Parliamentary Elections Research Articles

Keep the Peace at Home to Shape the Peace Abroad: A Study of Elite Influence on Winston Churchill and British Foreign Policy at the Yalta Conference, 1945

ABSTRACT As the end of World War II and a parliamentary election approached, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s wartime authority diminished. The erosion of influence at home could not have come at a worse time for Churchill abroad, who sought to rebuild a postwar world order at the February 1945 Yalta Conference to resurrect Britain’s global influence. Exploiting the erosion of Churchill’s unprecedented wartime powers, formal and fringe political elites pressured Churchill to align his postwar preferences at Yalta with prevailing elite views on major geopolitical issues. In doing so, these elites – which included senior government officials, newspaper editorialists, and members of Parliament – ultimately compelled Churchill to advocate for the United Nations and a free and democratic Poland at Yalta, despite his belief that both plans would undermine Britain’s postwar influence. In examining the critical role elite-leader relations played in shaping Cold War history, this paper seeks to improve the study of democratic foreign policy analysis by emphasizing Kenneth Waltz’s “first image” (the role of a leader’s motivations and intentions) and the role of non-government (or “fringe”) elites. Finally, it concludes that parliamentary democracies are more receptive to elite influence because elites have greater opportunities to drive policy debates and challenge political authority.

Bare Life and the Production of Docile Sects: The Case of Christian Community in Lebanon

In Lebanon, the same political class whose role was instrumental in the economic and financial collapse of the country won the May 2022 parliamentary elections. These results raise questions about why and how the sectarian politicians were able to secure their political survival in a divided society. This article explores and analyzes elites’ strategies to augment power in divided societies and how it is employed to mobilize followers. It employs the concept of ‘bare life,’ as developed by Giorgio Agamben, to analyze elites’ strategies to control the lives of their followers and shape their political orientations. ‘Bare life’ is not always imposed on individuals. It is, at times, a ‘voluntary option’ for individuals in exchange for protection from sovereign power against alleged fears and dangers. The article will analyze the case of the Christian community in Lebanon to explore why and how its elites exert considerable influence over their community and secure its loyalty.

On the comparative analysis of election commercials of political parties (2013 parliamentary elections)

On the comparative analysis of election commercials of political parties (2013 parliamentary elections)

Meme-ing Malawi’s 2019 presidential election: Humour, hope and disillusionment

On 21 May 2019, Malawi went to the polls to elect leaders in what turned out to be highly contested presidential, parliamentary and local government elections. Compared to previous elections, the 2019 tripartite elections also featured highly on social media. Focusing on the presidential election, this article analyses how these elections were depicted in popular imagination particularly in internet memes. Our contention is that the internet memes, and by extension, other popular art forms of that period, constitute a humorous, but highly significant documentation, of the key events of that election. The memes reflect hopes, aspirations and disillusionment that characterized the 2019 polls. In terms of conceptual framework, we draw on the theory of visual rhetoric alongside scholarship on internet memes as both humour and political discourse.

Radical movement-parties, political change and the epistemology of elections: evidence from Lebanon

ABSTRACT A growing literature seeks to bring agency into the study of movement-parties (M-Ps). Yet studies pay little attention to radical M-Ps which confront acute dilemmas when deciding to contest parliamentary elections in systems they deem illegitimate. This article problematizes radical M-Ps’ entry in elections and the meaning they attribute to the role and function of elections – their epistemology of elections. We examine three M-Ps – Beirut Madinati, LiHaqqi, and Muwatinun wa Muwatinat fi Dawla. We demonstrate that radical M-Ps with a coherent strategy for political change, one that includes an epistemology of elections, are more likely to mitigate and survive electoral dilemmas when entering elections. Radical M-Ps lacking such a strategy risk fragmentation and potential dissolution. Methodologically, we chose Lebanon because 1) during the period under study, it is a democracy and, consequently, a relevant case study for theories of party formation; and 2) it offers a controlled comparison of M-Ps in elections. Moreover, all three M-Ps emerged during a similar time-period, with similar social bases, and, at least originally, radical positions. Research is based on participation in, and observation of, protests and elections between 2011 and 2022, as well as primary and secondary sources.

