Percentage Of Votes Research Articles

DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM AT THE REGIONAL AND LOCAL LEVELS IN THE CONTEXT OF DECENTRALIZATION: THE CASE OF FOUR UKRAINIAN REGIONS

This article examines the democratization of the Ukrainian political system at the regional and local levels in the context of decentralization reform. The level of democratization is measured using the Tatu Vanhanen measurement method (Tatu Vanhanen Index), which is a mathematical formula for multiplying the percentage of votes not received by the ruling party (coalition of parties) in regional and local elections to representative bodies by the percentage of voter turnout. For the study, four regions of Ukraine were selected: Lviv region, Kharkiv region, Kherson region and Chernihiv region, as well as their administrative centres, meeting both the criteria of geographical location (north, south, west, east), population size (large regions, with a population of several million people, as well as small regions, with a population of less than 1 million people), as well as traditional political preferences of a significant part of citizens (relatively “pro-European” and relatively “pro-Russian”). The study showed that in most of the regions we studied, the democracy index decreased after the start of the reform, but then increased again after the next electoral cycle. Most of the regions we studied have similar dynamics of changes in the democracy index over three electoral cycles. Secondly, the study found that in most of the studied regions, the democracy index at the regional level as a whole is slightly higher than the democracy index at the level of their administrative centres. The exception, in both cases, is the Kharkiv region and Kharkiv, which have a trend directly opposite to other regions. The study concludes with a recommendation to reevaluate the level of democracy at the regional and local levels after the next local elections, to gain a more objective dynamic picture.

Effects of Sub-National Political Institutions on Localized Innovation: Evidence From United States Counties

This study investigates the influence of political institutions on innovation at the sub-national level in the United States, an area less explored compared to national contexts. It examines how political affiliations impact innovation support and outcomes, which are crucial indicators of economic development. The analysis focuses on county-level political affiliation, calculated as the mean percentage of Democratic versus Republican votes across five presidential elections. Data from over 94% of US counties were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. The study evaluates the relationship between political affiliation and four measures of innovation, including support factors like venture capital and business incubators, as well as outcomes such as patents and initial public offerings. The findings indicate that counties leaning Democratic create a more favorable political environment for innovation. These results underscore the significant role of political institutions in fostering innovative business activities at the sub-national level, providing insights for policymakers and stakeholders aiming to enhance local economic growth.

Efektivitas Sistem Threshold dalam Presidential Threshold di Indonesia

The Presidential Threshold is a rule that sets the minimum threshold percentage of votes that a political party is required to achieve, in order to nominate or carry presidential and vice presidential candidates in the election contestation. This system is designed to filter out candidates who are considered qualified, the hope is that only candidates with high electability levels can run. However, its implementation is often a source of controversy because it is considered to hamper potential candidates from small parties or independents who may have quality, but are less known to the public. As a result, the dominance of major parties in the presidential candidacy limits people's choices and does not reflect the existing political diversity. In the Indonesian system of government, where the president and the DPR are independent institutions, the Presidential threshold system is considered incompatible with the principles of inclusive and representative democracy. This provision was first implemented through Article 5 paragraph (5) of Law Number 23 Year 2003 on the General Election of the President and Vice President, and has continued to be used in subsequent presidential elections. This article focuses on the effectiveness of the Presidential Threshold in the Indonesian political context and its impact on political participation, democratic representation, and constitutional law.

Impact of wearing indoor masks on occupant’s thermal comfort under different room temperature conditions in winter

In the period of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), wearing a mask was a mandatory measure to prevent the spread of the virus. After the pandemic, a large percentage of people answered that they would wear a mask to protect themselves and others. However, the mask would directly affect not only the thermal sensitivity of the face but also occupant’s thermal sensation. In this context, this study aimed at clarifying the effect of mask on occupant’s thermal comfort. The predicted mean vote (PMV), predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) and thermal sensation vote (TSV) were evaluated in a chamber where the set temperature was maintained at 20°C, 22°C and 24°C with and without a mask. When wearing a mask, the TSV mostly exceeded the comfort range and showed a more sensitive variation than the PMV. In addition, the mask dead-space temperature showed a significant difference when the room temperature was increased from 22°C to 24°C. The room temperature that affects the individual thermal comfort with masks was 24°C or higher. Room and mask dead-space temperatures showed a 55% correlation with TSV. This study would provide basic data for determining the optimal room temperature for occupants with masks by identifying the room temperature that could significantly affect thermal comfort of occupants with masks.

