A Dual Track Democracy? The Symbolic Role of the Māori Seats in New Zealand's Electoral System

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Geddis
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System

“BULYGINSKAYA DUMA”. AGENCY WITHOUT POWER OR POWER OF AGENCY?

2021 ◽  
pp. 32-42
Author(s):  
Sergey S. Novoselskii ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Government Policy ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Public Figures ◽  
State Administration ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Russian Empire

The article considers the attitude of representatives of the top bureaucracy to the draft of the State Duma, developed by a Special Council chaired by the Minister of the Interior A.G. Bulygin in 1905. Particular attention is paid to the high officials assessments of the dignitaries of the place and role of the Duma in the system of state administration of the Russian Empire, the arguments that officials cited in favor of its convocation. It analyzes intellectual context of the emergence of the “bulyginskaya duma” (“Bulygin Duma”) project is analyzed, which largely determined the breadth of the actual, not declared powers of the people’s agency. The research is based on unpublished documents from the funds of state institutions, as well as materials from the personal funds of officials and public figures. The article shows that, despite the legislative nature of the Duma, it had to have significant powers. The electoral system, which was proposed and defended by the high officials, was originally modeled in such a way as to avoid the triumph of the estates principle. The monarch’s open opposition to the people’s agency was considered a politically short-sighted move, which indicated a limitation of his power. The results of the study allow considering the government policy in 1905 not as an untimely response to public demands, but as a conscious strategy for systemic political reforms.

Co-constituting Fijian identity: the role of constitutions in Fijian national identity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Mudaliar
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
British Colonialism ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Colonial Legacy ◽  
Island States ◽  
National Symbols ◽  
Insight Into

This chapter focuses on the role that constitutions play in national identity, particularly in states that are recently independent and constrained by a colonial legacy. It uses Fiji as a case study, exploring how British colonialism influenced conceptions of Fijian national identity in the constitutional texts of 1970, 1990 and 1997. The chapter explores the indigenous ethno-nationalist ideals that underpinned these constitutions, which led to the privileging of indigenous Fijian identity within the wider national identity. However, in 2013, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama introduced a new constitution which shifted away from previous ethno-nationalist underpinnings towards a more inclusive national identity through the promotion of a civic nationalist agenda. In doing so, Bainimarama’s goal of reducing ethnic conflict has seen a constitutional re-imagining of Fijian identity, which includes the introduction of new national symbols, and a new electoral system, alongside equal citizenry clauses within the Constitution. This study offers a unique insight into power and identity within post-colonial island states.

13. Small Parties and Law-making

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Arnott ◽  
Richard Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Parliamentary Procedure ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Law Making

This chapter discusses the role of smaller parties in the law-making process. General elections in the UK are conducted with an electoral system which militates against the representation of smaller political parties, particularly those having no strong support at the regional level. However, events at Westminster over the last decade have increased the prominence of smaller parties in the operation of parliamentary business. The chapter first considers the role of small parties in the UK Parliament, committees and legislation, as well as their participation in backbench debates before examining how the political and electoral context of Parliament, especially in the twenty-first century, has affected the representation of smaller parties and the ways in which reforms to parliamentary procedure since the 1980s have enhanced the role of the second opposition party. It suggests that Parliament today offers more opportunities for smaller political parties to influence debate and policy, but this remains quite limited.

Are ICT/Web 2.0 Tools Influencing Civic Engagement in Modern Democracies?

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 70-85
Author(s):  
Indu Nair ◽  
Bardo Fraunholz ◽  
Chandana Unnithan
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Central Theme ◽  
Web 2.0 Tools ◽  
Indian Context

Web 2.0 tools, while mobilising citizens to make informed choices, may also manipulated public opinion. This hypothesis forms the central theme of this research investigation through the historiography lens. Based on concurrent research from decade, the authors take a closer look at citizen-to-citizen engagement, so as to trace the role of web 2.0 tools, in perhaps manipulating public opinion or enabling democratic governance through reversal of some existing defects in the Indian context. Specifically, they raise these questions: Has ICT enabled civic engagement manipulated public opinion in this developing democracy? Has it succeeded in reversing apparent defects in the electoral system, which is regarded pivotal in democracies? Focusing on the elections, the authors present a synopsis of the use of web 2.0 tools which were seemingly efficiently and prolifically used during the elections albeit to reach out to the large population base in this country.

Party Linkage, Public Justification and Mixed Electoral Systems

2020 ◽  
pp. 003232172097833
Author(s):  
Matteo Bonotti
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Public Justification ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Mixed Electoral Systems ◽  
Democratic Life ◽  
Mixed Electoral System

In recent years, a number of political theorists have aimed to restore the central role of parties in democratic life. These theorists have especially highlighted two key normative functions of parties: linkage and public justification. In this article, I argue that these two functions are often in tension. First, I illustrate how this tension manifests itself in liberal democracies. Second, I explain that parties’ ability to fulfil each of the two functions is strongly affected by the electoral system under which they operate: while first-past-the-post encourages party linkage but hinders public justification, the opposite is true of proportional representation. Third, I argue that a mixed electoral system can best guarantee the balance between parties’ linkage and justificatory functions. Fourth, I suggest a number of proposals for party reforms that could help mixed electoral systems to balance party linkage and public justification while preventing the re-emergence of the tension between them within parties.

