Suffrage Research Articles

Two Sides of the Suffrage in Japan

Four months after the end of World War II, in December of 1945, Japanese women were granted suffrage. With the general election set in April of 1946, women were expected to exercise their voting rights for the first time in history. While this was a significant milestone for women in general, it was also achieved suddenly and during a period when most Japanese women were not ready for such a role. This paper aims to illuminate the contrast in adapting to new political rights between the Japanese suffragettes and an average Japanese woman in the context of the first post-war general elections. The paper argues that on the one hand, suffragettes who sought women’s rights even before the war, promptly and successfully adjusted to the aftermath of the war. On the other hand, an average Japanese woman lacked political education and was largely still influenced by tradition and her submissive role. Furthermore, as Japan found itself in a state of disarray, questions of food and survival were often more pressing, leaving most Japanese women indifferent to voting, and politics overall.

Language Change in British Parliamentary Discourse: A Corpus-Based Study of Power and Authority Markers, 1930-2005

From a political perspective, 1928 marks the beginning of a new period in the history of democracy in the U.K., this being when universal full suffrage was achieved via the Representation of the People Act. Taking into consideration this and other social and political factors, the main aim of the present paper is to investigate how the process of democratisation influenced the language employed by Members of Parliament between 1930 and 2005. For this purpose, we examine the use of markers of authority and power. Specifically, the evolution and use of gender-neutral occupational titles are analysed. The corpus used for this investigation is the Hansard Corpus (Alexander and Davies 2022), which includes written records of British parliamentary debates.

Formal governance matters: when, how, and why states act on the IMF Executive Board

International financial institutions (IFIs) are central actors shaping global development. Scholarship on these institutions’ governance has primarily explored unequal voting rights and informal channels of decision-making. Much less is known about the actual decision-making processes that transpire in the IFIs’ formal governance structures, where votes are rarely taken. This article redirects academic scrutiny to these structures to reveal hitherto unobserved state behavior. Empirically, we examine decision-making at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a key actor in the diffusion of market-oriented reforms. We introduce a novel dataset systematizing all comments of IMF Executive Board members over 3,111 developing-country-specific discussions between 1995 and 2015. First, regression analysis reveals that the interventions by the IMF’s most powerful member-states—the United States, Germany, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom—correlate with their bilateral trade and aid interests. Second, these countries frequently reference each other in debates, demonstrating how coalitions work in practice. Third, we find that the preferences they express for market liberalization vis-à-vis countries in the Global South are associated with an increase in market-liberalizing conditions in subsequent lending programs. Taken together, this article reveals the usefulness of examining formal deliberations in IFIs, contributing to a fuller understanding of decision-making processes in the international political economy.

TNI Neutrality in General Elections: Analysis of Army Family Voting Rights in Magelang

The neutrality regulations of the Indonesian National Army (TNI) enable them to be able to maintain the Spirit of Reform. The reformation mandate requires the army to be neutral in the General Elections in Indonesia. This writing aims to find out the participation of the Indonesian army family in the general election, especially in the 2019 presidential election in a case study in Magelang City, and the extent to which TNI family understands the neutrality of TNI and their participation in the activities of the Presidential General Election in 2019. The method applied in this research uses the qualitative descriptive type and the case study type based on interviews and observation. The research results show that army families in Magelang City already know the rules regarding TNI neutrality during elections. As civil society, the TNI family also exercised their right to vote, and no one participated as a success team or party officer. In this case, the TNI family is given the freedom to choose without any interference from TNI members. Based on the research that has been carried out it can be concluded that there is a need to increase awareness and conditions when the related person is faced with the situation as head of the family and a member of the TNI in order to to maintain the spirit of the constitution.

Pendampingan Lembaga Pendidikan Formal Untuk Pemilih Pemula di SMA Al Anwari Tanah Merah Kabupaten Bangkalan

Introduction: Political participation in a democratic country is an indicator of the implementation of the highest legitimacy of state power by the people (popular sovereignty). The higher the level of political participation, the more visible it is that people follow, understand and participate in state activities. The role of first-time voters in casting their vote is very important for a better democratic process.Purposes of Devotion: This assistance is carried out to support first-time voters in understanding and exercising their electoral rights. This program aims to provide in-depth knowledge about the election process, rights and obligations as voters, as well as the importance of involvement in democracy. Method of Devotion: The implementation method for this Community Service (PKM) activity uses the PAR (Participatory Action Research) method. This service activity is carried out in several stages of implementation activities as follows: Lecture and Question and Answer, discussion and evaluation.Results of the Devotion: With this assistance, there is an increase in interest and motivation among students who take part in the assistance to participate in general elections and other political activities as part of Indonesian citizens. The level of satisfaction of the majority of students who take part in this mentoring activity is higher and creates a sense of self-confidence and readiness to use their voting rights wisely according to their own conscience and choices.

