Participation In Local Elections Research Articles

Community Education and General Elections: Strategies to Enhance Political Awareness Based on Technology & Community Participation Levels in Gorontalo Province

Community participation serves as a measure of success in conducting general elections, thus political participation must be optimized through building and developing political awareness among the populace through various efforts, including education and political advocacy based on information technology. This study aims to design a strategy to enhance technology-based political awareness and community participation levels in Gorontalo Province. The method employed in this study is qualitative, with data analysis utilizing the Miles and Huberman model. The study findings reveal that community political participation in local elections in Gorontalo Province has reached a satisfactory level, although there is still room for improvement. Community education on politics with a technology-based approach is also crucial, especially in addressing digital divides. By involving technology, political education can become more accessible to the populace. It is hoped that political participation will increase, voters will be better educated, and local democracy will become stronger. Communities engaged in politics have greater potential to influence policies, monitor the government, and uphold accountability. Technology-based political education is a progressive step towards achieving the goal of community awareness and participation in general elections. Keywords: Community Education, Elections, Awareness, Participation.

Who Participates in Local Elections? Evidence From Current Population Survey

Local elections have had historically low participation rates in the United States. Knowing who participates in local elections is important because it will allow democracy scholars to better understand whose interests are being represented in local governing bodies and explain how and why local governing bodies make the decisions they do. I use binary logistic regression analysis on survey responses from the U.S. Census Bureau’s September 2021 Current Population Survey Volunteering and Civic Life Supplement to analyze self-reported participation regarding demographic characteristics and state-level election policies. This paper finds that age, gender, education, race, homeownership, and family income are all important predictors of participation in local elections. Likewise, this paper finds that all mail elections and Same Day Registration have strong, statistically significant effects on local-level voter turnout, voter ID laws have a counterintuitive effect, the length of early voting periods has a small but statistically significant effect, and Automatic Voter Registration and direct democracy processes have no statistically significant effects on participation in local elections.

Determining Factors of Voters’ Participation in Local Elections of Community Head in Armenia

This study attempts to determine the socio-economic factors affectingparticipation in local community head elections in Armenia.To that end, a binary logistic regression model was estimated usingthe household survey data gathered by the Caucasus ResearchResource Center’s (CRRC) regional office in Armenia, within theframework of the Civic Engagement in Local Governance (CELoG)Project. The results of the estimation showed that economiccondition, settlement type, age, awareness of local governmentpowers, and trust were statistically significant determinants of participationin local community head elections.

Does Gender Based Representation Matters in Fostering Political Inclusion of Women in Local Governments? A Case of India

How does the legally established gender quota in local self-government bodies affect the level of representation of women in power? How does the representation of women in power increase effective political participation? Previous studies were devoted to studying the consequences of gender quotas in the authorities and management, but the issue of the model of gender political participation remained neglected. The introduction of gender quotas as a mechanism for ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women in politics and the decision-making process increases women’s political participation and political leadership. The success or failure of planning and decision-making largely depends on the level of political participation. The issues of this work correspond to Goal 5 of Sustainable Development, which provides equal opportunities for women’s leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life. The paper analyzes the representation of women in the authorities and management in different regions of the world. The study’s main goal is to determine the relationship between the representation of women in rural local self-government bodies and the consequences of this representation. The data sources were the results of local elections, reports of government ministries and agencies, United Nations reports on gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as surveys of women representatives of political power in three Indian states (Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra ) — state election data analyzed over the past three decades. The results of this study show that the level of female representation increases annually, although this is not entirely related to political participation. Women’s electoral participation indicates that despite growing women’s participation in local elections, the expression remains unchanged within the established gender quota of 33 to 50 percent. Addressing the gender imbalance in the political environment of three states in India is a result of the introduction and enforcement of gender quotas in politics. The results of this study have practical value for local self-government bodies when developing state gender policy.

Are political and economic integration intertwined?

AbstractEconomic incentives play a key role in the decision to run for office, but little is known on how they shape immigrants' self‐selection into candidacy. We study this question using a two‐period Roy model, and show that if returns to labour market experience differ between migrants and natives, then this will affect the relative likelihood to run for office for the two groups. We assess this prediction empirically using administrative data from Norway, a country with a very liberal regime for participation in local elections. Our results strongly support our theoretical model and indicate that immigrants' political and economic integration are closely intertwined.

