Proportional Representation Research Articles

ALPHA: Audit that learns from previously hand-audited ballots

A risk-limiting election audit (RLA) offers a statistical guarantee: if the reported electoral outcome is incorrect, the audit has a known maximum chance (the risk limit) of not correcting it before it becomes final. BRAVO (Lindeman, Stark and Yates (In Proceedings of the 2011 Electronic Voting Technology Workshop/Workshop on Trustworthy Elections (EVT/WOTE’11) (2012) USENIX)), based on Wald’s sequential probability ratio test for the Bernoulli parameter, is the simplest and most widely tried method for RLAs, but it has limitations. It cannot accommodate sampling without replacement or stratified sampling which can improve efficiency and are sometimes required by law. It applies only to ballot-polling audits which are less efficient than comparison audits. It applies to plurality, majority, supermajority, proportional representation, and instant-runoff voting (IRV, using RAIRE (Blom, Stuckey and Teague (In Electronic Voting (2018) 17–34 Springer))) but not to other social choice functions for which there are RLA methods. And while BRAVO has the smallest expected sample size among sequentially valid ballot-polling-with-replacement methods when the reported vote shares are exactly correct, it can require arbitrarily large samples when the reported reported winner(s) really won but the reported vote shares are incorrect. ALPHA is a simple generalization of BRAVO that: (i) works for sampling with and without replacement, with and without weights, with and without stratification, and for Bernoulli sampling; (ii) works not only for ballot polling but also for ballot-level comparison, batch polling, and batch-level comparison audits; (iii) works for all social choice functions covered by SHANGRLA (Stark (In Financial Cryptography and Data Security (2020) Springer)), including approval voting, STAR-Voting, proportional representation schemes, such as D’Hondt and Hamilton, IRV, Borda count, and all scoring rules, and (iv) in situations where both ALPHA and BRAVO apply, requires smaller samples than BRAVO when the reported vote shares are wrong but the outcome is correct—five orders of magnitude in some examples. ALPHA includes the family of betting martingale tests in RiLACS (Waudby-Smith, Stark and Ramdas (In Electronic Voting. E-Vote-ID 2021 (2021) Springer)) with a different betting strategy parametrized as an estimator of the population mean and explicit flexibility to accommodate sampling weights and population bounds that change with each draw. A Python implementation is provided.

Kantian equilibria of a class of Nash bargaining games

AbstractWe study Kantian equilibria of an ‐player bargaining game, which is a modified version of the well‐known divide‐the‐dollar game. We first show that the Kantian equilibrium exists under fairly minimal assumptions. Second, if the bankruptcy rule used satisfies equal treatment of equals, and is almost nowhere proportional, then only equal division can prevail in any Kantian equilibrium. On the other hand, we show that an “anything goes” type result emerges only under the proportional rule. Finally, using hybrid bankruptcy rules that we construct in a novel fashion, we can characterize the whole equilibrium set. Our results highlight the interactions between institutions (axiomatic properties of division rules) and agents' equilibrium behavior.

Certification of Visual Impairment due to Diabetic Eye Disease in Northern Ireland From 2014 to 2019

Purpose: To determine the number of people being certified as either severely sight impaired or sight impaired due to diabetic eye disease (DED) in Northern Ireland (NI). Methods: Sight impairment data have been collected for the 6-year period of 2014–2019, these data included age, gender, certification status, visual acuity, and type of eye disease. All data were entered into an Excel database and analyzed using Stata to ascertain the number of total certifications and diabetic eye disease certifications per year. Results: The number of total certifications in NI increased year on year as has the number of diabetic eye disease certifications. The number of diabetic eye disease certifications rose from 12.6 per million in 2014 to 17.4 per million in 2019, with a peak of 27 per million in 2018. There were more males than females registered due to diabetic eye disease. Diabetic eye disease's proportional representation of total certifications of visual impairment remained relatively stable during the 6-year period. Conclusions: In the 6-year period, the overall number of certifications has increased from 2014 to 2019, as have the number of certifications due to DED. This may be attributed to the improvement of certification and diabetic eye care pathways. People with diabetes who are certified are more likely to be younger and male. More research with medical data needs to be conducted in the future.

