Representatives In Parliament Research Articles

THE IMPACT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM ON LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT

This study investigates the relationship between the South African electoral system and its consequential effects on legislative oversight. Through an analysis of historical data, electoral structures, and parliamentary dynamics, this study aims to illuminate the various ways in which the chosen electoral system shapes the nature and efficacy of legislative oversight mechanisms. The study delves into the features of South Africa's electoral model, exploring how proportional representation and constituency-based elements influence the conduct of elected representatives in Parliament. In addition, this study assesses the implications of these electoral dynamics for the ability of parliamentary bodies to oversee effectively the conduct of the executive branch in order to ensure accountability and transparency in the governing process. By examining the impact of one-party dominance in Parliament as a consequence of the electoral system, this study provides insights into the intricate interplay between electoral systems and the crucial function of legislative oversight in fostering a robust democratic system.

Should The More Highly Educated Get More Votes? Education, Voting and Representation

ABSTRACT This article examines the relation between education, voting and representation, and, in particular, the argument that more highly educated people should have more votes, as they should be better at judging important political decisions. In the past this issue attracted the attention of great thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Newman and Mill. In the UK there is also a practical precedent, rarely recalled today, where for centuries university graduates had their own representatives in Parliament. There are also some interesting contemporary arguments on the topic put forward in favour of an epistocracy (as some call it) by social scientists, but not educators. It seems that most educators would not now dare to suggest that the more highly educated might be given more votes, largely on the grounds of equity.

ETHNOPOLITICAL PROCESSES IN SLOVAKIA (1989-1995)

This article provides the first overview in Ukrainian historiography of the preconditions, emergencу, establishment and initiation of the activities of a political entity representing the Ukrainian population of the Slovak Republic – the Podduklianske Democratic Community (hereinafter referred to as the PDC, original name: Podduklianske Civic Forum). The PDC collaborated with the Regional Government in Prešov, primarily in the socio-economic sphere, and outlined the party’s objectives. The PDC is aimed to address political, economic, social, and national-cultural issues of the Ukrainian population in the Prešov region. At the same time, there is a recognition of the increased political activity of representatives of the Hungarian national minority in Slovakia, resulting in the formation of Hungarian political parties in Slovakia, which emerged immediately after the collapse of the communist regime. It is noted that Hungarian political entities in Slovakia had their representatives in Parliament as a result of the elections in 1990, 1992, and 1994, which allowed them to actively participate in the political life of the state. The positive aspect of the activities of Hungarian political parties in Slovakia was that different party platforms did not prevent them from creating an electoral coalition. It is mentioned that the Roma community was also represented at the level of the Slovak national and regional political arena. However, Roma political parties failed to gain significant electoral support and representation in the Slovak Parliament.

Sinergi Politik Harapan: Interseksionalitas Politik Pemuda dalam Feminisme

Indonesian youth experience age discrimination (ageism) according to the Domination Matrix in the form of legal structural dominance and cultural hegemony. Law Number 40 of 2009 on Youth defines youth as citizens aged 16–30 years, but a number of political positions in Law Number 7 of 2017 on Elections and Law Number 10 of 2016 on Local Elections have conditions that prohibit youth ages. All youths are prohibited from becoming president/deputy which is implied by the existence of a minimum age requirement of 40 years, governor/deputy (30), and members of the General Election Commission/Election Supervisory Body at central (40), provincial (35) and district/city levels (30). Culturally, the ageism which judges youth to be incapable of leading is natural with the fact that youth have never nominated a youth minister and chairman of National Committee of Indonesian Youth (KNPI). It is important for young people to study the politics of hope for feminism, which in history succeeded in removing the ban on women’s suffrage and succeeded in obtaining political affirmation of at least 30 percent. As a significant number of citizens, the intersectionality of youth in feminism can be a synergy to achieve a more representative parliament, by recognizing one another’s identities within the framework of political expectations.