No representation without taxation: Which political parties support contributivism and how?

ABSTRACT Contributivism refers to the principle of conditioning rights to political participation on economic and other contributions. Access to citizenship and voting rights for immigrants often requires ‘doing something for’ the host society, which is usually measured in material terms. The limited research on ‘contributivism’ to date has focused on laws, norms, and public opinion. Little is known about the politics of contributivism, the positions of different parties, and the reasons for supporting or opposing it. This article analyses parliamentary debates on voting and citizenship rights in four European countries – Italy, UK, France, and Germany – since 2010 to identify the different interpretations that European legislators attach to the concept of ‘contributivism’. The discourse analysis reveals that a range of contributions are identified as prerequisites for participation: economic contributions, such as tax and pension payments, knowledge, and labour skills; social contributions, such as boosting demographic growth; civic contributions, such as voluntary work; and symbolic contributions, such as winning Olympic medals. The findings indicate that contributivist frames are typically advanced by centre-left and progressive parties to justify extending the franchise to immigrants, and are often contrasted with ethno-identitarian views of citizenship. Consequently, this study suggests a shift towards pragmatist arguments and reciprocity-based understandings of contributivism among centre-left parties.

Suffrage Theatre's Surprising Supporters: Elizabeth Robins's Artistic Friendships with Henry James and Florence Bell

Actress, novelist, playwright, and essayist Elizabeth Robins is one of the most examined British suffrage writers, and her play Votes for Women (1907) emerged from and participated in robust networks for women's enfranchisement that have been well studied. This essay takes as its focus other contexts that contributed to Robins's suffrage writing, namely her deep and enduring friendships with two people who opposed women's suffrage: the writers Henry James and Lady Florence Bell. Closely examining these connections provides a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between the movement for women's empowerment in the theatre and the movement for women's political enfranchisement. It also provides a more nuanced understanding of Robins's motivations as she herself, like Bell and James, understood her artistic interests to be parallel with yet distinct from, rather than fully elided with, her political causes. These friendships speak to activist theatre's productive contiguities with the more conservative uses of the art forms in which they participate. Robins's correspondence with James and Bell provides us with an understanding of how the political theatre of the suffrage movement was supported by and in turn helped to build relationships across political differences.

307Legal Transplants of Shareholder Voting Rights in the European Union – Evidence from the Past, Consequences for the Future

Abstract This article examines how shareholder voting rights can be transplanted from one jurisdiction to another within the European Union. In particular, it traces the spread of the right to vote on defence measures during takeovers, on directors’ remuneration, and on related party transactions, to assess whether the transplantation succeeded or failed. In doing so, this analysis highlights a dichotomy between a process of autonomous convergence undertaken by continental Member States, carried out through adaptive and circumscribed transplants, and a process of harmonisation promoted by the European Commission, that transplanted the rights in its proposals attempting to mandate them at the supra-national level. Eventually, this article sheds light on how corporate law-making can take place in the EU: in a multi-polar context where distinct corporate law systems coexist ‘horizontally’, Member States can borrow legal provisions spontaneously, while the European Commission can endorse country-specific provisions that considers to be the best corporate governance arrangements, disruptively seeking to extend them to all jurisdictions. As a consequence, the imitated Member State carries virtually no interest in exporting its rules, but is in turn interested in resisting any deviation from the Commission’s proposal to limit the changes that it will undergo in the implementation of the instrument. The other Member States, on the other hand, may actively engage within the Council of the EU to resist and water down the proposal, to avoid reforming their corporate law system and tilt their domestic allocation of corporate power towards a particular constituency.