A Case for Micromachines in Laboratory-Based DFIG Wind Turbine Systems for Fault Studies

For laboratory-based systems, the selection of components is critical to ensure proper representation of the actual system. In past investigations, researchers made use of small-scale off-the-shelf wound rotor induction machines (WRIMs) to perform laboratory-based studies. However, there are no reports validating their applicability in comparison to using the actual machines. In this regard, this paper investigates the correlation between the dimensional parameters and the electrical asymmetry indicators for a large-scale wind generator and laboratory-based generators. For the latter, a comparison is made between using a standard small-scale off-the-shelf WRIM and a micromachine. It is shown that the harmonic frequencies in a healthy machine and those due to inherent asymmetries appear at the same positions on the stator current spectrum for the three machines. However, there is a difference in the amplitudes of these components, given their dependence on the winding factors for a specific machine. The dimensional analysis techniques used to scale down the large-scale generator into a micromachine ensure that these parameters are related. However, this is not the case for the standard small-scale WRIM. Further work demonstrates the correlation of the fault-related harmonics between the micromachine and the large-scale machine for a rotor inter-turn fault condition. Micromachines are designed to ensure that the time constants are proportional representations of the larger machine, thus providing an accurate reflection of what is expected under transient operating conditions of wind turbines. This would assist in the development of condition monitoring strategies that are suited for the actual systems in the industry.

Two‐dimensional meso‐structural simulation of concrete fracture by the implementation of zero‐thickness cohesive interface elements

AbstractConcrete is considered as a non‐homogeneous material and from a mesoscopic point of view is constituted of three main phases, namely aggregates, mortar matrix and interfacial transition zone (ITZ). To investigate the damage process of concrete materials at the mesoscale due to mechanical loading, an explicit numerical model with full representation of the three mesoscopic phases is required. To this end, in this work, a Python code is developed to generate zero‐thickness cohesive interface elements in two‐dimensions (2D). The generated code is capable of generating two‐dimensional quadratic cohesive interface elements (i) within the mortar elements, (ii) within the aggregates elements and (iii) at interfaces between mortar and aggregates. To simulate the crack propagation, the generated zero thickness‐cohesive elements are preinserted at the interface of solid elements and different traction‐separation laws are assigned to them to simulate all potential crack paths. The implemented algorithms to generate the cohesive elements are discussed in detail and numerical examples of crack propagation in concrete is presented using Abaqus/CAE. The numerical results are compared with those in the literature qualitatively to validate the performance of the model. The developed method provides the possibility to investigate the damage processes in meso‐and micro‐scales underlying the macroscopic behavior of the semi‐brittle materials.

Analysis of Female Participant Representation in Registered Oncology Clinical Trials in the United States from 2008 to 2020.

Female underrepresentation in oncology clinical trials can result in outcome disparities. We evaluated female participant representation in US oncology trials by intervention type, cancer site, and funding. Data were extracted from the publicly available Aggregate Analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov database. Initially, 270,172 studies were identified. Following the exclusion of trials using Medical Subject Heading terms, manual review, those with incomplete status, non-US location, sex-specific organ cancers, or lacking participant sex data, 1650 trials consisting of 240,776 participants remained. The primary outcome was participation to prevalence ratio (PPR): percent females among trial participants divided by percent females in the disease population per US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program data. PPRs of 0.8-1.2 reflect proportional female representation. Females represented 46.9% of participants (95% CI, 45.4-48.4); mean PPR for all trials was 0.912. Females were underrepresented in surgical (PPR 0.74) and other invasive (PPR 0.69) oncology trials. Among cancer sites, females were underrepresented in bladder (odds ratio [OR] 0.48, 95% CI 0.26-0.91, P = .02), head/neck (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.29-0.68, P < .01), stomach (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.23-0.70, P < .01), and esophageal (OR 0.40 95% CI 0.22-0.74, P < .01) trials. Hematologic (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.09-1.82, P < .01) and pancreatic (OR 2.18, 95% CI 1.46-3.26, P < .01) trials had higher odds of proportional female representation. Industry-funded trials had greater odds of proportional female representation (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.09-1.82, P = .01) than US government and academic-funded trials. Stakeholders should look to hematologic, pancreatic, and industry-funded cancer trials as exemplars of female participant representation and consider female representation when interpreting trial results.

