such clashes. In controversial cases, the Court sometimes is critical of the state for violating Convention rights, but remains, as a supranational court, critically dependent on the sufficient support of these states. This implies that the Court is sometimes forced to act pragmatically. To maintain the overall stability of the Convention system of human rights protection, the Court is sometimes required to make legally suboptimal decisions in specific controversial cases.

ELECTIONS MATTER: AGING POLITICS AND POLICY IN THE BIDEN ERA

Abstract The 2020 election of Joe Biden to the presidency has shifted the foundations of the American political system after four years of conservative policy leadership. Combined with a slim Democratic majority in Congress, the policies, priorities, and proposals of the Biden administration have important ramifications for all spheres of American life. Nowhere is this clearer than with older Americans who disproportionately supported Donald Trump’s reelection but are among those who benefit most with enactment of the Democratic party agenda. Between 2010 and 2050 the proportion of the U.S. population aged 65 years or older is projected to increase from 13% to 20%. Population aging creates opportunities and challenges for older adults, their families, and society in general. The Biden administration has chosen to meet these challenges, in part, by seeking to expand the social safety net. By contrast, the Trump administration largely supported Republican priorities to draw back on the federal government’s commitment to programs intended to support an aging population. This panel examines aging politics and policy during the first two years of the Biden administration. It reports on older adults’ voting patterns and the role of issue framing in limiting public support for proposals such as Medicare for All. It analyzes provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act and Build Back Better Bill to bolster formal care and services for older adults, as well as federal actions to support family caregivers. Edward Miller serves as panel chair; Janelle Fassi serves as co-chair and Marc Cohen as discussant.

Kinder, gentler – and crisis-proof? Consensus democracy, inclusive institutions and COVID-19 pandemic performance

Which patterns of democracy perform best? Although a decades-long research tradition has fairly robustly suggested that consensual democracies outperform their Westminster-style majoritarian counterparts, the scope of previous studies has been limited to ‘normal times’. In this article, the endogenous context of the COVID-19 pandemic is leveraged to study whether the alleged superiority of consensualism also holds during crises. It is hypothesised that, in addition to consensus democracy, inclusive institutions – i.e. cabinet size and interest-group corporatism – enhance crisis-related performance. Drawing on new and original data, cross-sectional and hierarchical time-series regression analyses show that horizontal power-sharing and the number of ministers substantively reduced excess mortality, while the structure of the interest-group system had no effect. Although established consensus democracies can draw on their built-in institutional assets even during crises, our findings indicate that majoritarian systems may, as a compensatory performance-enhancing tool, flexibly gear up for crisis-induced necessities by adding more ministers to the cabinet.

Coordinación electoral y doble voto simultáneo a nivel subnacional en Uruguay (1971-2020)

The 1996 constitutional reform unlinked the national and subnational elections and configured in the Uruguayan subnational level uninominal majoritarian systems, where the Mayor is the main seat in contest. However, it preserves a voting mechanism called Double Simultaneous Vote that determines the dynamic of the contest. This article proposes an adaptation of the classic theory of electoral coordination considering the effects of the forementioned mechanism. The statement is that the upper limit of effective candidates predicted is four, twice the upper limit of a traditional majoritarian system. This approach is proved empirically at the same time that a few propositions of the classic literature about electoral coordination are taken into account using data for Uruguay from 1971 to 2020.

Only Right Makes Might? Center-Right Policy Competition Among Major Japanese Parties After Electoral Reform

The effects of the 1990s reforms to the electoral system of Japan's House of Representatives have been among the most frequently discussed topics in political science research on the country. These reforms saw the replacement of a hitherto single nontransferable vote (SNTV) system by a mixed-member majoritarian (MMM) system with a strong Single Member District (SMD) and a weaker Proportional Representation (PR) component. Many studies have suggested that the reforms may have had significant impact on the strategies of political parties. Generally, SMD systems have been widely thought to favor larger parties, while PR systems are more beneficial to small and medium-sized parties. On the content side, larger parties seeking control of the government would try to win the support of large numbers of floating voters by campaigning on universal/programmatic policy appeals, as opposed to particularistic interests. In contrast, smaller parties would cater towards their core supporters’ preferences. Previous studies have noted that the old SNTV system in Japan had produced results similar to PR systems (Reed 2003). Japan's electoral reform may have thus changed the strategy of large parties, which would need to win more seats in the SMDs to gain (or hold onto) power, while smaller parties have continued to try and win seats via the PR tier. Therefore, the reform provides valuable research material in so far as we can simultaneously observe different effects by the SMD and the PR systems on parties of different sizes.

Talking with racists: insights from discourse and communication studies on the containment of far-right movements

The rise of the far right is threatening the antifascist consensus that helped rebuild Europe and the world following World War II. Discourse studies have done much to further the understanding of the success as well as the fallacies of the discourses of far-right movements and have provided the means by which to comprehend right-wing communicative strategies. However, it has also been said that the reactions of the democratic majority and the mainstream media have contributed—mainly involuntarily—to the success of right-wing politics. The role of the reactions of society, the democratic majority and the mainstream media in trying to counter right-wing discourses is widely underexplored. The aim of this contribution is to understand the diverse material and symbolic effects of certain practices of political contestation. It aims to help elaborate counterstrategies against the threat of the far right and to present communicative strategies against hate. With the help of such diverse authors as Foucault, Goffman or Habermas, we will show how democratic positions seem to be in an ideological dilemma in which the speech acts that try to counter far-right discourses very often produce the opposite effect. The article can help to overcome the pitfalls and performative contradictions of some discursive practices especially in public communications.

DUALIST POPULAR CONSTITUTIONALISM A Reply to Michelman

DUALIST POPULAR CONSTITUTIONALISM A Reply to Michelman

The logic of campaign spending in mixed-member electoral systems

In this research note we reason that campaign strategies that are strategic in “pure” majoritarian systems and “pure” proportional systems may (or may not) change when the two are combined in a mixed-member electoral system with a majoritarian and a proportional tier. We argue that campaign effort by individual candidates should be a function of the tier or tiers in which the candidate is competing and whether he or she expects to be a strong contender. We then test our theorizing with candidate campaign spending data from New Zealand, which has used a mixed-member system since 1996. We find support for our reasoning regarding when the strategies appropriate for pure majoritarian and pure proportional systems should be adapted when applied in their mixed counterparts.