Electoral districts’ distribution in Jordan: Political geographical analysis

This study attempts to reveal the impact of distribution inequality of electoral districts on the election outcomes in Jordan. Since 1993 elections, electoral laws and regulations have been adopted that underestimate population density in Jordan, meaning that some regions with lower population densities have obtained more parliamentary seats than regions with high population density, including the governorates of Amman, Irbid and Zarqa. Successive Jordanian governments’ strategies have intentionally ignored electoral geography, which reduces the chances of mainly the Palestinian component obtaining significant numbers of seats in the Parliament. Governments have also sought to mitigate the chances of Islamic, Leftist and Nationalist parties obtaining a majority of seats in the Parliament, and thus being able to exert effective pressure to hold the executive authority accountable and responsible for its actions. In addition, low levels of confidence of most Jordanian citizens in Parliament have resulted in a lack of true desire to vote, which has led to an increase in the percentage of wasted votes compared with the cast votes. The study concludes that the executive authority's domination in drawing and dividing electoral districts as part of its hegemony and control over the general policy of elections has purposefully neglected population density and geographical criteria. In light of the study results, an urgent need arises to endorse an election law that accomplishes the standards of distributive justice, maximizes the role of supportive and opposition parties, raises citizen confidence in Parliaments, reduces the percentage of wasted votes and finally activates a truly representative Parliament.

Profesorowie uniwersyteccy w parlamencie II Rzeczypospolitej – portret zbiorowy

In the interwar period, a total of 841 professors headed chairs at the six then universities, 45 of whom were parliament representatives (5.3% of all professors), out of which 28 were deputies to the Sejm (lower chamber), and 21 to the Senate (higher chamber). Of them all, four professors held positions in both the Sejm and the Senate. Compared to other professors who headed chairs, the interwar parliamentary professors were quite a specific group. They were distinguished primarily by their strong political commitment, contrary to the vast majority of the academic staff who, though remained interested in politics, did not actively participate in it. Political parties saw great intellectual potential in the academic staff and appreciated the experience that allowed them to perform parliamentary duties efficiently. Among the deputies and senators, there was a good representation of lawyers and economists (23 persons), whose skills certainly facilitated participation in a large part of parliamentary work.

A Model for Investigating the Iraqi Politics During the Elections

The Iraqi political arena has witnessed a dramatic change after the year of 2003. It moved from the dominated republican system to a democratic system. This movement in the political system has affected the situation in Iraq in terms of economic, education, industrial, trading, to mention a few. This paper analyses the Iraqi parliament representatives’ affiliations in terms of their coalitions they formed in the elections. Moreover, this study tries enabling us to deeply understand how the Iraqi parliament representatives are connected to each other and the relations among them. It also provides us with information on how different provinces adopted different coalitions regardless their religion and other tendencies. Several political networks were generated and visualized based on the concepts of complex networks. Each network represents a particular political aspect of the current Iraqi parliament. This study also reveals a new trend of forming coalitions in Iraq and the strategy followed by the representatives in attaching to coalitions. Finally, we believe this is the first kind of work that uses this approach of analysis in understanding the trend of Iraqi politicians.

The Role of Political Party Representatives in Parliament

The article analyzes legislative body of political parties through their representatives (deputies), that is, the parliament activity, the faction concept and deputy group, increase in the political parties factions powers, fraction formation processes on the basis of scientific literature. It was also studied the history of the party factions formation in the Republic of Uzbekistan, factions goals and objectives, the “Democratic Bloc” establishment in the parliament, legislative initiative of factions and the parliamentary oversight exercise.

State responsibility to civil society: some questions of theory.

Introduction. State responsibility to civil society is a topic that has already been the subject of research by some scientists. It was studied by political scientists, representatives of constitutional law, administrative law, theory of state and law. At the same time, there are still issues that require additional analysis, since, from the author's point of view, the conclusions drawn in previous studies did not contribute to increasing the state's responsibility to civil society. The aim of the article. To investigate the nature of relations between the state and civil society, to establish the grounds for the emergence of its responsibility to civil society, the forms and methods of its control over the activities of individual state bodies and officials. Results. Control functions are immanent to the vital activity of any system. The specifics of a state-organized society necessitate two functions of control – control by society over the state as a special authorized body for solving general cases of the first, and internal control of the state over compliance with the parameters of the system defined by society. From the content of Article 1 of the Constitution of Ukraine, it follows that Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social and legal state. These principles constitute the characteristics of the state, which the society, through its representatives in Parliament, when adopting the basic law, authorized to observe in its activities. However, the practice of the activities of state bodies of Ukraine at the present stage indicates total violations of these principles. One of the reasons for this situation is incorrectly established ties between the state and society. Most authors refer to these relations as parity, where the state and society are equal subjects . From our point of view, they are not and cannot be parity, since the state is a function of society, and there is a functional connection between them. Contrary to these conclusions, the activities of the president of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for violating their duties are not accompanied by the onset of legal liability for them. This, in particular, applies to such cases as the confrontation between the president of Ukraine and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, where the former unconstitutionally attempted to resolve this confrontation in his favor, suggesting that the parliament dissolve the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. This, in addition to violating their obligations to comply with the Constitution of Ukraine, should also be interpreted as a violation of their oath, which contains similar requirements for their activities. In this regard, measures are considered necessary to apply measures of legal liability to the president for violating his duties and Oath. Similar conclusions should be drawn regarding the failure to fulfill election promises on the part of people's Deputies of Ukraine, as well as their violation of the oath they take in accordance with Article 79 of the Constitution of Ukraine. Conclusions. Summing up, we can conclude that without strengthening the legal responsibility of the state to civil society for non-fulfillment of its duties, the rights of citizens will be subject to systemic violations. Political responsibility is regulated by the norms of law, and therefore it is also a legal liability, it also contains the composition of an offense, in particular a constitutional tort as the basis for its occurrence, and therefore it should necessarily provide for the existence of sanctions for violating the obligations of the relevant authorized entities. Legal liability of officials who head or are members of state bodies should always be accompanied by bringing the perpetrators to justice (constitutional, criminal, administrative, civil, disciplinary).