Ranking of candidates on slates: Evidence from 20,000 electoral slates

Using over 20,000 electoral slates from municipal elections in the Czech Republic, we document that in proportional representation electoral systems political parties rank candidates on the slates systematically according to their valence, measured by educational attainment, and intra-party value, measured by political donations and membership. The observed patterns are consistent with market mechanisms where the party leaders benefit from the valence and intra-party value of candidates and offer slate positions (i.e. the probability of winning a mandate) in exchange. We show that candidates with high valence and those who possess more intra-party value are placed in better-ranked positions, despite the fact that candidates with more intra-party value, conditional on observables, tend to receive relatively fewer votes than candidates with low intra-party value. We further show that as a party expects to hold more council seats, the share of their candidates with higher intra-party value increases.

Are leftist or rightist voters better substantively represented? The effects of variance in district magnitude on party-voter ideological congruence

How does the variation in district magnitude in districted proportional representation systems affect congruence between a voter and their party of choice? I argue that voters in large-magnitude districts will have higher levels of party-voter congruence than voters in small-magnitude districts, due to stronger strategic incentives and reduced party options in small-magnitude districts. Furthermore, I argue that this relationship will be stronger among leftist voters compared to rightist voters, due to the concentration of rightist voters in rural, small-magnitude districts and leftist voters in urban, high-magnitude districts. These expectations are tested using data that from 45 elections in 12 districted proportional representation systems included in the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES). The results support the expectation that party-voter ideological congruence will be higher for voters in larger electoral districts, and lower for voters located within smaller districts. Leftist voters do appear to suffer a congruence penalty in smaller districts, whereas the congruence of rightist voters is less affected by district magnitude. An examination of the mechanisms behind this finding suggests that leftist-voters in small-magnitude districts are faced with a smaller and more right-leaning set of party options.

Political institutions and the gendered use of social media among political candidates: evidence from Tunisia

ABSTRACT Despite a recent boom in information and communication technologies (ICTs) in many developing countries, there is limited research on how social media is being used in political campaigns in emerging democracies. In these contexts, the introduction of electoral gender quotas often forms part of the constitutional reform. This paper investigates the gendered use of social media among political candidates during the 2019 parliamentary election campaign in Tunisia, which recently adopted an ambitious gender quota system. We have mapped the use of Facebook among a random sample of 400 men and women candidates and carried out interviews with 19 men and women candidates who ran in these elections. The results demonstrate how patriarchal structures interact with political-institutional features – the electoral gender quota system, the electoral system (a closed-list proportional-representation system), and the fragmented party system – in shaping the gendered use of social media among political candidates in Tunisia. We show that men are more likely to use Facebook for campaign purposes since they are more often placed at the top of the candidate lists. Hence, rather than having an equalizing effect, the study suggests that social media become a new tool for already privileged candidates in Tunisia.

Optimal Sample Size and Composition for Crop Classification with Sen2-Agri’s Random Forest Classifier

Sen2-Agri is a software system that was developed to facilitate the use of multi-temporal satellite data for crop classification with a random forest (RF) classifier in an operational setting. It automatically ingests and processes Sentinel-2 and LandSat 8 images. Our goal was to provide practitioners with recommendations for the best sample size and composition. The study area was located in the Yaqui Valley in Mexico. Using polygons of more than 6000 labeled crop fields, we prepared data sets for training, in which the nine crops had an equal or proportional representation, called Equal or Ratio, respectively. Increasing the size of the training set improved the overall accuracy (OA). Gains became marginal once the total number of fields approximated 500 or 40 to 45 fields per crop type. Equal achieved slightly higher OAs than Ratio for a given number of fields. However, recall and F-scores of the individual crops tended to be higher for Ratio than for Equal. The high number of wheat fields in the Ratio scenarios, ranging from 275 to 2128, produced a more accurate classification of wheat than the maximal 80 fields of Equal. This resulted in a higher recall for wheat in the Ratio than in the Equal scenarios, which in turn limited the errors of commission of the non-wheat crops. Thus, a proportional representation of the crops in the training data is preferable and yields better accuracies, even for the minority crops.