Structural Stigma and Disparities in Long-Term Health Conditions Among Australians in Same-Sex Relationships: 2021 Australian Census.

Objectives. To explore the extent to which structural stigma (sociocultural and institutional constraining factors) is associated with sexual orientation disparities in long-term health conditions. Methods. We measured structural stigma using the regional percentage of votes against same-sex marriage from Australia's 2017 Marriage Equality Survey and mapped this to the 2021 Census survey of 10 093 399 and 136 988 individuals in different-sex and same-sex relationships, respectively. Controlling for individual and area-level confounders, we used logistic regression analyses to examine the association between quartiles of structural stigma and sexual orientation disparities in long-term health conditions (e.g., any, mental health, asthma, cardiovascular). Results. In the lowest stigma quartile, individuals in same-sex relationships had 56% higher odds of reporting any long-term health condition (odds ratio [OR] = 1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.53, 1.59) and this increased to 63% in the highest stigma quartile (OR = 1.63; 95% CI = 1.58, 1.68). Effects were particularly pronounced for cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental health conditions as well as for men, younger populations, and those living in socioeconomically deprived regions. Conclusions. Living in stigmatizing environments may have deleterious health effects for sexual minorities in Australia. Policy action and enhanced protections for sexual minorities are urgently required. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(10):1110-1122. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307759).

여론조사에서 무응답 대체를 통한 선거 결과 예측

In the results of the election polls, the candidates' approval ratings are not only a major concern of the people, but also an important factor in establishing the election strategy of the party concerned. However, if there is an inaccurate or distorted result of the election poll, it can cause a big problem because of its influence, and the controversy about the poll often arises. There are many cases in which the actual election results are different from the results of the polls, and political parties and research institutes, which are related to the polls, are making efforts to improve the accuracy of the election forecasts. The purpose of this study is to improve the accuracy of election prediction by replacing non-response through machine learning algorithm using the survey data of the 20th Presidential Election, the 2021 Busan Mayor By-election, and the 8th National Simultaneous Local Election (Busan Metropolitan City, Nam-gu, Gimhae Mayor). For this purpose, first, the data excluding the non-response (I do not know/don't know) was separated into train data and the data selected as non-response (I do not know/don't know) was separated into test data. Second, Random Forest, XGBoost, and LightGBM methods were applied, and only the top three questions were used by deriving the importance of questions when predicting candidates through train data. Third, through the model learned based on the train data, the non-response of the test data was replaced with the response of one candidate, and the corresponding data and the train data were combined to calculate the percentage of votes for each candidate. As a result of comparing the actual election results with the percentage of votes for each candidate by replacing the non-response, it was confirmed that the Random Forest method is suitable for the model for improving the accuracy of election prediction through non-response substitution.

Vests with Radiative Cooling Materials to Improve Thermal Comfort of Outdoor Workers: An Experimental Study.

This study focuses on improving human thermal comfort in a high-temperature outdoor environment using vests with a radiative cooling coating. The effects of coating thickness on the radiative cooling performance were first evaluated, and an optimal thickness of 160 μm was achieved. Then, six subjects were recruited to evaluate the thermal comfort in two scenarios: wearing the vest with radiative cooling coatings, and wearing the standard vest. Compared with the standard vest, the coated vest decreases the maximum temperature at the vest inner surface and the outer surface by 5.54 °C and 4.37 °C, respectively. The results show that thermal comfort is improved by wearing radiative cooling vests. With an increase of wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), the improving effects tend to decline. A significant improvement in human thermal comfort is observed at a WBGT of 26 °C. Specifically, the percentage of thermal sensation vote (TSV) wearing the cooling vest in the range of 0 to 1 increases from 29.2% to 66.7% compared with that of the untreated vest. At the same time, the average value of thermal comfort vote (TCV) increases from -0.5 to 0.2.

Defining practices suitable for care via teleconsultation in gynaecological and obstetrical care: a French Delphi survey

ObjectiveDelineate the scope of teleconsultation services that can be effectively performed to provide women with comprehensive gynaecological and obstetrical care.DesignBased on the literature and experts’ insights, we identified a list...