Broadcasting Communications in Encouraging Public Participation in Elections

Introduction: Public participation in regional elections is still quite low, even though regional elections are a form of implementing democracy in Indonesia. Broadcasting communications can play an important role in encouraging public participation in Pilkada. Therefore, this study aims to identify and analyze the effectiveness of broadcasting communication strategies in encouraging public participation in regional elections. Method: This study uses a qualitative approach with data collection techniques through in-depth interviews with informants related to the Pilkada and broadcast media. Result: The results of the study show that broadcast media can be used as an effective means of communication to increase public participation in regional elections by conveying appropriate and balanced information and facilitating public discussion of election-related issues. Several effective strategies for encouraging public participation in Pilkada through broadcast media include using attractive campaign jingles, wider coverage of candidates and their work programs, and public debates between candidates, which are broadcast live. Conclusion: Broadcast media is an effective means of communication to increase public participation in local elections by conveying appropriate, balanced information and facilitating public discussion on issues related to local elections.

Developments in China's Public Opinion from Hu to Xi: Corruption, Activism and Regime Legitimacy

AbstractThis original analysis of the World Values Survey waves of 2007, 2012 and 2018 reveals important relationships among political trust and satisfaction, happiness, views of corruption, local elections and activism from the last half of the Hu Jintao administration through the first five years of Xi Jinping's rule. These data shed new light on the deeper dynamics underlying the high and growing levels of trust in government documented in other studies. Among this report's more novel findings, we find increased trust in government coincides with decreased local electoral participation, suggesting that participation in local elections is not key to perceptions of regime legitimacy. Views of corruption and a sense of personal efficacy through non-institutionalized forms of political participation such as peaceful demonstrations appear more relevant. Thus, constraints on people's ability to engage in peaceful demonstrations are likely to negatively impact views of regime legitimacy. In addition, the report uncovers demographic variations in these dynamics, indicating that regime legitimacy is more precarious among citizens at the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy and among younger Chinese. Overall, these findings complicate existing explanations of regime legitimacy centring on economic performance, nationalism, responsiveness/adaptiveness and efforts to combat corruption.

Social networks of independents and partisans: Are independents a moderating force?

AbstractWhile scholars have long recognized that social networks impact political engagement for partisans, comparatively little work has examined the role of networks for independent voters. In this article, we contribute to existing research on social networks and politics by surveying Arizona registered voters about their political persuasion, personal networks, and media consumption habits. Our findings show that independents have networks that are structurally different from partisans. Specifically, we found that both Democrat and Republican respondents were more likely to frequently talk about politics with independents than with members of the opposing party. Independents were also less likely than partisans to end a friendship over a political dispute. Taken together these findings show that independents may be frequent and reliable discussion partners for partisans and may be able to moderate political views. We find evidence for the moderating force of independents is especially apparent in the media consumption habits of Republican respondents.Related ArticlesCormack, Lindsey. 2019. “Leveraging Peer‐to‐Peer Connections to Increase Voter Participation in Local Elections.” Politics & Policy 47(2): 248–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12297.Malmberg, Fredrik G., and Henrik Serup Christensen. 2021. “Voting Women, Protesting Men: A Multilevel Analysis of Corruption, Gender, and Political Participation.” Politics & Policy 49(1): 126–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12393.Rowe, Andrew D., and David E. Pitfield. 2019. “The Challenge of Social Media Incorporation: A Case Study of HACAN Clearskies.” Politics & Policy 47(4): 775–806. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12319.

Values, Partisan Interest, and the Voting Age: Lessons from Australia

The decline in youth participation in elections has been an ongoing concern in Australia, in spite of the requirement for compulsory turnout. In 2018, and in response to these concerns, the Australian parliament debated an electoral amendment that would lower the national voting age to 16 years. The Bill, however, did not succeed even though two opposition parties—the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens—supported the reform and the Morrison Government accepted the premise that youth electoral disengagement was a troubling phenomenon. Drawing on veto player theory, this article examines how the legislative dynamics intersected with partisan self‐interest and party value priorities to undercut the case for lowering the voting age to 16. The Australian case highlights the ways in which latent ideological differences among parties can serve to divide them on the inclusiveness of franchise, and the democratic goals to be served by voting.Related ArticlesCormack, Lindsey. 2019. “Leveraging Peer‐to‐Peer Connections to Increase Voter Participation in Local Elections.” Politics & Policy 47 (2): 248‐266. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12297Fisher, Patrick. 2020. “Generational Replacement and the Impending Transformation of the American Electorate.” Politics & Policy 48 (1): 38‐68. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12340Ike, Vivian. 2020. “The Impact of Veto Players on Incremental and Drastic Policy Making: Australia's Carbon tax Policy and its Repeal.” Politics & Policy 48 (2): 232‐264. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12346