Physical activity and sports sciences field in Italian scientific research products and its distinct composition in biomedicine, exercise and sports sciences and pedagogy domains

PurposeThis study aims to measure the number of scientific production of Italian professors, as framed on academic disciplines of Physical training and methodology (code M-EDF/01) and Sport sciences and methodology (code M-EDF/02), afferents to academic recruitment field of Exercise and sports sciences (code 06/N2) and Didactics, special education and educational research (code 11/D2).MethodsThe sample consisted of the entire population of full professors (n = 30) of M-EDF/01 and M-EDF/02, plus a proportional representation of the two academic recruitment fields with at least one associate professor per university, for a total of 78 professors. The titles of the first ten scientific products in terms of more citations from the Google Scholar database were analysed for each scientist. The title's full coherence at the scientific declaration of the two academic disciplines of M-EDF/01 and M-EDF/02 and biomedicine and pedagogy domains were assessed. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc test was used to compare the two academic disciplines of the two academic recruitment fields with the three domains to highlight the separated data’s greater, average and lesser significance.ResultsThe aggregate data showed a prevalence of the biomedicine domain over the sport and physical activity ones in M-EDF/01 and M-EDF/02 in the academic recruitment field of 06/N2. On the other hand, in the academic recruitment of 11/D2, there was a prevalence of sport and physical activity domain over the biomedicine ones. In addition, a modest pedagogy scientific production in 06/N2 and biomedical in 11/D2 were found.ConclusionThe existence of the problem of the different coherence of the scientific profiles of the researchers concerning the relevant academic recruitment field and possibly also to the two academic disciplines was confirmed.

Sustained postconfluent culture of human mammary epithelial cells enriches for luminal and c-Kit+ subtypes

BackgroundA challenge in human mammary epithelial cell (HMEC) culture is sustaining the representation of competing luminal, myoepithelial, and progenitor lineages over time. As cells replicate in culture, myoepithelial cells come to dominate the composition of the culture with serial passaging. This drift in composition presents a challenge for studying luminal and progenitor cells, which are prospective cells of origin for most breast cancer subtypes.MethodsWe demonstrate the use of postconfluent culture on HMECs. Postconfluent culture entails culturing HMECs for 2–5 weeks without passaging but maintaining frequent feedings in low-stress M87A culture medium. In contrast, standard HMEC culture entails enzymatic subculturing every 3–5 days to maintain subconfluent density.ResultsWhen compared to standard HMEC culture, postconfluent culture yields increased proportions of luminal cells and c-Kit+ progenitor cells. Postconfluent cultures develop a distinct multilayered morphology with individual cells showing decreased physical deformability as compared to cells in standard culture. Gene expression analysis of postconfluent cells shows increased expression of lineage-specific markers and extracellular matrix components.ConclusionsPostconfluent culture is a novel, useful strategy for altering the lineage composition of HMECs, by increasing the proportional representation of luminal and progenitor cells. We speculate that postconfluent culture creates a microenvironment with cellular composition closer to the physiological state and eases the isolation of scarce cell subtypes. As such, postconfluent culture is a valuable tool for researchers using HMECs for breast cancer research.

O zmienności koncepcji normy demograficznej w wyborach do rad gmin

The demographic norm is an institution of high importance from the point of view of the final election results and the detailed rules for conducting the electoral procedure. As an instrument separating majority and proportional electoral systems, it affects the procedure for submitting candidates, the structure of constituencies and the methods of mandates distribution. The aim of the study was to present and evaluate legislative projects regarding the demographic norm in 1990–2018 period. The conducted analysis leads to the conclusion that no unified concept of the demographic norm has been developed, and the cyclical changes within discussed institution are a consequence of the current interests of political parties.