As minirreformas políticas e eleitorais de 2015 e 2017 no contexto democrático da contemporaneidade

A democracia contemporânea não pode ser entendida apenas como a eleição de representantes para um parlamento e que apenas estes discutam e deliberem sobre os rumos de um governo, de um Estado, de uma Nação. A ampliação do conceito de democracia, com fortalecimento da dialética e da promoção de direitos fundamentais vem acompanhada de um processo de crises políticas institucionais em várias democracias modernas. O Brasil viveu mais um ciclo de crise política e democrática nos últimos cinco anos. Para atender reivindicações da sociedade em uma mudança do sistema que refletisse mais o anseio democrático, o Congresso Nacional construiu leis que responderiam a essas demandas. Assim, o objetivo é analisar as recentes minirreformas políticas e eleitorais realizadas no Brasil a partir da teoria política clássica e das teorias democráticas contemporâneas e como elas se encaixam nessas teorias. Como referenciais teóricos, trabalha-se com Jorge Miranda, Georg Jellinek, Niklas Luhmann, Robert Dahl e Paulo Bonavides. Conclui-se que as minirreformas políticas e eleitorais de 2015 e 2017 não foram suficientes para atender a demanda das manifestações de junho de 2013, sem alcançar o valor democrático que se destinava.

Political elites of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia during 1990‒2019: the main results of transformation

The article examines the transformation of power groups in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia during the period 1990‒2019: from the proclamation of independence of the Baltic states and the dismantling of the previous ruling institutions to the formation of a new political order by the elites. The objective is to identify the main factors of transformation of the channels and mechanisms for the recruiting of power groups and to determine the general and specific features of this process, to correlate them with the key decisions of the elites that have determined political priorities of the Baltic states. In order to quantitatively analyze changes in the composition of the elites, data from open sources on the background of 886 political figures in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were assessed. Up to 53% of evaluated cases are representatives of parliaments, 40% are members of governments, 7% are presidents and their advisers, meanwhile, 252 cases are from Lithuania, 271 ‒ from Estonia and 363 ‒ from Latvia (the greater number of registered parliamentary electoral cycles – 9- were registered in Latvia, along with 7 in Lithuania and 8 in Estonia). The analysis is based on parliamentary electoral cycles due to the parliaments decisive role in the political systems of the Baltic countries in accordance with the Constitution. The transformation of the power groups in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia took place in a similar political and historical context. However, it is not correct to talk about a single “Baltic elite” as a community of power groups of the three countries consolidated at the interstate level. The general features of the transformation of power groups in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia along with the peculiarities inherent in each country are revealed. Thus, among the elite of Estonia there are the fewest number of representatives of the ex-nomenklatura, Latvia is the leader in the number of proteges of business in power, Lithuania ranked first in terms of the number of politicians with foreign origins. Today, the Baltic states elites more often act like competitors than like-minded people, although they retain elements of political coordination, in particular, dealing with Russia.

