Suffrage Research Articles

This study investigates the effects of differentiated voting rights (DVRs), particularly dual-class share structures and unequal voting rights, on corporate governance quality and conflicts of interest in listed firms across China, Malaysia, and Europe. Drawing upon agency theory and prior works on control entrenchment and minority shareholder protection (Slotwinski et al., 2023), this research examines how governance mechanisms mediate the negative outcomes of DVRs, with ownership concentration acting as a contextual moderator. A multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed using SmartPLS on a sample of 240 firms (93 from China, 79 from Malaysia, and 68 from Europe), with data derived from secondary corporate filings and governance reports. Measurement scales were adapted from established studies to ensure consistency and validity. The results confirm that DVRs increase the likelihood of conflicts of interest and deteriorate governance quality. However, effective governance frameworks significantly mitigate these adverse effects, and the moderating role of ownership concentration reveals cross-regional differences in governance outcomes. This study contributes to the literature on corporate governance and control rights by empirically validating the mediating and moderating dynamics within diverse institutional settings and offers implications for policymakers aiming to balance innovation and shareholder protection in firms with complex control structures.

The contradiction between the promises of gender equality by the constitution and reality can be seen parallel with American history. When the U.S. Constitution was first written in 1787, it was ordained and established by men. Women were absent from framing the Constitution and voting for convention delegates. It was not until 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, that women received the right to vote, after decades of activism. However, political enfranchisement did not inherently guarantee proportional representation within the democratic framework. Efforts to secure constitutional guarantees of gender equality, most prevalently through the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), have repeatedly stalled. Although the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), intended to eliminate legal distinctions based on gender, was enacted by Congress in 1972, it failed to achieve the necessary number of state ratifications. Consequently, the United States remains among the few democracies lacking a constitutional clause explicitly guaranteeing gender equality, despite constitutional assurances of equal representation through alternative provisions. This paper, therefore, explores the contradiction between gender equality promised by the U.S. Constitution and the occurrence of scarcity for Women's senior leadership positions in politics. Through analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, a conclusion that cause is a combination of societal and institutional factors can be made.

State takeover of school boards is a controversial policy choice aimed at reforming “underperforming” districts. It includes the limiting or complete removal of powers of an elected school board. However, this policy intervention is overwhelmingly implemented in school districts serving predominantly Black communities. Despite extensive nationwide use, very little is known about how to terminate this policy intervention. This article uses the theoretical heuristics of race-evasiveness to analyze interviews primarily with board members, district-level administrators, and other policy actors (n=18) in the three extant Missouri districts impacted by the policy. Specifically, we (1) interrogate policy actors’ perspectives for when and how two juxtaposing narratives—either race-evasive narratives or race-conscious narratives—emerge in their discussion of this policy; and (2) examine if and how policy actors’ reliance on these juxtaposing narratives changes how they approach appropriate policy termination strategies. We found that local policy actors demonstrate complex race-evasive or race-conscious understandings of the school board intervention policy and that their use of narratives changed how they discussed proper policy termination strategies. Policy actors who relied on race-conscious narratives questioned the legitimacy of the policy, contextualized the policy within Black political enfranchisement, and were also more likely to express confidence in the Black citizenry. Policy actors that understood the policy from a race-evasive perspective were more likely to recommend accountability metrics as the most important aspect of the policy termination process. Because of the centrality of democratic control of school boards in the civic vitality within the United States, this analysis suggests that policy actors should be encouraged to understand and interrogate a race-conscious lens in this policy.

With the rapid development of science and technology industry, the traditional principle of "one share, one right" has limitations, and differentiated voting rights have emerged because of its advantages such as meeting the heterogeneous needs of shareholders, resisting hostile takeo-vers and guaranteeing corporate financing. The practice of differentiated voting rights in coun-tries such as the United States, Japan, Singapore and Canada and China is different in terms of regulatory models, information disclosure and sunset clauses. However, the differentiated vot-ing rights system may lead to the increase of agency cost, the lack of supervision mechanism and the intensification of moral hazard in practice. In order to improve the system, the information disclosure mechanism should be improved, the fiduciary duty of controlling shareholders should be strengthened, and a "time-type sunset clause" should be introduced to balance the in-terests of all parties and promote the optimization of China's business environment.