Uwarunkowania polityczno-prawne reprezentacji kobiet w parlamentach

According to comparative studies, the level of women’s participation in parliaments of individual countries is constantly growing. It was undoubtedly influenced by social and cultural conditions as well as institutional factors, such as various variants of gender quotas. Electoral systems and their constituent elements (electoral formulas, constituencies, voting structure) continue to influence women’s electoral success. Proportional electoral systems are still more favourable to women than majority systems. Empirical studies have confirmed that women have also a better chance to be elected when competing in large constituencies and closed party list systems. Linking women’s electoral quotas to the above elements of electoral systems definitely influences the representativeness of parliaments and the participation of women in them.

Abstract B089: Barriers and facilitators to recruiting minorities into clinical trials: Research staff perspectives

Abstract Background: The recruitment of ethnic minorities into clinical trials and cancer research is a formidable challenge. Minorities constitute 42% of the US population, however, they generally don’t reach their proportional representation in clinical trials. Latinos make up only 2.6% and African Americans only 6% of therapeutic cancer clinical trial participants. Additionally, minorities experience higher incidence rates and worse outcomes compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts. To date, barriers and facilitators for the recruitment of minorities into clinical trials focus mostly on the patient and physician level. This study examined the facilitators and barriers for clinical trial participation among minorities from the perspective of principal investigators/clinicians, study staff, and research support staff at a comprehensive cancer center. Methods: A mixed-methods design combined quantitative and qualitative approaches to evaluate factors that would facilitate recruitment of minorities into research form the perspective of principal investigators/clinicians, study staff, and research support staff. Six focus groups were conducted with 3 different groups (principal investigators/clinicians, study staff, and research support staff) to identify the facilitators and barriers. Participant also completed a short survey. Results: A total of 27 focus groups participants participated across the 6 virtual focus group. Most (83%) were female, heterosexual (92%), single (46%), and Latino (61%). Most (50%) are not asked to provide input during the design of the study protocol and recruitment efforts but would like to (67%). Most (71%) stated that language is barrier to enrolling patient onto clinical trials. Most (75%) stated that patient would benefit from a patient navigator to provide clinical trial navigation. Most (67% stated that not enough funding is allocated to recruitment efforts and most (75%) stated they would benefit from training on how to recruit minorities into clinical trials. Several barriers and facilitators emerged during the focus groups including barriers such as lack of diverse staff, lack of in language consent forms, insurance coverage, and lack of diverse patients. The facilitators identified include racial/ethnic concordance for recruiter and patient, language concordance, in-language materials, sufficient time allotment, and funding for recruitment (e.g., transportation vouchers, flyers). Conclusions: Across all participants groups (Principal investigators/clinicians, study staff, and research support staff) there were many similarities in the perceived barriers and facilitators to recruiting minorities into clinical trials. The main emerging theme was hiring a diverse staff for racial/ethnic and language concordance as well as providing staff training on engaging minorities. This study highlights perceived barriers and facilitators to increase minority participation in cancer clinical trials from the perspective of research staff. Citation Format: Mayra Serrano, Rick Kittles, Leanne Burnham, Kimlin T. Ashing, Dorothy Galloway, Danielle Guardado. Barriers and facilitators to recruiting minorities into clinical trials: Research staff perspectives [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B089.

The Underpinning Determinants of Voting Behavior: The Case of Sudan

This article tries to examine the underpinning determinants of voting behavior in Sudan. It adopts a descriptive method and an inter-disciplinary approach with empirical explanation to verify the hypothesis that “voting behavior in Sudan is a function of religious sectarianism and ethnicity more than other determinants, such as ideology, class or socio-economic status.” It discusses the interrelationship between voting behavior and other relevant concepts, such as political behavior, electoral behavior, and political culture. It explains how several determinants/factors converge on influencing the voting behavior. The article notes that the vigorous influence of ethnicity and religious sectarianism over the political behavior in Sudan resulted in apparently irrational voting behavior. These two determinants have marked the political behavior in Sudan since it regained independence in 1956. However, the Uprising of 2018 ushered in an emergence of a new conscious generation that might lead to a paradigm shift for political and voting behavior. The article proposes the adoption of Consociational democracy with proportional representation and parliamentary system to guarantee the representation of minorities and sustain a fair share of power and wealth to put an end to instability and wars. In the case of Sudan, it is advisable that more attention should be paid to the development of political culture and efficacious civic engagement in politics should be boosted to increase conscious political participation to pave the way for sustainable democracy.