scholarly journals Maiden Partisan Rural Local Government Elections: Bangladesh Experience

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Mashiur Rahman ◽  
Salma Nasrin
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Daily Newspapers ◽  
Grass Root ◽  
Grass Root Level ◽  
The Government ◽  
First Time ◽  
Election Commission

A paradigm shift in the political system has been taken in Bangladesh on 12 October, 2015 with the final approval by the Cabinet to hold local polls on partisan basis. The long historical practice of non-partisan local polls has been shifted to first ever partisan poll that brought major challenges for the existing confrontational political parties of Bangladesh. Ruling Bangladesh Awami League considered demonstrating its popularity at grass-root level and controlled all political institution through this election while Bangladesh Nationalist Party had opposed these partisan local government elections as a political trick with an ill motive by the government. For the first time in Independent Bangladesh, 9th Union Parishad[1](UP) election hold on partisan basis at six phases across the country from March to June 2016. The articles tried to explore the experiences of this maiden partisan UP polls and what are the immediate consequences on the local governance as well as electoral system through reviewing seceondary materials specially the Daily Newspapers. Unfortunately massive violence, record deaths and uncontested elected Chairman, election fraughts & irregularities, reluctant role of Election Commission, strong dominant of ruling party over electoral system were common phenomenon in this maiden partisan election.[1] Lowest tier of rural local government in Bangladesh.

Campaign-Personalization and Constituency Focus in a Mixed-Member Electoral System. The Case of Hungary

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsófia Papp
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Factors Influencing

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to uncover the micro-factors structuring campaign personalization in the case of Hungarian Members of Parliament. It is presumed that in a party-centred environment, the effects of the various independent characteristics are filtered by the parties. Thus, due to the electoral rules, personalization cannot contradict party centeredness. Representatives do not wish to distance themselves from their parties. Personalization is more of the result of the positions they hold or wish to fill in than the desire to defy party lines out of individualistic motivations. Based on the data from the 2010 MP-survey of the Hungarian Election Study, the article unveils the circumstances under which campaign personalization prevails. The international scholarly literature sets several hypotheses with regards to the factors influencing three dimensions of campaign personalization (norms, means and agenda), out of which several will be tested in this article. The analysis concludes that even under party-centred circumstances, the role of individual motivations and habits cannot be overlooked in defining the degree of personalization, nevertheless the interpretation of such effects requires caution.

The Importance of Methodological Approaches when Choosing Optimal Electoral System

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Виктория Ерыгина ◽  
Viktoriya Erygina
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
The Law

Yet another change of the electoral system at the federal elections in the Russian Federation, the revision of the rules of conducting elections triggers a number of the questions about purposes and criteria of such reforms, doubts their objective nature, and undermines voters’ trust in the elections. The variety of electoral systems and the search for the best one is the topic of fierce scientific debates in various social sciences, including jurisprudence. Since the electoral system is a complex scientific category, there are many different approaches and methods to investigate it. And the author undertakes the search of those to emphasize the importance of taking into account of scientific developments, political will manifestations when the legislator resolves the conceptual task of selecting the electoral system that in suitable for the society and the objective conditions. The author recognizes the leading role of party-political ideology, viability when reforming the electoral legislation. However, in order to strengthen the legal order in the country, scientifically substantiated conclusions, obtained through the combination of general scientific, special (sociological, psychological and historical-cultural), particular methods of legal science, should become the basis for any legislation, including the electoral one. The author reveals such new methodological approaches, as anthropological, culturological, historical, social-psychological and comparative-legal for the conceptual solution of the problem of selection the best electoral system and its further use in the law-making and law-enforcement practice. The author touches upon the issue of searching for a scientific set of instruments, with the aid of which it is possible to apply the science in the political sphere in order to control political processes, including through the law.

Modified Rapture All Round: The First Elections to the Scottish Parliament

1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
National Party ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
The Road ◽  
Coalition Partner ◽  
Liberal Democrats ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Minority Government ◽  
Scottish Parliament

AS ELECTION DAY APPROACHED IT SEEMED CERTAIN THAT LABOUR would come out on top and the Scottish National Party (SNP) would come second. Thanks to the new German-style electoral system it also seemed certain that Labour could not win an overall majority in the new Scottish Parliament and that the Conservatives would get some parliamentary representation however low their vote. But each of the parties had hopes and ambitions as well as expectations. Labour hoped to get over 60 seats in the new parliament of 129, enough at least to have the option of forming a minority government. The SNP hoped to get well over 40 seats, enough to let it assume the undisputed role of the opposition, and to mark a further step along the road to independence. The Liberal Democrats hoped to be more than a small but useful coalition partner in the new parliament. Out in the country they hoped the new electoral system would end the traditional handicap of a Liberal Democrat vote being dismissed as a ‘wasted vote’ and so let their votes rise to equal their underlying level of popular support. ‘Other’ parties and candidates hoped that the new electoral system and the new inclusive politics would somehow include them.

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