Reports of COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Events in Predominantly Republican vs Democratic States

Antivaccine sentiment is increasingly associated with conservative political positions. Republican-inclined states exhibit lower COVID-19 vaccination rates, but the association between political inclination and reported vaccine adverse events (AEs) is unexplored. To assess whether there is an association between state political inclination and the reporting rates of COVID-19 vaccine AEs. This cross-sectional study used the AE reports after COVID-19 vaccination from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database from 2020 to 2022, with reports after influenza vaccines from 2019 to 2022 used as a reference. These reports were examined against state-level percentage of Republican votes in the 2020 US presidential election. State-level percentage of Republican votes in the 2020 US presidential election. Rates of any AE among COVID-19 vaccine recipients, rates of any severe AE among vaccine recipients, and the proportion of AEs reported as severe. A total of 620 456 AE reports (mean [SD] age of vaccine recipients, 51.8 [17.6] years; 435 797 reports from women [70.2%]; a vaccine recipient could potentially file more than 1 report, so reports are not necessarily from unique individuals) for COVID-19 vaccination were identified from the VAERS database. Significant associations between state political inclination and state AE reporting were observed for all 3 outcomes: a 10% increase in Republican voting was associated with increased odds of AE reports (odds ratio [OR], 1.05; 95% CI, 1.05-1.05; P < .001), severe AE reports (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.24-1.26; P < .001), and the proportion of AEs reported as severe (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.20-1.22; P < .001). These associations were seen across all age strata in stratified analyses and were more pronounced among older subpopulations. This cross-sectional study found that the more states were inclined to vote Republican, the more likely their vaccine recipients or their clinicians reported COVID-19 vaccine AEs. These results suggest that either the perception of vaccine AEs or the motivation to report them was associated with political inclination.

Extending the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): The GRADE-TCM

AimTo extend and form the “Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation in Traditional Chinese Medicine” (GRADE-TCM). MethodsMethodologies were systematically reviewed and analyzed concerning evidence-based TCM guidelines worldwide. A survey questionnaire was developed based on the literature review and open-end expert interviews. Then, we performed expert consensus, discussion meeting, opinion collection, external examination, and the GRADE-TCM was formed eventually. Results265 Chinese and English TCM guidelines were included and analyzed. Five experts completed the open-end interviews. Ten methodological entries were summarized, screened and selected. One round of consensus was conducted, including a total of 22 experts and 220 valid questionnaire entries, concerning 1) selection of the GRADE, 2) GRADE-TCM upgrading criteria, 3) GRADE-TCM evaluation standard, 4) principles of consensus and recommendation, and 5) presentation of the GRADE-TCM and recommendation. Finally, consensus was reached on the above 10 entries, and the results were of high importance (with voting percentages ranging from 50 % to 81.82 % for “very important” rating) and strong reliability (with the Cr ranging from 0.93 to 0.99). Expert discussion meeting (with 40 experts), opinion collection (in two online platforms) and external examination (with 14 third-party experts) were conducted, and the GRADE-TCM was established eventually. ConclusionGRADE-TCM provides a new extended evidence-based evaluation standard for TCM guidelines. In GRADE-TCM, international evidence-based norms, characteristics of TCM intervention, and inheritance of TCM culture were combined organically and followed. This is helpful for localization of the GRADE in TCM and internationalization of TCM guidelines.

Overview of childhood vaccination coverage in Brazil and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: Is our children’s health at risk? A review of pre-COVID-19 periods and during the COVID-19 pandemic

IntroductionThe coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 has had a great impact on several aspects related to the population’s health, including the vaccination adherence rate. This study describes how childhood vaccination coverage (CVC) in Brazil was affected by the pandemic in the period from 2020 to 2022 and explores the relationship between this data and the Human Development Index (HDI), and the number of votes received in the government with a right-wing political ideology. MethodsAn ecological analysis of CVC was carried out including 12 vaccines. The HDI was evaluated considering the HDI-General, HDI-Income, HDI-Longevity, and HDI-Education. The percentage of valid votes received by the former president (right-wing political ideology) was also obtained. Spearman correlation tests were applied to compare markers. ResultsDuring the period analyzed, it was observed a linear growth trend in CVC between 2015 and 2018 regarding all vaccines. However, from 2018 onwards, after the presidential elections in Brazil, the CVC reduced significantly, showing an even more pronounced decrease with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This reduction in CVC observed for some vaccines was related to the higher percentage of votes for the government with a right-wing political ideology, especially in relation to the BCG (bacillus Calmette and Guerin) and pentavalent (protecting against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b bacteria) vaccines. In addition, when analyzing the HDI, it was observed that the lowest values of this indicator were associated with a more expressive reduction in CVC, mainly related to yellow fever, pentavalent, 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate, Human rotavirus, and triple viral (protecting against measles, mumps, and rubella – MMR) vaccines. ConclusionAlthough Brazil has a successful and exemplary record in combating several diseases, mainly due to the high rate of CVC, the continuous reduction in this coverage must be thoroughly evaluated by health managers.