Zum Reformbedarf bei der Personalwahl in den Wahlkreisen: Anmerkungen zur umstrittenen Wahlrechtsänderung

In March 2023, the German Bundestag passed legislation to reform the electoral law with the votes of the governing coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP to prevent the parliament from growing beyond its regular number of seats . Contrary to an initial draft bill from January 2023, the base mandate clause (Grundmandatsklausel) was also abolished, not only overhang seats and compensatory seats . This amendment, which was included in the bill at short notice, reduces the electoral chances of smaller parties with regional strongholds . It therefore prevented support from the Left party and any conceivable agreement with the CDU/CSU . Passing an electoral system into law with only a simple parliamentary majority calls for particular attention that the new system is equally fair for all parties . The impression that tactical political considerations may have influenced the governing parties jeopardizes the acceptance of this controversial electoral law reform . The abolishment of the base mandate clause impairs the democratic principle of representing the political will expressed in an election . This major legislative change is neither justified by the logic of the new electoral system, nor is it directly related to the declared aim of reducing the number of seats in the Bundestag . Without comparable compensation the electoral reform remains open to constitutional challenge . The reform refrains from clarifying the legislative role of an electoral system combining personal and proportional representation . The disputes about overhang seats and the base mandate clause shows, however, that personal representation within the electoral system is in need of reform .

Wahlsystem der verbundenen Mehrheitsregel (Kappungssystem) versus modifiziertes echtes Zwei-Stimmen-Wahlrecht (asymmetrisches Grabenwahlrecht): Welches System ist verfassungskonform? – Zugleich eine Replik auf Joachim Behnke in Heft 3/2022 der ZParl

With the aim of limiting the size of the Bundestag to 598 members, the government plans to reform the federal electoral law based on an electoral system that links direct mandates fully to the proportional majority rule (capping system) . There are various constitutional objections to this election model . Above all, it is questionable not to award direct mandates in the constituencies against the will of the majority of voters, but to make this allocation dependent on a coverage by the main (list) vote . A majority rule dependent on proportional- ity is alien to the principle of democracy . In contrast, a real two-vote suffrage (segmented electoral system) is constitutionally unproblematic . According to this system, some of the deputies are elected by majority vote in the constituencies and some of the deputies by nationwide proportional representation according to state lists . There is no offsetting of con- stituency and list votes . Concerns that two-vote suffrage puts smaller parties at a disadvan- tage can be countered by an asymmetric electoral system that shifts the balance and weight- ing toward proportional representation .

A continuum perspective of customer choice rules for competitive facility location problems

Customer patronage behavior plays a critical role in estimating market share in the context of locating competitive facilities. Three common rules used to describe customer patronage behaviors are: the binary rule, the proportional rule, and the partially binary rule. Recently, we propose another customer choice rule, the partially proportional rule, to describe the behavior of customers when choosing a chain of facilities that offer exclusive services. Although these four rules describe very different customer patronage behaviors, this paper finds that they actually correspond to optimal solutions for four special cases of a class of optimization problems. For the general cases of this class of optimization problems, we also give the corresponding optimal solutions. This work provides a continuum perspective for understanding customer choice rules, while providing possible theoretical guidance for studying unexplored customer behavior patterns.

Prevention of Money Politics through a Closed-List Proportional Election System

Legislative elections using an open list proportional system raise almost the same controversy in every general election season: the emergence of dishonest individuals from both the legislative candidates themselves and the success team. This problem becomes latent during each general election season. It results in some negative consequences, including cost politics or high campaign costs, which result in the practice of corruption and poor political education for the community. The closed list proportional system is an option for a solution to prevent the practice of vote buying, also known as money politics. This research used normative legal research that employed a statute approach, a conceptual approach, and a case approach. In this research, two types of legal materials were used. First, primary legal materials, specifically Law No. 2 of 2011 Concerning Amendments to Political Parties and Law No. 7 of 2017 Concerning General Elections. This research focuses on the significance of reviewing the application of a closed proportional system in legislative elections to prevent money-politics fraud, which has been a latent problem in every general election in Indonesia. Keywords: money politics, legislative elections, campaign costs. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.60.78