Social Media and the DIY Politics in Thailand's 2023 Election

This article argues that Thailand's 2023 parliamentary election was the first election in which social media played a decisive factor in the electoral outcomes. Prior to this election, social media was an important campaign tool, but it was unclear whether it made a difference in the electoral results. Based on our original post-election survey data (n = 1,249), social media was the most important media in governing vote choice. Social media was a crucial space for activation and conversion—motivating the undecided to become partisans and converting partisan voters to shift their allegiances. Thailand's 2023 election was also marked by a rise in the personalization of political campaigning, wherein citizens felt free to decide how and what their political participation looked like, and parties that encouraged inclusive and open engagement with politics were best poised to win in the electoral arena. Drawing on social network analysis of social media data, this article demonstrates how the Move Forward Party's (MFP) loosely structured and inclusive social media campaigns allowed both their candidates and supporters to mobilize individualized large-scale collective action, in contrast to their rivals who focused on traditional top-down style campaigning. Despite the MFP's winning social media campaigning that produced electoral victories, the party was unable to come to power due to an entrenched authoritarian political system designed to maintain the power of the country's autocratic elites. The Thai case demonstrates powerfully how autocrats might lose an election due to social media, yet still manage to hang on to power through entrenched authoritarian institutions.

Destabilizing Risks and Their Potential Effects on Iran’s 2024 Parliamentary Elections

This paper is a risk analysis examining threats to the stability of the Iranian state, the likelihood of further threat escalation, and their implications, done at the behest of the Islamic Labor Party for their consideration of potential campaign strategies in the upcoming 2024 parliamentary elections.

THE PARTISAN PARTICIPATION IN THE JORDANIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Purpose: The study explores parliamentary elections, election laws, and party attitudes, using content analysis to understand their impact on electoral outcomes. It suggests recommendations for enhancing trust and promoting democratic principles.
 
 Theoretical framework: The study's theoretical framework may incorporate political science and sociology concepts, focusing on electoral processes, political parties, and democratic governance. It may explore institutionalism, party systems theory, democratic theory, and content analysis methodology to understand the impact of election laws, party behavior, and democratic norms on political outcomes.
 
 Design/Methodology/Approach: The study's theoretical framework may incorporate political science and sociology concepts, focusing on electoral processes, political parties, and democratic governance. It may explore institutionalism, party systems theory, democratic theory, and content analysis methodology to understand the impact of election laws, party behavior, and democratic norms on political outcomes.
 
 Findings: The study may have revealed the dynamic nature of the electoral environment, the impact of election laws on party behavior, partisan positions on electoral processes, the effectiveness of political parties in elections, trust in political institutions, and recommendations for electoral reform. These findings could help strengthen democratic governance and electoral processes.
 
 Research, Practical & Social Implications: The study provides empirical insights into party behavior and election laws, highlighting the importance of qualitative research methods. It can inform policymakers, political parties, and civil society organizations in electoral reforms, enhancing fairness, transparency, and inclusivity. The findings can also promote trust, civic engagement, and protection of human rights, fostering a more inclusive democracy.
 
 Originality/Value: The study provides valuable insights into evolving electoral dynamics, partisan positions, and electoral outcomes. It offers recommendations for improving trust and promoting democratic principles. The content analysis method provides a rigorous framework for analyzing textual data, enhancing the robustness of the findings.

An Inclusion demoderation hypothesis: the revolutionary socialists in a democratic transition

ABSTRACT Revolutionary Socialists appeared in the mid-1990s as young secular Egyptians who distanced themselves from traditional co-opted parties. Disillusioned with formal politics, these ‘Revsoc’ emerged as anti-institutional opponents to the ruling elites and the structure of liberal democracy. The Trotskyist organization rejected elected bodies, seeking a Soviet-style democracy. However, the Revsoc in the 2000s opted to exploit the margin and participate in parliamentary and syndicalist elections, cooperating with reformist liberals and Islamists and reconciling with representative democracy under Mubarak. Throughout the transitional period following the January revolution, as formal politics had become more inclusive, the Revsoc held shifted to anti-institutional positions. By boycotting the elections and referendums and distancing themselves from parties that legitimized the transitional process, the Revsoc radicalized during the most ambitious democratic opening in Egypt’s modern history, in contrast to the conventional inclusion—moderation argument. However, they surprisingly started endorsing elections and supporting reforms again after the military coup.