ABSTRACT Should voting rights be tied to citizenship? Over 20 million noncitizens pay taxes, own businesses and homes, send their children to schools, and make countless economic, social, and cultural contributions every day. Yet they cannot vote to select politicians who make policy that affects their daily lives. Today, noncitizens currently vote legally in local elections in 22 cities and towns in Maryland, Vermont, California, and Washington, DC. These practices have their roots in another little-known fact: noncitizens voted in 40 states at some point in time from the Founding until 1926. Noncitizens voted not only in local elections but also in state and federal elections, and they could hold office such as alderman. “Alien suffrage” was seen as a means to facilitate immigrant incorporation and citizenship, which it did in practice. This article examines the politics and practices of immigrant voting in the US, chronicling the rise and fall—and reemergence—of immigrant voting rights. It explores arguments for and against noncitizen voting, reviews evidence about its impact on policy and American political development, and considers its implications for immigration policy and democratic practice. Debate about immigrant voting rights can be viewed as a microcosm of broader debate about immigration, citizenship, and democracy reflected in scholarship and political conflict embroiling the nation, which holds valuable lessons for scholars and policy makers today. I argue, in a country where “no taxation without representation” was a rallying cry for revolution, such a proposition might not be so outlandish upon further scrutiny.

ABSTRACT Research on diasporic citizenship focused on how migrants engage in transnational activism in their home and host countries. However, this research has overlooked the critical question of how migrants develop their practices of diasporic citizenship, particularly during the early stages of resettlement. This article addresses this gap by examining the citizenship practices of Hong Kong BN(O) migrants in the U.K, and argues that their past experiences in homeland and the political opportunity structures are key factors shaping their diasporic citizenship. Drawing on focus groups, we demonstrate that these migrants, despite paying attention to homeland affairs, have refrained from collective mobilization due to low political efficacy and fear of transnational repression. However, rather than becoming politically inactive, they have adopted individualized strategies to transplant their civic aspirations from their homeland. These include building a distinct Hongkonger identity, branding themselves as ‘good’ immigrants, and exercising their voting rights. Our findings provide nuanced understanding of the formative stage of migrants’ sense of diasporic citizenship.

This article examines the emergence and consolidation of Armenian women’s socio-political agency in the early twentieth century. Building on the foundations of charitable and political associations established in the late nineteenth century, Armenian women expanded their roles through philanthropic initiatives, humanitarian relief, and civic activism, particularly during World War I and the Armenian Genocide. These activities provided the organizational experience and public visibility that facilitated their transition into formal politics. The proclamation of the First Republic of Armenia in 1918 and the adoption of universal suffrage in 1919, without property or class restrictions, positioned Armenia among the earliest states worldwide to institutionalize gender equality in electoral rights. The election of three women deputies, Perchuhi Partizpanyan-Barseghyan, Varvara Sahakyan-Tadevosyan, and Katarine Zalyan-Manukyan, further exemplified the integration of women into the structures of governance, where they contributed to legislation on education, welfare, public health, and refugee relief. Comparative analysis situates the Armenian case within the global suffrage timeline, demonstrating its pioneering character relative to the United Kingdom (full suffrage in 1928), the United States (1920), France (1944), and Switzerland (1971). The Armenian experience highlights a distinctive trajectory in which women’s charitable activism rapidly evolved into political participation, underscoring the progressive spirit of the First Republic despite its short-lived existence.