Presidential election results in 2018-2022 and its association with excess mortality during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic in Brazilian municipalities.

We evaluated the hypothesis of an association between excess mortality and political partisanship in Brazil using municipal death certificates registered in the Brazilian Ministry of Health database and first-round electoral results of Presidential elections in 2018 and 2022. Considering the former Brazilian President's stance of discrediting and neglecting the severity of the pandemic, we expect a possible relationship between excessive mortality rates during the COVID-19 health crisis and the number of municipal votes for Bolsonaro. Our results showed that, in both elections, the first-round percentage of municipal votes for Bolsonaro was positively associated with the peaks of excess deaths across Brazilian municipalities in 2020 and 2021. Despite the excess mortality during the pandemic, the political loyalty to Bolsonaro remained the same during the electoral period of 2022. A possible explanation for this is linked to the Brazilian political scenario, which presents an environment of tribal politics and affective polarization.

Education Research: Virtual Patient Management Conference for Epilepsy Surgery in the Post-COVID-19 Era: An Educational Perspective.

The primary objective of this study was to assess the potential educational value of a virtual patient management conference (PMC) with the introduction of inclusive anonymous polling at a comprehensive epilepsy center. The secondary objective was to evaluate differences between faculty and trainee polling results. Two online surveys were sent 1 year apart seeking opinions about a transition to virtual PMC and completed by virtual PMC faculty participants (including representatives from neurology, neurosurgery, and neuropsychology). One online survey was sent to trainees (medical students, residents, and fellows) to assess the educational value of the conference. Anonymous electronic polls surveying treatment options were completed by both faculty and trainees after each virtual PMC presentation but before discussing the case. The results were collected and analyzed over 16 months, including over the course of 1 academic year. The degree of consensus was determined by the maximum percentage of votes that a single choice received. Eleven faculty and 22 trainees responded to their respective surveys. The initial faculty survey revealed that 60.0% of faculty had an "excellent" or "very good" experience with virtual PMC; 1 year later, this proportion increased to 100.0% while trainees reported 90.9%. Each virtual PMC component, including perceived standard of care, was found to be "excellent" or "very good" by most faculty and trainees, and most (91% faculty, 63.7% trainees) were equally comfortable or more comfortable expressing opinions during the virtual discussion. During virtual PMC polls, faculty members were significantly more likely to vote for vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment option, while trainees were more likely to opt for responsive neurostimulation. Linear regression over the course of the academic year showed stable consensus over time for both faculty and trainees; however, the match between faculty and trainee consensus significantly increased over the academic year. Our results demonstrate that the virtual PMC constitutes an effective educational experience as an alternative to in-person conferences for the management of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Widać zabory? Analiza zróżnicowania przestrzennego nieważnych głosów w wyborach centralnych w Polsce w latach 2004–2019

The percentage of invalid votes in national elections in Poland, has not been studied as extensively as in the case of local elections. There are many research gaps in this area, starting with the description of the spatial patterns of this diverse phenomenon. This article has this main goal: to describe the spatial patterns of the percentage of invalid votes in the elections to the Sejm, the European Parliament and the President of the Republic of Poland in the years 2004–2019. The key of this study is a long-term analysis of the above-mentioned problem, as well as a look at the changes taking place in space-temporal terms. For this purpose, the methods of comparative map analysis, spatial classification and statistical analysis: Kruskal-Wallis and Student’s t-tests were used. The most important conclusion from this work is the universality of spatial patterns of the percentage of invalid votes in the case of elections to the Sejm and the European Parliament and some differences in the case of presidential elections. The persistence of interregional differences is also noticeable, but we can observe strengthening of these differences in the case of parliamentary and presidential elections, and weakening in the case of elections to the European Parliament. The article also presents an explanation for the significant increase of invalid votes in the Bydgoszcz district in the 2005 Sejm elections, which was caused by the unusual design of the brochure ballot card.