There are such people: the role of corruption in the 2021 parliamentary elections in Bulgaria

ABSTRACT Voters often express a dislike for corruption, yet on election day, they still vote for corrupt politicians. While existing research highlights the impact of information and concern about corruption on voter behavior, our novel theoretical approach integrates three elements–dislike, knowledge, and care–to better understand corruption's role in parliamentary elections. We test this framework on Bulgaria, a nation grappling with pervasive corruption. Using a commissioned survey from Alpha Research, we discover that voters who have a dislike for corruption, can identify a party as corrupt, and consider corruption when voting are significantly less likely to support a corrupt party.

Is feminism an asset or a burden? Media coverage of an Israeli feminist woman politician

ABSTRACT In the context of the current high visibility of feminist discourse, this study focuses on the media coverage of Merav Michaeli, a female Israeli politician who led a feminist campaign during the 2021 parliamentary elections. Based on a quantitative and interpretative analysis of Michaeli’s media coverage in the 2021 election, the study examines whether and how feminist ideas have become media values in political coverage. The quantitative analysis suggests that issues of feminism featured prominently in the coverage and, moreover, that the overall positive sentiment of the coverage was evident mostly in items on feminist issues. The interpretive analysis indicates that Michaeli’s newsworthiness derived from her being the only female party leader: this itself became a feminist issue. Additionally, Michaeli’s newsworthiness was based on her being a known feminist, and her feminist campaign was represented as a political asset. The media represented her as a strong female political player, showing her feminism as a main component of her political strength. However, her media representation also straddled the line between masculinity and femininity by portraying her as strong but pleasant, demonstrating the double bind that many female politicians find themselves in.

Gradually and then suddenly: the effects of Russia’s attacks on the evolution of cybersecurity policy in Lithuania

ABSTRACT This article examines how public policy, governance and institutional structures have been established and transformed in response to cyberattacks attributed to Russia that focused political attention in Lithuania. It argues that, despite the growing number of cyberattacks, political and institutional change has initially been slow and it has taken a decade to establish an adequate legal and institutional framework. The reasons for such a slow change are analysed, highlighting limited capacity (lack of understanding of cybersecurity by policy-makers and the lack of attention and other resources allocated to it), institutional fragmentation and coordination problems. It was only after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in 2014 that cybersecurity policy started to be seen through the prism of national security and parliamentary elections created a window of opportunity for change, which resulted in significant policy transformation in 2017–2018. Interestingly, since then it remained relatively stable, even after Russia’s large scale war against Ukraine in 2022, which had only led to operational cybersecurity policy changes in Lithuania. The article contributes to the debates on the role of external shocks on policy change and the mediating factors which can slow down or facilitate change.

European Union defensive democracy’s responses to disinformation

ABSTRACT Disinformation has become a central topic in the European Union (EU) since the mid-2010s due to the disinformation campaigns used by the Russian Federation during the hybrid war against Ukraine in 2014, the Brexit referendum, the 2017 French presidential election and the 2019 European Parliamentary (EP) election. This paper aims to provide an overview and analysis of the EU’s counter-disinformation policy and measures within the theoretical framework of militant and defensive democracy with the aim to fill the gap in the relevant literature. The paper hypothesises that the concepts of militant and defensive democracy are applicable to the EU in its fight against foreign interference and disinformation. The main research questions are: What kind of measures has the EU developed to counter disinformation? Can we identify rights restrictive measures, in other words, does the EU follow a militant strategy in defending its democratic order? The paper finds that democratic self-defence is a crucial contemporary issue for the EU regarding foreign interference and more specifically disinformation, and that the concepts of militant and defensive democracy provide appropriate theoretical framework for analysing not only the challenges of democracy emerging inside the EU, but threats from the outside as well.