Not all Christian nationalists are White (and not all White Christians are Christian nationalists): exploring the predictors of Christian nationalism

IntroductionIn recent years, the literature on Christian nationalism has grown exponentially. Studies have found that individuals who score high on a widely used Christian nationalism scale are likelier to advocate for traditional gender roles, endorse anti-immigrant policies, support policies limiting voting rights, oppose gun control and interracial marriage, express anti-vaccine attitudes, hold anti-globalist sentiments, and vote for Donald Trump. The literature on Christian nationalism is not without its critics, however. Some, for example, have questioned whether the scale used by many studies adequately identifies Christian nationalists and suggested alternative methods for doing so. Much of the literature also implicitly or explicitly equates Christian nationalism with white Christian nationalism, ignoring the fact that 25 to 30 percent of respondents who express Christian nationalist sentiments identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian, or another race or ethnicity. Finally, most of it has focused on the consequences of Christian nationalism. Very little has explored the predictors of Christian nationalism. The latter is the focus of this paper.MethodsDrawing on multivariate logistic regression, it examines potential factors driving Christian nationalist attitudes.ResultsIt finds that age, whether someone identifies as a conservative or a Republican, biblical literalism, and frequent worship attendance are positively associated with Christian nationalism, while being affiliated with religious traditions other than evangelicalism (or having no affiliation at all) is negatively associated with it. Notably, race and ethnicity have no effect, suggesting that other factors may be at work.DiscussionAs such, the paper briefly considers four potential factors not readily captured by statistical analyses of cross-sectional data. It concludes by noting that if Christian nationalism is potentially undemocratic and dangerous, then concerned individuals need to focus as much time and energy on its predictors as its consequences.

Right to Vote and Electoral Judiciary in Brazil

Abstract This paper aims to demonstrate how the constitutional guarantees of the right to vote and the constitutional design of the Electoral Judiciary have protected electoral integrity in Brazil during the Bolsonaro administration. The 1988 Constitution entrenched voting rights, expanded suffrage, and adopted compulsory voting, creating inclusive voting practices that facilitate voter turnout. The constitutional system also provided for an independent Electoral Judiciary that operates on all levels of electoral governance, including rulemaking. As the sole electoral management body in the country, the Electoral Judiciary generated a process of positive feedback that reinforced its authority. This process has also been guaranteed by the institutional linkage of the Superior Electoral Court with the Federal Supreme Court, where the latter acts as a self-referencing veto point, upholding the decisions of the Electoral Judiciary. Keywords: voting rights, electoral management, electoral justice, Brazilian election law.

“It Can't Just Be the Younger People”: Exploring Young Activists' Perspectives on Intergenerational Tensions and Solidarities for Climate Justice

ABSTRACTYouth activism for climate justice is inherently intergenerational. Fundamentally, young activists demand urgent action by today's adult power‐holders for the security and well‐being of their own and future generations. Despite intergenerationality being core to the movement, few studies with young activists have explored their views and experiences of intergenerational relations and tensions and how to advance intergenerational solidarities for climate justice. Addressing these critical topics, the present study used in‐depth interviews with young activists (ages 15–17) in the climate justice movement across the US. Themes generated through reflexive thematic analysis centre on: (1) youths' adoption of “next generation” and “last generation” identities, respectively emphasising the heightened climate risks faced by their own and future generations, and the closing window of opportunity to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown; (2) their experiences of hostile and benevolent adultism; and (3) the need for adults to listen to, take seriously, centre, amplify, and—most importantly—respond to youths' demands. They urge adults, particularly those in powerful positions, to use their age‐based privilege, political enfranchisement, material resources, professional status, and decision‐making authority to uplift young people's voices and tangibly advance climate justice through solidarity‐driven intergenerational partnerships and action. Implications for youth‐centred research and policy are discussed.

Dr. Ling-Chi Wang reflections on Lau v. Nichols (1974): Bilingual education, language rights, and political activism

ABSTRACT Born in Xiamen, China in 1938, Dr. Ling-Chi Wang was the founder of Chinese for Affirmative Action, an organization focused on affirmative action in employment, representation of the Chinese in politics, voting, and language rights. He is also a Professor Emeritus of Asian American Studies at the University of California Berkeley. Ling-Chi established the Asian American Studies program at Berkeley, teaching its first course in 1969. In this paper, Ling-Chi shares his perspectives on the long history of Chinese discrimination dating back to the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) and his years as a political activist during the 1960s to the present in San Francisco’s Chinatown. His role in community organizing was pivotal in the events leading up to this pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case. Ling Chi’s reflections on activism and linguistic justice documents his imprint on the this language rights case that has shaped US educational language policies for the last fifty years.