Partisipasi Pemilih Disabilitas Dalam Pemilihan Kepala Daerah (Pilkada) Kabupaten Kudus Tahun 2018

The direct election of regional heads is a new mechanism in democracy in Indonesia where the people in a region directly elect their regional heads. It is hoped that the public will better understand the regional head candidates and choose candidates whose vision and mission is in accordance with regional needs. In the Kudus Regency Regional Election held on June 27, 2018, voter participation in this election was quite significant, amounting to 84.26%. But the disability voter participation is relatively low, that is, only 0,131% from the total of voter. This study aims to identify the lack of disability participation in local elections, forms of disability political participation, and supporting factors disability participation. This research applies descriptive qualitative research method with the political participation of disability analytical framework. The data collection techniques in this qualitative study using primary and secondary data. For primary data, researchers will conduct in-depth interviews of institutions related to the holding of the elections and will also be conducted with disability voters in Kudus Regency, both those registered as Permanent Voter Lists (DPT) and those who have not participated in the elections. As for secondary data, researchers conducted a literature review.

Police Tactics and Their Effects on Democracy

Scholars have long wondered whether the intersection of crime, justice, and local elections are correlated. Recently, multiple deaths of African-American citizens during encounters with police have become highly-publicized and have consequently catalyzed discussions around police misconduct and police reform. Based on the increased exposure of police misconduct, this study explores how contact with the criminal justice system and perceptions of police legitimacy shape political behavior in the modern era, with specific emphasis on the aggressiveness of police tactics and voting behavior in local elections. This study has attempted to control for neighborhood context by using the municipalities with similar ecological factors to highlight the correlation between specific police tactics and voting behavior in local elections. This study also will look at how specific police tactics either promote or obstruct the requirements of a participatory democracy set forth by Robert Dahl. Those requirements are as follows: meaningful and extensive competition, sufficient inclusiveness in national and local elections, and a high level of civil and political liberties. Due to this study’s focus on voting behavior in local election, the analysis will concentrate on the second requirement of participatory democracy. The results of this study show that perceptions of police legitimacy through the use of specific policing tactics are likely to be highly influential in the prediction of candidate selection as well as the likelihood of a citizen’s participation in local elections. Municipalities that have less aggressive police tactics turn out to have a higher voter turnout, as well are to be more likely to vote for a Democratic candidate, while those municipalities that institute more aggressive police tactics will have a lower voter turnout and will also more likely vote for a Democratic candidate but will have larger amount or residents vote for a Republican or Independent candidate.

Ranked Choice Voting as a Generational Issue in Modern American Politics

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a class of reforms increasingly used in the United States to replace plurality and runoff elections. We ask whether support for RCV taps a larger generational divide in politics. We consult five surveys, two of these from recent adoption campaigns, and all with different ways of asking about RCV support. Generation is a significant predictor in four of these samples, accounting for standard demographic factors and partisanship. This relationship also holds within black and Republican subgroups, two groups often thought to be less likely to support RCV. Finally, we find that dissatisfaction with “the way that democracy works in America” is a plausible link between generation and reform support. For better or worse, RCV has potential to divide two important voting blocs in America. Our results suggest that, rather than turn away from electoral politics, a disaffected young generation may turn to reform.Related ArticlesCormack, Lindsey. 2019. “Leveraging Peer‐to‐Peer Connections to Increase Voter Participation in Local Elections.” Politics & Policy 47 (2): 248‐266. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12297Fisher, Patrick. 2020. “Generational Replacement and the Impending Transformation of the American Electorate.” Politics & Policy 48 (1): 38‐68. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12340Shaykhutdinov, Renat. 2019. “Socialization, Rationality, and Age: Generational Gaps and the Attitudes toward the Chechen War in Russia.” Politics & Policy 47 (5): 931‐955. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12323