Knowledge Claims and Struggles in Decentralized Large Carnivore Governance: Insights From Norway and Sweden

Keywords: large carnivore management1, pastoral communities2, decentralization3, knowledge spheres4, conflicts5. Ensuring sustainable carnivore populations while simultaneously sustaining active and viable pastoral communities creates conflicts that are difficult to resolve. This article examines how different knowledge systems meet and interact in large carnivore governance in Norway and Sweden. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including observations in meetings, public documents, reports and interviews, in addition to local and national newspaper clippings and Internet sites, we study two processes of regional carnivore management (Nordland, Norway and Jämtland, Sweden). We explore how different forms of knowledge have been mobilized, reproduced, transferred and legitimized in policies and regulations in these two processes. Further, we examine the interplay between scientific and experience-based knowledge at different levels and scales in both of the countries. In Norway, ‘clear zoning’ has been established as a basic management instrument to achieve national ‘population goals’ for carnivores. We show how the locally situated knowledge – in our account represented through the Regional Large Carnivore Committee, which includes political parties’ and Sami Parliament representatives – experiences real barriers by being overrun by the national Ministry of Climate and Environment, in their process of revising the carnivore management plan. In Sweden where the management of large carnivores is devolved to regional authorities and stakeholder-based Wildlife Management Delegations, attempts to regionally solve conflicts are often overthrown by the national environmental protection agency or through court cases initiated by the environmental movement. Hence, compromises that potentially could solve conflicts are undermined. The analysis shows that while carnivore governance in both countries are founded on decentralized management authority at the regional level, local actors struggle for their views, experiences and knowledge to be acknowledged and counted as valid in the management process. While the decentralized management model opens for inclusion of different knowledge systems, this system has yet to acknowledge the challenges of knowledge being dismissed or marginalized across governance levels and scales.

Parliamentary Threshold and Political Rights Limitation: A Human Rights Perspective

Parliamentary threshold or political party threshold to occupy the people's representatives in parliament is a provision that has been regulated in the law. Article 414 paragraph (1) of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections regulates the existence of a parliamentary threshold. This means that the parliamentary threshold is legal. Especially based on legal considerations of the Constitutional Court in the Constitutional Court Decision Number 3 / PUU-VII / 2009 and Constitutional Court Decision Number 20/PUU-XVI/2018, the parliamentary threshold is an open legal policy so that it can be said to be constitutional. But in reality the application of the parliamentary threshold limits political rights. The limitation of political rights occurs to participants and voters in the General Election.

Parliamentary Threshold and Political Rights Limitation

Parliamentary threshold or political party threshold to occupy the people's representatives in parliament is a provision that has been regulated in the law. Article 414 paragraph (1) of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections regulates the existence of a parliamentary threshold. This means that the parliamentary threshold is legal. Especially based on legal considerations of the Constitutional Court in the Constitutional Court Decision Number 3 / PUU-VII / 2009 and Constitutional Court Decision Number 20/PUU-XVI/2018, the parliamentary threshold is an open legal policy so that it can be said to be constitutional. But in reality the application of the parliamentary threshold limits political rights. The limitation of political rights occurs to participants and voters in the General Election

New Methodologies on the Improvement of Public Administration in Uzbekistan

This article discusses the concept of public administration, its features: the problem of state and municipal government. The fundamental and modern technologies of social management are analyzed. The theoretical and important aspects of the development of public administration are revealed. The author substantiates the development of a program to ensure an effective dialogue with the people as a means of implementing the principles of humanism and measures for the implementation of topical government tasks put forward in five directions of the development strategies of the Republic of Uzbekistan The requirement of the head of state that “not the people serve the state bodies, but the state bodies must serve the people” will require in society stability of the principle of social justice, ensuring equality of all before the law, achieving the rule of law, analyzes the needs of parliament for talented, ambitious, competent representatives of parliament. Uzbekistan is in the process of reforming all spheres of public life, there are fundamental changes in the minds of citizens, democratic forms the formation of society - a simplified order of relations between people and society, a citizen and a state. There is a social and political activity in the country. In such conditions, rapid reforms of public administration, introduction of new approaches and tendencies to management based on the use of wide possibilities of information technologies are important. The article considers that if administrative staff representing the interests of civil society, first of all, understand the personal, general and specific historical and socio-political situation of the entire population of the country, and the state and society are nationalized, this can be viewed as a sufficient form of an open society, impartiality truthfulness and timeliness to meet the needs of people.

The Consequences of Quotas: Assessing the Effect of Varied Gender Quotas on Legislator Experience in the European Parliament

AbstractThis article explores the consequences of quotas on the level of diversity observed in legislators’ professional and political experience. We examine how party system and electoral system features that are meant to favor female representation, such as gender quotas for candidate selection or placement mandates on electoral lists, affect the composition of legislatures by altering the mix of professional and political qualifications held by its members. Using data collected for all legislators initially seated to the current session of the European Parliament, one of the largest and most diverse democratically elected legislatures in the world, we find that quotas eliminate gendered differences in experience within the institution, particularly when used in conjunction with placement mandates that ensure female candidates are featured on electoral lists in viable positions. Electoral institutions can generally help to “level the playing field” between the backgrounds of men and women in elected office while increasing the presence of desirable qualities among European Parliament representatives of both genders.