Voting Rights of Indigenous Papuan Women in a Patriarchal Culture: A Study of Gender Equality among Indigenous Papuan Women in Yoboi Village, Sentani District, Jayapura Regency, Papua From the Perspective of Jurgen Habermas

Gender equality has become a significant issue and a focal point at both the national and international levels. The government has implemented various measures as a commitment to minimizing gender disparities. Women, being a vital part of human resources, must optimize their abilities, intelligence, and their role as mothers. Therefore, the issue of gender equality must be intertwined in the development process. Consequently, increasing women’s responsibilities has a positive impact on economic growth in Indonesia. The Gender Empowerment Index (IPG) reveals a substantial gap between provinces in Indonesia, especially in the eastern regions. The cultural system in Papua, which adheres to a patriarchal system, results in the confinement and neglect of women’s voting rights. This research adopts a critical or transformative paradigm processed from the intersection of criticism regarding assumptions made by previous researchers. A critical perspective typically utilizes information gaps for analysis, followed by reconstructing a new narrative without gaps. This allows for the development of a new, feasible concept, enabling researchers to design a new approach. This qualitative study aims to describe and explain the suppression of voting rights experienced by indigenous Papuan women in Yoboi Village, Sentani District, Jayapura Regency, Papua. The results indicate that Papuan women face numerous obstacles in exercising their voting rights in education, economy, culture, and religion. However, there are several ways to address these challenges, such as creating a discussion forum to explore the potential of Papuan women and providing opportunities for them to contribute their opinions. Additionally, the roles of tribal chiefs and customary leaders are crucial in providing space for Papuan women to actively participate in the development of their villages. Keywords: patriarchal culture, indigenous Papuan women

Democratic literacy: Challenges and opportunities to engage youth participatory in the age of digital media

This study endeavors to ascertain the challenges and opportunities in democracy literacy to foster active youth engagement in the digital media age. Through the implementation of Focus Group Discussions and participatory workshops involving a cohort of 17 participants, comprising eight student journalists and nine non-student journalists, who are poised to exercise their voting rights for the first time during the forthcoming 2024 elections, the research outcomes divulge that disparities exist in the democratic perspectives of student and non-student journalists, primarily due to their contrasting experiences. Nevertheless, both groups concur that a solid understanding of democratic principles empowers them to partake in the democratic process. In the digital media era context, four notable challenges emerge in democratic literacy: hoax oasis, politician stigmatization, idiot discussion engagement, and political apathy engagement. Conversely, two prospective avenues for bolstering democratic literacy are identified: information oasis and reigniting youth participation. These identified challenges and opportunities serve as fundamental pillars for formulating effective democratic literacy strategies in the digital era, thereby fostering increased participation of young voters in democratic practices.

The institution of popular veto: experience of selected foreign countries

This article examines the legislation of foreign countries regarding mechanisms of direct democracy, particularly the institution of popular veto. A historical analysis of the development of this instrument in European law has been conducted. The methodological basis of the publication consists of scientific methods based on the requirements of objective and comprehensive analysis of socio-political and legal phenomena, which include direct democracy in foreign countries. The research methodology is founded on general theoretical principles and approaches to determining the initial parameters of the formation and development of popular veto as a form of direct democracy. To achieve scientific objectivity in the results, the author used a full range of general scientific and special research methods widely applied in the modern science of constitutional law. It has been established that although modern forms of direct democracy emerged relatively recently, the concept of popular veto has roots in ancient civilizations as a means of limiting the abuse of power. Initially, the right of veto was exercised not directly by citizens, but by authorized persons on behalf of the people, who could reject laws that contradicted fundamental norms. It is argued that although popular veto was first enshrined in French constitutional law, Switzerland is considered its birthplace, where this institution received genuine development and was first implemented in practice in 1831. The evolution of popular veto is closely linked to the development of Swiss statehood; however, the immediate impetus for its implementation was granting citizens direct voting rights and the right to participate in referendums. Initially, popular veto was applied at the level of individual cantons, and in 1874 it was enshrined in the Swiss Constitution at the national level. According to the constitutional procedure, a specified number of voters can officially express disagreement with an adopted law within a set period, after which it must be submitted to a nationwide referendum for approval or repeal.