Citizen Participation in Local Government Elections in the Age of Crowdsourcing: Explorations and Considerations in Tanzania

This study sought to explore crowdsourced monitoring of local government elections and the challenges hindering citizen participation in monitoring processes through digital tools. Nongovernmental election monitoring organizations have embraced technology and crowdsourcing methods for generating election information. Digital tools have changed how election monitors and citizens connect, observe, create, and share political information. This study was influenced by the fact that, despite the existence of local election crowdsourced monitoring initiatives, none of the existing research explores crowdsourced election monitoring at the local level. This study explores and considers the 2014 local elections in Tanzania. We used document analysis, first to review types of crowdsourcing and their deployment in election monitoring, and key informant interviews to explore issues surrounding citizen participation in local election monitoring through crowdsourcing. We found that, while crowdsourcing monitoring is used in local elections, citizen participation faces various challenges. Our analysis shows that, among others, trust, costs, poor preparation and crowdsource planning, the digital divide, and poor infrastructure are critical challenges facing local crowdsourced monitoring. The findings shine a light on the emergence of local election crowdsourcing monitoring and the challenges facing citizen participation through digital technologies. To build effective, crowdsourced local election monitoring, we propose opportunities to shape crowdsourcing citizen participation through digital tools in forthcoming elections, inter alia, the use of mobile phones for free short message services, early planning, developing strategies, and building effective partnerships among government institutions, nongovernmental election monitoring organizations, and the citizens.

Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership

Local daily newspapers have historically played an important role in U.S. democracy by providing citizens with information about local policy issues. However, in recent decades local newspapers have struggled to compete with new online platforms for readers’ attention. Private equity investors—who specialize in reorganizing struggling firms in distressed sectors—have entered the industry. How do these new owners affect newspaper content, survival, and local civic engagement? We document nuanced effects, contrasting with the polarized debate on this topic in the media and political discourse. On one hand, we find that private equity ownership leads to higher digital circulation and lower chances of newspaper exit. On the other hand, we document a change in news composition away from information about local governance, and lower employment of reporters and editors. Finally, we find declines in participation in local elections, consistent with local newspaper content being relevant for civic engagement. The results have implications for knowledge about local policy issues and highlight trade-offs surrounding media ownership.

How Roma Mayors Penetrate the Municipal Power Structures: Resisting the Non-Roma Dominance in Slovak Local Governments

Abstract This paper discusses the outcomes of power asymmetries in Slovak municipalities with Roma population and presents examples how local Roma leaders resist the non-Roma dominance by active participation in local elections. Presenting data from field research and long-term repeated observations, the paper shows successful strategies of elected Roma mayors who disrupt the usual perception of the Roma as objects of decision-making process and passive recipients of various policies. In these paternalistic beliefs Roma have never been seen as actors who can control resources, who could hold the political power and who could decide how to use the resources. Although the Roma have penetrated the power structures of many municipalities, they are not able to wipe out invisible ethnic boundaries, or, at least, to soften and disrupt them. However, as the text illustrates, it seems that the political power asymmetries in a significant number of municipalities are being balanced, nevertheless, the symbolic dominance and symbolic power of non-Roma still persists.

Дайджест опитувань U-Report: ІIІ квартал 2020 р. (турбота молоді про здоров’я, дистанційне навчання та робота під час пандемії, волонтерство під час карантину, участь молоді у місцевих виборах)

Paper presents the results of the innovative youth project U-Report. Report for July – September 2020: youth health concerns, visiting doctors, health care for adolescents and young people, distance learning and work after the pandemic, support for distance learning teachers, career prospects for young people during the COVID-19 crisis, youth volunteer practices, the impact of quarantine for volunteering, barriers to volunteering, youth participation in local elections.