Constitutional law science has no clear definition for legal means of combating absenteeism and their executives. This research focuses on the propaganda of voting right in Russia. Traditionally, the duty of promoting the voting right and the combat with absenteeism belonged to political parties. The author described the phenomenon of propaganda with its impact on constitutional and legal regulation, classified the law propaganda in Russia by purpose, methods, and subjects; identified the directions of propaganda expansion by purpose, and investigated the activities of Russian political parties in promoting the right to vote. The research involved the interdisciplinary approach, the method of systematic analysis of legal phenomena, and the historical-legal and formal-legal methods. Propaganda has a legal and psychological nature. On the one hand, it involves psychological manipulation and mass communication technologies; on the other hand, certain types of propaganda are regulated in the legislation of the Russian Federation, with distinct legal criteria and judicial practice. However, the legal regulation remains fragmentary, which is compensated by law enforcement practice. To prevent abuse, the Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes the limits of propaganda. Public authorities are the legal subjects of propaganda. Political parties should combat absenteeism to promote active and passive suffrage. However, only a few political parties promulgate the voting right, and this propaganda is limited and random. The author believes that the duty of promoting the voting right and combating absenteeism should be assigned to political parties and enshrined in the Federal Law on Political Parties.

The Indonesian people will hold a General Election (PEMILU) in 2024, which is a routine agenda held every five years. A quality Democratic Party, in this case the Election, will be able to give birth to new national leaders. From quality national leaders, they will be able to produce good strategies and policies, achieving better quality progress, especially in improving people's welfare. First-time voters are those who have not been able to exercise their voting rights in the previous five-year Election, namely the 2019 Simultaneous Election, so they cannot exercise their voting rights because they are not yet categorized as voters. This community service theme is Political Education for First-time Voters of the Indonesian Christian Student Association (PMKRI) Samarinda City Branch in the 2024 Election. The purpose of this service is to provide understanding to first-time voter participants who are members of the Samarinda City Student Association organization to actively participate in the election process and utilize their voting rights properly. Based on the results of the service, it can be concluded that this integrated scheme community service activity is able to increase the understanding of first-time voters about elections, political education, and willingness to participate in politics, so they can channel their aspirations according to their conscience.

Regulation of the Minister of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (Permenristekdikti) No. 19/2017 on the Appointment and Dismissal of Leaders of State Universities indicates that the Minister of Education and Culture holds 35% voting rights to elect rectors, while the university senate holds 65% voting rights. This percentage is prone to emasculating the majority vote in universities. It has an impact on the rise of high-level lobbying ahead of the rector selection, both to political parties and to the Palace. This kind of practice undermines the independence of state universities in channelling aspirations to address the state's social issues. This research contributes to the analysis of the dynamics of rector selections in Indonesia, examining the impact of government intervention on rector independence and freedom of speech, and proposing an ideal regulatory framework based on transparency, meritocracy, and autonomy. It fills a gap in existing studies by highlighting how ministerial voting rights affect academic freedom and offering a reform-oriented model for more democratic and independent university leadership. This research is a normative juridical study that employs statutory, conceptual, and case study approaches to address the problem. The results showed that, first, government intervention in the selection of rectors is problematic in a democratic country, Second, government intervention in the selection of rectors has a significant effect on the independence of freedom of higher education in responding to social issues of state, Third, Changing the provisions of government intervention in the selection of rectors in State Universities by emphasizing transparency aspects, meritocracy and independence.

Abstract The most distinctive characteristic of Japanese heir managing firms is that founding families keep sending top management without influential voting rights in a substantial number of cases. Why is it possible? To answer the question, we draw attention to the huge difference of managerial ownership of heir managing firms and listed non-family firms in Japan. Does management ownership (vs. family ownership) drive performance in Japanese heir managing firms? Our regression analysis reveals that management ownership is positively correlated with firm performance, as measured by ROA and ROE. Importantly, this positive effect is observed even in firms with low family ownership, suggesting that management incentives play a crucial role in driving performance. Our research suggests that management’s equity incentives may play a crucial role in driving firm performance, even in the absence of strong shareholder-oriented corporate governance in stakeholder systems.

The paper focuses on the constitutional connection between active and passive voting rights, a necessity that objectively arises when analyzing and scientifically characterizing the nature and essence of these rights. The paper demonstrates the complexity of the constitutional relationship between active and passive voting rights, which involves the simultaneous existence and mutual overlap of several types of connections: the unifying connection; the causal connection; the connection of states; correspondence between the consequences of a single cause; and correspondence between the consequences of different causes. The conclusion is substantiated by explanations regarding how doctrinal identification, differentiation, and interpretation of the aforementioned types of constitutional connections between active and passive voting rights can be used to achieve the goals of constitutional-legal regulation of electoral relations, as well as constitutional norm control.