행동과학의 렌즈로 재조명한 정치적 경기순환론

The political business cycle theory demonstrates that incumbent politicians opportunistically manipulate macroeconomic business cycles such as inflation or unemployment to further their chances of re-election. Since Nordhaus’s (1975) pioneering model on the topic, both economists and political sciences have long examined the interdependence of political and macroeconomic outcomes within various contexts. Notwithstanding the promise of the theory of political business cycle, less attention has been paid to its theoretical assumptions—voters’ formation of the image for the incumbent and the durational effect of political manipulation of macroeconomic variables. Drawing insights from behavioral science, this study examines how macroeconomic outcomes in the election year affect the percentage of votes in the next election year in the Korean local government contexts. Findings suggest that the assumptions of political business cycle theory need to be expanded to enhance its theoretical development and practical applications.

Behavioural entropy as an individual difference

Introduction &amp; BackgroundThe availability of digital footprints data have provided new and invaluable opportunities for personality psychologists. One way to study individual differences with digital footprints data is through the lens of entropy, which is a measure of the degree of randomness of a probabilistic system. When applied to individual behaviour, entropy captures how predictable an individual’s (e.g., shopping) pattern of behaviour is over time. In this study, we proposed that entropy can be conceptualised as a proxy measure of Openness, a Big Five personality trait. We further studied entropy’s associations with external behavioural outcome, namely the voting outcomes of the 2016 EU ‘Brexit’ referendum in the UK. This referendum asked UK citizens whether the UK should stay in the EU (vote Remain) or leave the EU (vote Leave). It has been demonstrated that Leave (or ‘Brexit’) vote was heavily influenced by attitudes towards immigration which is associated with values of being less ‘open’ to other cultures, and therefore we expected that entropy – or tendency to try new things – would be associated positively with voting Remain. Objectives &amp; ApproachWith a massive data set (20,550,952 customers) provided by a large UK retail chain over a period of 2 years, we computed aggregated entropy for the Local Authority Districts (LADs). Further we investigated the relationships between entropy and personality traits, as well as between entropy and the referendum outcomes, at geographically aggregated levels. Relevance to Digital FootprintsThis study brought together digital footprints data with external sources. This study also identified population level insights by examining personality traits and their utility in predicting sociopolitical outcomes. ResultsResults of a linear regression model showed strong evidence supporting a positive relationship between entropy and Openness (b = 0.30, t = 3.30, p = .001), and a negative relationship between entropy and Neuroticism (b = -0.48, t = -3.53, p &lt; .001). Further, entropy was associated with outcomes of the EU referendum in each LAD. Results of another linear regression model showed strong evidence supporting a positive relationship between the percentage of Remain votes and entropy (b = 0.28, t = 4.80, p &lt; .001). Conclusions &amp; ImplicationsThe relationship between Big Five trait Openness and entropy provided support that personality can be inferred from digital footprints data such as shopping history records. The positive relationship between entropy and the proportion of Remain vote demonstrated that people who are more open to new experiences voted Remain. Our findings have broader implications showing that it is possible to find associations between personality traits extrapolated from shopping data and real-world choices.

The pervasive association between political ideology and COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Brazil: an ecologic study