Generational Replacement and the Impending Transformation of the American Electorate

Contemporary American politics is marked by an unusually substantial generation gap. This has important implications for the future of American politics as an overwhelmingly white and conservative generation, the Silent Generation, is being replaced in the electorate by much more diverse and liberal generations: the Millennial Generation and Generation Z. To project potential partisan changes in the American electorate with generational replacement, simulations were calculated estimating what the electorate may look like, using the 2016 presidential election as a baseline. Hypothesizing the same generational dynamics of vote choice and turnout for 2020 that existed in 2016, with generational replacement alone the national plurality of 2.1 percent for the Democratic candidate increases to 4.8 percent if Generation Z votes the same as Millennials. For elections beyond 2020, the potential partisan swing toward the Democrats based on generational replacement become even much more considerable. By 2032, Millennials and Generation Z combined are projected to consist of almost one‐half of the entire electorate. Even if Generation Z is not distinct from the rest of the electorate politically, given how strongly Democratic the Millennials are, the simulated gain for the Democrats in 2032 is 5 percent; and, if Generation Z becomes as Democratic leaning as Millennials are, the simulated swing toward the Democrats is greater than 7 percent.Related ArticlesCormack, Lindsey. 2019. “Leveraging Peer‐to‐Peer Connections to Increase Voter Participation in Local Elections.” Politics & Policy 47 (2): 248‐266. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12297Shaykhutdinov, Renat. 2019. “Socialization, Rationality, and Age: Generational Gaps and the Attitudes toward the Chechen War in Russia.” Politics & Policy 47 (5): 931‐955. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12323Stockemer, Daniel. 2016. “Is the Turnout Function in Democracies and Nondemocracies Alike or Different?” Politics & Policy 44 (5): 889‐915. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12174

Participatory Budgeting and Traditional Participation in Czech Municipalities

As an instrument of smart governance, participatory budgeting has been implemented by several dozen of municipalities in the Czech Republic. This is in line with the trend in many European cities. The paper examines the implementation of participatory budgeting in Czech municipalities. It is observed that participatory budgeting is being implemented in the Czech Republic typically on a very limited scale. The particular aim of this paper is to analyze the relation of participatory budgeting to the traditional political participation in local elections. Following an examination of the extent in which the instrument is implemented in the Czech municipalities, statistical tools are used to relate implementation of participatory budgeting to several measures of traditional political participation, such as voter turnout and intensity of the political competition in municipal elections. The paper concludes that the implementation of participatory budgeting has very little relation to the traditional, electoral participation in the Czech Republic.

The Challenge of Social Media Incorporation: A Case Study of HACAN Clearskies

Social media can pose challenges to campaign group strategy, especially for existing campaign groups who incorporate social media into their campaigns. This article uses social network analysis to explore how social media is used by the anti‐airport expansion group, HACAN Clearskies (HACAN Clearskies is an acronym for the Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise). Social media data were obtained using NodeXL and Twitonomy. As a result of questions raised in these findings, interviews with the social media coordinator of HACAN Clearskies were conducted. The results show the utilization of social media as an information dissemination platform and how a social media reluctant membership base prevents them from organizing mass protest through social media. The implications of these results are also discussed in relation to future social media practice.Related ArticlesCormack, Lindsey. 2019. “Leveraging Peer‐to‐Peer Connections to Increase Voter Participation in Local Elections.” Politics & Policy 47 (2): 248‐266. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12297Pompl, Solange, and Sergiu Gherghina. 2019. “Messages and Familiar Faces: Crowdfunding in the 2017 U.K. Electoral Campaign.” Politics & Policy 47. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12301

Leveraging Peer‐to‐Peer Connections to Increase Voter Participation in Local Elections

In local elections, outcomes can turn on just hundreds of voters. Small‐scale political entrepreneurs find it increasingly difficult to wage effective turnout campaigns relying on traditional, costly methods of outreach. Yet a growing literature on social pressure indicates that recasting voting as a socially motivated act increases the likelihood that voters participate. In this article, I present matching analyses of the impact of a new platform that relies on peer‐to‐peer voter outreach. I find that the intervention is responsible for significant increases in the likelihood that a voter casts a ballot in low‐information elections across different sorts of voters.Related Articles McKenzie, Mark Jonathan, Cynthia R. Rugeley, and Michael A. Unger. 2015. “” Politics & Policy 43 (): 562‐585. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12123 Reid, Traciel V., and Robert S. Moog. 2011. “.” Politics & Policy 39 (): 223‐250. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00289.x Saeki, Manabu. 2008. “.” Politics & Policy 33 (): 296‐311. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2005.tb00644.x Related Media . N.d. “” https://votercircle.com/