Criminal Law Protection of the Ukrainian External Voting to the State Authorities in Post-War Conditions (A Case Study of Poland)

Background. The article explores the potential of conducting elections for state authorities of Ukraine in the foreign electoral district (external voting) in the conditions caused by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the caveat that the real numbers may be higher due to not all migrants from Ukraine being able to register as refugees, 6.2 million Ukrainians currently reside abroad, with 5.8 million of them situated in Europe. The Republic of Poland hosts the largest number of Ukrainian refugees with temporary protection status, exceeding 1.5 million. Therefore, the research focused on the case of the Republic of Poland, expecting that its findings could be extrapolated to other states where a significant number of Ukrainian citizens reside. Considering that about 20% of Ukrainian citizens reside abroad, including both refugees and those who permanently lived abroad until 24 February 2023, Ukraine must devise effective mechanisms for organising external voting; otherwise, if measures are not taken, less than 0.5% of voters abroad will be able to vote. In particular, it is necessary to develop models ensuring the criminal legal protection of external voting, as election abuses can affect voting outcomes significantly, distort the process, and even lead to the usurpation of power. Methods. Throughout the research, various methods, including logical (analysis, synthesis, generalisation, extrapolation, analogy, modelling, hypothesis), historical, systemic-structural, comparative-legal, and dogmatic methods, have been used. Logical methods played a crucial role in analysing the operation of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, regarding possible electoral offences committed outside Ukraine during Ukrainian elections held abroad. The historical method was utilised to analyse the experience of the Ukrainian parliamentary elections in 2019. The system-structural method has been applied to formulate proposals for ensuring the legal protection of elections to state authorities outside of Ukraine. The comparative legal method was applied when comparing provisions in the criminal legislation of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland, specifically those pertaining to liability for election offences. The dogmatic method has been used in the interpretation of the norms of the Penal Code of the Republic of Polandestablishing liability for election offences, in the understanding of the norms of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses regarding their application to election offences committed outside Ukraine. The article delves into two primary aspects. Firstly, it examines the jurisdiction under which criminal liability for election offences in Ukrainian external voting is imposed, explicitly identifying the relevant legislation of the involved state. Secondly, it addresses the problems of applying the principles of the operation of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in space concerning the prosecution of electoral criminal offences, including foreigners. Result and conclusions. The authors substantiate the necessity of creating supplementary election precinctswithin the territory of the Republic of Poland, designated for conducting Ukrainian elections beyond the premises of diplomatic institutions of Ukraine and equating them in terms of legal status to the premises of diplomatic institutions of Ukraine. The latter is possible by concluding a bilateral agreement between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland on assistance in conducting Ukrainian external voting on the territory of the Republic of Poland.

Voting and Not Voting in Early 18th‐Century English Parliamentary Elections

AbstractThis article uses data from 28 poll books to explore voter behaviour over time in early 18th‐century English parliamentary elections (from 1710 to 1735). Voters in this period exhibited a high degree of partisan loyalty from one election to the next. But voters were also quite likely to drop out of the electorate between elections. As a case study of Sussex elections in 1734 shows, even among voters who made a definite promise to vote for a given candidate or set of candidates, there was a significant proportion who did not vote. While some non‐voting can be explained as an attempt to avoid disobliging powerful patrons, this article argues that voters needed to be motivated to appear at the polls. The electoral culture of the early 18th century – treats, balls, public appearances by the candidates, etc. – should be understood as attempts to mobilise rather than to persuade potential voters.

НАМ, НАМЫН СИСТЕМИЙН ТӨЛӨВШИЛД СОНГУУЛИЙН ТОГТОЛЦООНЫ ЭРХ ЗҮЙН ОРЧИН НӨЛӨӨЛӨХ НЬ

In the academic article "Influence of the legal framework of the electoral system on the formation of parties and party systems", apart from the scientific study of what the electoral system is, the legal framework of the electoral system, and how the electoral system is classified, the party is the most important part of the political system. As an important institution, it has been emphasized how it has developed and matured due to changes in the electoral system. The 8 parliamentary elections held in Mongolia in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 are characterized by the unique features of the times, economic conditions, political party and state policy decisions, and social times depending on the situation and legal changes in the electoral system, it had its own characteristics and effectiveness. Elections in Mongolia have been conducted by multi-mandate enlarged constituencies and single-mandate majoritarian system, which has created the opportunity for two political forces to hold the power in turn. The fact that the majority or two major parties alternately rule the government is related to the electoral system.

Does the Reform of the Parliamentary and Presidential Threshold Strengthen the Presidential System in Indonesia?