Abstract In recent decades, as growing numbers of noncitizen residents remain excluded from the electorate, the question of who should be included in the electorate has gained prominence in both political and academic debates. Drawing on theories of integration and immigrant attitudes, I explore whether Swiss voters would consider integration criteria as prerequisites for enfranchisement and which criteria matter to whom. First, using original survey data from Switzerland fielded in 2021, I identify three key criterion types for inclusion: civic‐cultural knowledge, economic contribution, and being of good character. Second, the findings reveal that partisanship is a primary factor shaping the importance citizens assign to these criteria, and which criterion specifically matters most. Interestingly, I find that few socioeconomic and demographic indicators influence voters' views on whether such integration criterion could be used as a route towards enfranchisement. Taken together, the results point to the pivotal role that ideological divides play in framing debates over immigrants and their integration in Switzerland.

Since the beginning of the new century, the development of the rules of global economic governance has shown a new trend, and the change of the system of governance rules has become a major trend. China should play the dual roles of a participant and a change agent of the current rule system to promote the establishment of a fairer and more reasonable international economic order and correct the inherent defects of the rule system. This paper analyzes the failure of the traditional international economic governance mechanism and the creation of the G20 mechanism from 1999 to the present, takes China as the main research object, and explores China's responsibility in international economic governance. At the same time, the initiative of institutional discourse construction is proposed for China. After the experimental analysis, it can be seen that China's reform changes in international economic governance in the IMF voting rights for, from 2.978% to 6.07%, especially after 2010, China's voting rights from 3.816% to 6.07%, more than Germany, France and the United Kingdom, BRICS member countries voting rights also increased accordingly. The collaborative framework among BRICS nations plays a pivotal role in shaping the global economic landscape. World Bank statistics reveal that as early as 1993, the GDP growth rate of BRICS members outpaced that of the G20, hitting an impressive 3.104%. Even during the height of the 2008 financial crisis, these economies demonstrated remarkable resilience, sustaining a robust growth rate of 8.71%. To strengthen China's influence in international economic governance, four strategic approaches are recommended to amplify its institutional voice and solidify its standing on the world stage.

Classic pluralist theorists, based on Enlightenment ideals of democracy, equality, and individual rights, posit that interest groups engage in political pressure, bargaining, lobbying, and mobilization of bias, and no single group politically dominates. From 1619 to the end of American civil rights in the 1960s, the historical agenda of segments of a dominant white caste has been a stratified racial hierarchy. The effort to reverse the progress of civil rights and advance new forms of a racial hierarchy since 1970 has included countering voting rights, police violence, mass incarceration, housing, education, and economic discrimination, and laws prohibiting the teaching of accurate scholarly conclusions about US institutional racism. Scholarly endeavors in public policy process theory need to incorporate as a significant policy driver, as described in Critical Race Theory, how stratified and non-pluralistic American racialized practices operate and dominate in public policy processes.

E-voting has undergone significant advancements in recent years, nevertheless, ensuring the privacy, confidentiality, and integrity of voters' identities and their votes remains a crucial challenge. Blockchain technology, with its decentralized architecture and immutability, provides a promising solution for developing secure and transparent E-voting systems. Blockchain improves integrity and non-repudiation, however, its transparency compromises voters' anonymity, and the secrecy of vote contents. We propose in this paper an E-voting system that incorporates secure and privacy-preserving mechanisms based on a combination of Blockchain, and lightweight cryptographic techniques to address these issues, while mitigating the weaknesses of the most recent works such as Thakkar et al.'s voting system in which votes remain unencrypted. Moreover, the integration of advanced cryptographic techniques, as explored in Wang et al.'s work, inevitably introduces significant computational costs. The proposed system enables the verification of voter eligibility and the correctness of votes without revealing sensitive information while reducing computational costs. In our experimentation, we adopt smart contracts to implement the proposed system using solidity programming language, and deployed on Ethereum Blockchain. We evaluated our proposed system in terms of execution time and gas consumption. The obtained results proved its effectiveness compared to the most recent works.