The value of say on pay

We measure the impact of “say on pay” (SoP) – mandatory shareholder votes on top-management compensation – on the market value of voting rights. By exploiting the staggered introduction of SoP across 14 economies, we show that SoP does not automatically increase the value of shareholder voting rights. While stricter, binding SoP reforms increase voting values, looser advisory SoP laws decrease them. Firms that do not pay their CEOs excessively experience the largest decreases in voting values. Voting values also reflect a country’s level of investor protection, past dissent in SoP ballots, and dynamically adjust to changes in managerial compensation.

Italy between liberalism and democracy: universal suffrage and the 1913 elections

Abstract In 1912, the Italian parliament approved the extension of male suffrage, making it ‘almost’ universal. This process of revising representation transformed the very idea of the relationship between citizens and the state and shaped a profoundly different Italy. The aim of this article is to trace both the process leading to the approval of universal suffrage and its impact on the party system. With a compilation and analysis of data developed from scratch for the elections of 1909 and 1913, it was possible to analyse the main dimensions of the two rounds in a disaggregated manner. Three aspects make 1913 a year of transition. First, the degree of competition in the electoral process, especially in the South, increased considerably. Second, the decline of liberal formations was not transformed into defeat, thanks only to the Catholic vote. Third, the birth of the Popular Party and the failure to create a mass party of conservatives were causes of the imbalance in the party structure.

The Intervention and Impact of Digital Society on the Governance of Dual Equity Structure in Enterprises

The digital society has become a prominent feature of today's era. Its highly interconnected, transparent, and intelligent characteristics are profoundly changing the governance mode and operational logic of enterprises. This article aims to explore the intervention and impact of digital society on the governance of dual equity structure in enterprises, and provide practical guidance for the sustainable development of enterprises. The dual equity structure, as a special corporate governance model, is characterized by granting different voting rights to different types of shares, achieving absolute control over the company by the management. However, this structure has also sparked many controversies, such as the possibility of management using control to harm shareholder interests, leading to management dictatorship, and so on. In the context of the digital society, enterprises face new challenges and opportunities in terms of information transparency, decision-making efficiency, and governance mechanisms.

Factors of Political Participation of Beginner Voters Not Using Their Voting Rights in Elections in West Java

This study aims to examine the factors that influence the political participation of novice voters not using their voting rights in elections in West Java. The method used in this research is to use a qualitative approach, namely the descriptive method. This research will provide an opportunity for subjects (first-time voters) to answer the questions asked according to their own experiences, and not based on the benchmark answers that have been made by researchers. This means that first-time voters behave and act in such a way as to feel free to use their knowledge and experience of the topics offered. The conclusion of this research is that there are several factors that encourage students of Langlangbuana University to use their voting rights during elections. Some of the factors found are factors of political stimulation, in order to realize the importance of using voting rights. Then the second factor is the factor of the characteristics of the person, because those with a social character who have great social concern for social, political, economic, socio-cultural, and defense problems, usually want to be involved in political activities. The third is the factor of the social environment, and the last is the factor of political education that novice voters get. Most of the students of Langlangbuana University already have care and awareness about the importance of their voting rights in the election, and have desires and hopes for the people they will choose as leaders in this country.

지방선거에서 중국인 등 외국인 영주권자 선거권 배제 필요성에 관한 연구

In 2005, during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, South Korea gave foreigners the right to vote for local council members and heads of local governments. Koreans living in China cannot cast a single vote in elections held in China. Foreign permanent residents residing in South Korea can vote after only three years. The number of Chinese permanent residents in South Korea is approximately 150,000, and the number of permanent residents who are foreigners and can participate in elections in 2026 is expected to be 181,251. This can be said to be an example of deviating from the principle of reciprocity in that one can vote in Korean local elections even if one does not have Korean nationality. The current law has some unreasonable aspects and is not fair from the perspective of reciprocity. Additionally, there have been attempts by China to interfere in elections in Australia and Canada, and voices of concern about Chinese political intervention are growing. These laws that violate reciprocity must be revised. Based on the principle of reciprocity voting rights for foreign permanent residents including Chinese should be excluded.