The attempt to purify Indonesia's multiparty presidential system was only reflected after the Third Amendment to the 1945 Constitution. However, it took work to implement it. In practice. Various measures have been taken, including party alliances and introducing voting barriers in parliamentary elections. Therefore, analysing the relationship between electoral thresholds and their ideal proportions in the form of legal-political reforms to strengthen the Indonesian presidential system is interesting. This is in line with the purpose of this study, which is to uncover and analyse the legal politics of electoral thresholds in an attempt to strengthen the presidential system of government in Indonesia. The approach adopted in this study is a theoretical approach with legal, conceptual, comparative and historical approaches. This study concludes that the legitimate political renewal of the electoral vote threshold is not closely related to efforts to strengthen Indonesia's system of multiparty presidential government. The ideal way to reform the legal, political threshold for electoral votes would be to set the parliamentary threshold at 2.5%, but at the same time tighten controls over the parties participating in the election, and the 2.5% threshold serves as President to maintain a balance between the parliamentary and presidential thresholds. In addition, it is also important to strengthen consensus (consensus democracy) among coalition political parties. There is still a desire to abolish the presidential threshold through the People's Representative Council (DPR) instead of the Constitutional Court (MK).

Individual drivers of toxicity in radical right-wing populist legislative campaigns

Most studies of political rhetoric examine only political leadership or treat parties as unified actors. However, what happens where electoral systems incentivise candidates to diverge from stated party messaging during campaigns? This article uses novel data on political experience and candidate backgrounds from the 2022 French parliamentary elections to explore the individual drivers of campaigning behaviour. The choice of France, with its multiple and prominent radical right-wing parties, allows for the consideration of both within- and between-party differences in individual campaigning. Using the salient example of toxic rhetoric, findings demonstrate that even when party leaders publicly urge moderation, individual candidates do not necessarily follow along. This implies the need for additional focus on the individual-level drivers of political semantics, especially where candidates are apt to campaign independently, using social media platforms to communicate directly with citizens.

Left Political Parties of Assam: Challenges and Prospects

The left political parties of Assam are playing a vital role in the election politics which have participated in Parliamentary and Assembly elections since independence. During the long journey of election politics of India and Assam, the left parties are passing through a trajectory mode where their support base quite satisfactory up to 1978. Later, the support base is reduced tremendously with decline of vote sharing. Being the ideologically strong political parties, the left have lost its support from the electorates due to certain shortcomings. Thus, this paper is an academic exercise to identify the factors responsible for the chronic decline of left political parties in Assam’s electoral politics. Further, this study is intended to identify the prospect of left political parties of Assam in future elections. The prospects leading to revival of left parties of Assam in the future are considered important because of the success of democracy. The conglomeration of different factors prominence to revitalize the Marxist ideology against capitalist system is still considered relevant today. Hence, to study the challenges and prospects of left political parties’ in Assam, an analytical approach is used to verify the facts. It is hoped that an in-depth study on electoral politics of left political parties of Assam will certainly tap the research gap on the issue and will provoke further empirical study on the subject.

Intolerant majorities: the breakthrough of ‘the meeting’ in Belgium, 1860s

ABSTRACT According to Charles Tilly, nineteenth-century public meetings were both composed and cosmopolitan affairs in which citizens tried to sublimate parliamentary proceedings as best as they could. Through a case study of political meetings in the city of Antwerp in the years of the censitary suffrage system (1872–93), this article argues that in the port city this was not the case. On the contrary, meetings were quite boisterous affairs with a very local horizon. This article investigates the role and dynamics of mass political meetings in nineteenth-century Antwerp, Belgium, with a focus on the events leading up to the parliamentary elections of 1863. Challenging the conventional view of these gatherings as mere reflections of parliamentary proceedings or training grounds for parliamentary etiquette, the article argues that these meetings operated under distinct rules and codes. Rather than serving as a mimicry of parliamentary norms, the meetings were seen as a necessary correction to what was perceived as an elitist and exclusive parliamentary democracy. The article explores the complex relationship between the parliamentary institution and mass meetings, with a specific examination of the tensions surrounding the inaugural mass meetings in Antwerp in 1862. It contends that these gatherings did not aim to refine or sublimate parliamentary proceedings; instead, they presented a counter-image of parliament characterized by a louder, more intense, and sometimes xenophobic discourse.