Transparency in parliamentary voting

How does transparency affect voting behavior? To answer this question we exploit a switch from a show of hands to electronic voting in the Upper House of the Swiss Parliament. The change, which took place halfway through the 2011–2015 legislative period, also brought about the online publication of individual voting records. Using the Lower House as a control group, we compare individual voting decisions in a set of identical votes in both chambers. This unique framework makes it possible to estimate the causal effect of increased transparency on legislators' choices.Since the reform, members of the Upper House are less likely to deviate from the majority decision of their party. Legislators representing the same canton are also less likely to cast an aligned vote, suggesting that voters lose influence over their representatives in parliament.

Political Promises in the Perspectives of Islam and Its Implementation in Development Policy

Abstract After the election, the mayor and vice mayor of Bandar Lampung should prepare strategic policies through medium-term development plan based on the political promises during the campaign period. This article discussed the issue on how the implementation of political promises of the mayor of Bandar Lampung. This research is a kind of media research, which is composed of the political promises recorded in the mass media. The analysis used in this research was a descriptive method and content analysis. The results showed that the political promises of Herman HN were generally carried out in accordance with his commitments. Although, there are were still many shortcomings, such as inaction and uneven development in Bandar Lampung city due to budget constraints and lack of coordination within the government itself as well as with representatives in Parliament. However, the people of Bandar Lampung are generally believed that their political promises are debt, which should be implemented during the period of his reign. Promises will be demanded by the people and all of which were recorded in the print media, in the Lampung Post, Tribune Lampung, and Radar Lampung.

Women Leadership: A Comparative Study between Indonesia and Greece

One manifestation of women’s leadership is their representation in politics. Although regulation for their participation is implemented, representation in elected office is lower than anticipated. This article discusses women’s representation as leaders in strategic positions, the challenges of affirmative action regulation and the cultural barriers they face in Indonesia and Greece. The study was conducted in Indonesia and Greece, with documentation method as data collection technique such as: affirmative action regulation on women’s participation in strategic positions and official statistics of women in office. Mix methods employed for data analysis. The findings show three results. Firstly, there are differences in the representation of women as leaders both in numbers and strategic positions held between the two countries. The number of women representatives in parliament in Indonesia is lower than that of Greece, with 17 % and 20% respectively. However, the most important position obtained by a woman in Indonesia is state leader, whilst in Greece is merely minister. Secondly, both countries have implemented legislation for affirmative action regulating the percentage of women candidates. The challenge is how to ensure a raise of women representation as leaders in strategic positions. Finally, women still face cultural barriers such as stereotyping, marginalization and sub-ordination. Civic education providing skills and gender sensitivity concerning leadership for men and women can outdo the barriers. Concluding, differences of women’s leadership in Indonesia and Greece are seen in their number , position, regulation and cultural barriers. This study recommends both countries to conduct regulation concerning women’s representation, not candidacy.

State sport policy for indigenous sport: inclusive ambitions and exclusive coalitions

ABSTRACTWith the policy aim ‘Sport for all’ as a backdrop, this paper investigates sport policies for Sami sport in Sweden and Norway (the Sami is the indigenous people residing in the northern parts of Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden). By applying an Advocacy Coalition Framework, the purpose of the paper is to explore how the organisation of and possibilities to exercise Sami sport are affected by political coalitions, social structures and institutions. Drawing on data from policy documents and interviews with government and Sami Parliament representatives, results show how institutionalised relationships affect the general ambitions to provide sport for all and the more specific ambitions to reach under-represented groups. In both countries, dominant coalitions are made up by the institutionalised cooperation between the states’ Ministry of Culture and the umbrella sport organisations. Alternative and emerging coalitions are made up by the Sami sport organisations, the Sami Parliaments and the Sami policy units of the states. While the dominant coalition is stronger in Sweden, the alternative coalition is stronger in Norway. These differences are interpreted as being results of policy elements outside the policy subsystem of sport – the two countries’ different relationships to legal adoptions of indigenous rights. These findings suggest that approaching sport organisations outside dominant coalitions can be conducive in reaching sport for all ambitions.