BackgroundDespite the unequivocal benefits of vaccination, vaccine coverage has been falling in several countries in the past few years. Studies suggest that vaccine hesitancy is an increasingly significant phenomenon affecting adherence to vaccines. More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, political views have emerged as an additional influencing factor for vaccine hesitancy.MethodsIn this ecologic study, we used information from publicly available databases to investigate the association between political ideology, depicted by the percentage of votes for the right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential elections of 2018 and 2022, and COVID-19 vaccination in Brazilian municipalities. The primary endpoint was the COVID-19 vaccination index, calculated as the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered up to September 2022 divided by the number of inhabitants in each municipality. The analysis was conducted using Pearson correlation coefficients and linear regression models adjusted for HDI, the percentage of male voters, the percentage of voters who were older than 50 years old, and the percentage of voters with a middle school education or less. In addition, we explored whether the effect of the percentage of Bolsonaro voters on the COVID-19 vaccination index was modified in different quartiles of HDI using an interaction term.ResultsFive thousand five hundred sixty-three Brazilian municipalities were included in the analysis. For both the 2018 and 2022 elections, the percentage of votes for Jair Bolsonaro was significantly and inversely associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake after adjustment for the sociodemographic characteristics of the voters (change in mean vaccination index in 2018 for each 1% increase in Bolsonaro voters -0.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.13 to -0.08, p < 0.001; change in mean vaccination index in 2022 for each 1% increase in Bolsonaro voters -0.09, 95% CI -0.11 to -0.07, p < 0.001). We also found a statistically significant interaction between the primary predictor of interest and HDI scores, with a more significantly detrimental effect of the right-wing political stance in municipalities in the lower HDI quartiles (interaction p < 0.001 for the first HDI quartile; p = 0.001 for the second HDI quartile).ConclusionOur findings suggest that political ideologies have influenced COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Brazilian municipalities, affecting communities inequitably. The politicization of vaccines is a new challenge for vaccine programs. Strategies to face these challenges should include joint efforts from governments and civil society for a common public health goal.

How politics can influence the allocation of social program benefits: A case study of the Brazilian poverty reduction program Bolsa Família

We investigate the utilization of Bolsa Família, a Brazilian social program aimed at reducing poverty and social inequalities, for electoral purposes. The literature demonstrates that politicians often employ social programs to achieve their political and personal goals. Most of these studies focus on politicians offering benefits from social programs before elections in an attempt to capture votes in the upcoming election. In contrast, our research reveals that social programs can be used as post-election rewards for their voters. This strategy has the potential to be much more effective than the previous one, as it directs rewards only to those who actually produce favorable outcomes for politicians. We employ differences-in-differences models in our tests. Our results indicate that cities electing a ruling party candidate in the 2012 mayoral elections, where the previous mayor is not affiliated with that party, receive more benefits than cities that do not elect ruling party candidates. Similarly, cities with higher percentages of votes in favor of the ruling party in the 2006 presidential elections receive more benefits than cities with lower percentages.

Pendidikan Literasi Dan Edukasi Politik Untuk Masyarakat Keboansikep Sidoarjo Dalam PILKADA Sidoarjo 2020

This study aims to determine the state of political literacy of the Keboansikepl community, as well as to understand the role of the KPU in the context of the state of political literacy. This study uses a qualitative-descriptive approach, to reveal phenomena related to political literacy based on the results of research documents conducted by the Sidoarjo Regency KPU. as well as information from informants from the KPU of East Java Province. The results of the study conclude that the state of political literacy in the Keboansikep community is still very limited only to literacy related to the electoral process and does not reflect education that is oriented towards strengthening the system of understanding and actualizing the rights and obligations of citizens. The new political education is carried out by the KPU through socialization activities, technical guidance (technical guidance) and voter education which it will carry out in the context of the agenda for the stages of the election that will be held as election organizers. The state does not yet have an educational program to improve systemic and sustainable political literacy. The disappointment of the voting community towards the attitude and performance of the leaders and representatives of the people from the general election results in an anomalous phenomenon where the public is known to have knowledge and understanding of politics but it is not consistent with their attitudes and behavior. In political education, the KPU plays a role in conveying information about the election events it holds and providing political education to the public which is only limited to the electoral context for the sake of increasing the percentage of voters turned out and decreasing the percentage of invalid votes

Does Malapportionment Favor the Republican Party?

Abstract This paper examines electoral bias within US politics, including as it relates to malapportionment in the US Senate and Electoral College. Specifically, with the Republican Party gaining significant support in rural areas and the Democratic Party becoming concentrated in urban areas, there is concern that the US electoral system increases the probability that the Republican Party will win a much higher percent of Senate seats than its public support and repeatedly win the presidency without having won a plurality of votes, as was the case in 2000 and 2016. I explore this concern using a relatively new measure called the Directional Proportionality Index (DPIx). Applying it to the Electoral College since 1872 and the US Senate since 1918, this paper demonstrates that while there does exist a small pro-Republican bias in the Electoral College owing to malapportionment, the pro-Republican malapportionment bias in Senate races is far more substantial. However, as long as the percent vote for Democratic and Republican presidential candidates remains close due to partisan polarization, this small bias in the Electoral College is likely enough to lead to more cases whereby the Republican Party loses the popular vote but still wins control over the White House and the United States Congress.