The two-tier shareholding structure, which originated in the United States, has become popular around the world. Unlike the traditional model of “equal shares with equal rights”, the core feature of the two-tier shareholding structure is that the company issues two classes of shares with different voting rights. It enables the concentration and stabilization of corporate control, which has a positive effect on the long-term development of the company and resistance to hostile takeovers. Against the background of the rapid development of the capital market and the continuous innovation of corporate governance structure, the two-tier shareholding structure has begun to be adopted by many enterprises. While this structure can improve the efficiency of corporate governance and promote corporate growth, it also raises a number of challenges. In particular, for small and medium-sized shareholders, their shareholdings may face the problem of limited or no voting rights, as well as the lack of an effective internal and external monitoring mechanism for the company. These issues may lead to the impairment of the rights of small and medium-sized shareholders. Currently, challenges in practice include inadequate laws and regulations, insufficient disclosure of information, and inadequate monitoring mechanisms. Therefore, exploring the path to protect the rights and interests of small and medium-sized shareholders and analyzing their current situation has become an important area in the study of two-tier shareholding structures. This paper starts from the actual situation, analyzes the problems exposed in the operation process of two-tier shareholding structure, and then explores the practical and feasible methods to protect the rights and interests of small and medium-sized shareholders on this basis, with a view to putting forward valuable references for the development of China’s securities market.

After Black men gained the right to vote with passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, many US Southern states began implementing literacy tests, grandfather clauses, poll taxes, and other devices that made it difficult, if not impossible, for Blacks to vote. These devices kept many Southern Blacks from voting throughout the first half of the 20th century. In the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It suspended literacy tests and placed provisions for voting under federal supervision for seven southern states with a history of voter discrimination. As a result, many more Blacks were registered to vote and the turnout gap between Black and white voters decreased substantially. However, the US Supreme Court ruled that seven Southern states subject to federal oversight of their elections was unconstitutional. As a result, numerous southern states began passing restrictive voting rights requirements such as voting ID laws, the purging of voter rolls, etc., making it more difficult for Blacks to vote. For our study, we hypothesize that the voter turnout gap between Black and white voters would increase following the removal of federal oversight. Using data compiled from the US Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS), we examined Black and white voter turnout in previously “covered” jurisdictions in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections. The findings of our study were consistent with our hypothesis, as our results demonstrate the growing divide between Black and white voter turnout.

ABSTRACTObjectiveUnderstanding migrants’ political participation beyond elections remains vital for assessing the quality of democracy in increasingly diverse European societies. This article investigates migrant participation in protests across four major European cities with substantial migrant populations: Vienna, Brussels, Berlin, and Amsterdam. Specifically, the study explores how local voting rights for non‐nationals, a key indicator of institutional inclusion, influence protest behavior.MethodsThis study draws on data from the European Social Survey (ESS), Rounds 1–11. Guided by the political opportunity structure framework, the study tests the hypothesis that migrants living in cities where local voting rights are extended to non‐citizens are more likely to engage in protest compared to those in more restrictive contexts.ResultsContrary to expectations, local voting rights are associated with lower protest participation. Perceived discrimination increases protest likelihood, supporting grievance‐based mobilization theories. Protest is also more common in cities with favorable public opinion toward immigrants. Notably, the suppressive effect of voting rights is strongest among EU non‐citizens.ConclusionNotwithstanding expectations, rights may pacify; protest seems to flourish not where rights are granted, but where they are denied. The results underscore the complex interplay between institutional opportunities, public discourse, and individual experiences in shaping migrant political behavior.

In this article, I discuss the implications of the Multiple Voting Rights Directive of 23 October 2024, which requires EU Member States to permit multiple voting structures for companies listing on multilateral trading facilities. I reflect on the abandonment of the one-share-onevote principle, assess the risks of excessive flexibility in shareholder rights, and highlight the challenges of effective minority protection and market liquidity. Finally, I question the assumption that legal reform alone will significantly enhance the attractiveness of EU capital markets.