How the French Learned to Vote

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm Crook
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Sharp Focus ◽  
How People Learn ◽  
Electoral Turnout ◽  
Partisan Conflict ◽  
Constant Source ◽  
Insight Into

Voting is a familiar civic activity today, yet few participants are probably aware of its long and controversial history, which was especially marked in the case of France, the country chosen for this study of how people learn to vote. Casting a ballot does not come naturally, and it also requires the technology to accomplish it, besides the legal framework to regulate it. Democratization and the development of citizenship are lengthy processes, like the achievement of free and fair elections involving a secret ballot for all adults. A great experiment with mass voting for men was initiated in France in 1789, only for recurrent upheaval to ensure that the question of who could vote, and how they did so, was frequently re-examined and revised. The entire electoral system was a constant source of partisan conflict, popular protest, and innovation, throwing the great issues around voting into particularly sharp focus. This is the first book to explore the contested and contingent practice of the vote in a comprehensive fashion, over a time span that begins before the French Revolution and concludes with the present, while according significant space to local as well as national elections. The thematic analysis will assist an understanding of those countries where democracy remains in its infancy, while also offering insight into widespread contemporary concerns about declining electoral turnout. In so far as the global adoption of voting is reflected in the context of a specific society, it will be of interest to political scientists as well as historians.

scholarly journals Party expats? Mapping transnational party branches of French, German and UK parties

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix-Christopher von Nostitz
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Data ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
National Party ◽  
National Elections ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
And Function ◽  
Role And Function ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Do So

AbstractToday many parties interact with members and supporters outside their national borders. One way parties do so is by establishing transnational party branches. However so far, there is a lack of theoretical and empirical research exploring this transnational aspect of party activity. This paper provides a first insight into why parties develop transnational branches, and how it affects their organization. It argues that the development of party branches abroad differs across countries due to the incentives provided by the national legal framework on voting and donations from abroad. In turn, the role and functions of the transnational branches vary depending on this legal framework. Looking at the two transnational branches of the two mainstream parties in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, this paper first briefly outlines the different national legal frameworks and the scope and size of transnational party branches. It then focuses on how they are organized, their role and function, and how this shapes their relationship to their homeland party. This explorative research is mainly based on legal and secondary data. The paper finds that the parties studied differ substantially in location, number and membership size for their transnational branches. Furthermore, the organizational links and the control by the national party over transnational party branches is the highest where parties have the most to gain in terms of votes in national elections and donations.

5. Reform and democracy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Allen
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Napoleonic Wars ◽  
Class Model ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
Key Events ◽  
Insight Into

The Industrial Revolution created social tensions and posed practical problems that shaped the politics of the period, affecting much of social and cultural life. Most commentators analysed society in terms of the three-class model anchored in the economics of Adam Smith. The three-class model provides insight into the politics of the Industrial Revolution. ‘Reform and democracy’ looks at key events that resulted in the evolution of a pre-industrial England, where economic life was conducted in a legal framework handed down from the medieval and Elizabethan periods, to the country at the end of the Industrial Revolution. These include the French Revolution, the Napoleonic wars, and the Reform Bill of 1832.

Nucleosome dynamics

2006 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 109-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Stockdale ◽  
Michael Bruno ◽  
Helder Ferreira ◽  
Elisa Garcia-Wilson ◽  
Nicola Wiechens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Chromatin Structure ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Structure And Dynamics ◽  
Nucleosome Dynamics ◽  
Sharp Focus ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Chromatin Structure And Dynamics

In the 30 years since the discovery of the nucleosome, our picture of it has come into sharp focus. The recent high-resolution structures have provided a wealth of insight into the function of the nucleosome, but they are inherently static. Our current knowledge of how nucleosomes can be reconfigured dynamically is at a much earlier stage. Here, recent advances in the understanding of chromatin structure and dynamics are highlighted. The ways in which different modes of nucleosome reconfiguration are likely to influence each other are discussed, and some of the factors likely to regulate the dynamic properties of nucleosomes are considered.

The Monk

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Lewis
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Young Girl ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Reading Public ◽  
Ghost Stories ◽  
Gothic Fiction ◽  
Black Magic ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Profound Insight

‘He was deaf to the murmurs of conscience, and resolved to satisfy his desires at any price.’ The Monk (1796) is a sensational story of temptation and depravity, a masterpiece of Gothic fiction and the first horror novel in English literature. The respected monk Ambrosio, the Abbot of a Capuchin monastery in Madrid, is overwhelmed with desire for a young girl; once having abandoned his monastic vows he begins a terrible descent into immorality and violence. His appalling fall from grace embraces blasphemy, black magic, torture, rape, and murder, and places his very soul in jeopardy. Lewis’s extraordinary tale drew on folklore, legendary ghost stories, and contemporary dread inspired by the terrors of the French Revolution. Its excesses shocked the reading public and it was condemned as obscene. The novel continues to beguile and shock readers today with its gruesome catalogue of iniquities, while at the same time giving a profound insight into the deep anxieties experienced by British citizens during one of the most turbulent periods in the nation’s history.

The Glory and the Sorrow

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Tackett
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Small Time ◽  
Old Regime ◽  
Ordinary Citizen ◽  
Best Friend ◽  
The World ◽  
Cultural Intermediary ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The French Revolution ◽  
The Revolution

The book describes the life and the world of a small-time lawyer, Adrien-Joseph Colson, who lived in central Paris from the end of the Old Regime through the first eight years of the French Revolution. It is based on over a thousand letters written by Colson about twice a week to his best friend living in the French province of Berry. By means of this correspondence, and of a variety of other sources, the book examines what it was like for an “ordinary citizen” to live through extraordinary times, and how Colson, in his position as a “social and cultural intermediary,” can provide insight into the life of a whole neighborhood on the central Right Bank, both before and during the Revolution. It explores the day-to-day experience of the Revolution: not only the thrill, the joy, and the enthusiasm, but also the uncertainty, the confusion, the anxiety, the disappointments—often all mixed together. It also throws light on some of the questions long debated by historians concerning the origins, the radicalization, the growth of violence, and the end of that Revolution.

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.

Getting Out the Vote

2021 ◽  
pp. 147-176
Author(s):  
Malcolm Crook
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Second Empire ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Civil Unrest ◽  
Electoral Turnout ◽  
International War ◽  
Degree Of Participation ◽  
Huge Challenge

Measuring electoral turnout in the past was not a priority, but in France after 1789 it became quite apparent that awarding the franchise to a majority of adult males did not automatically lead to its employment. Voter fatigue soon took its toll, and exhortation usually fell on deaf ears, though electoral procedure was extremely long-winded, and the decade of Revolution was marked throughout by civil unrest and international war. When universal manhood suffrage was established in 1848, turnout was initially high, yet it was not sustained and mobilizing the electorate remained a huge challenge. It proved essential to enable and educate citizens to exercise their right to vote. As elsewhere, the electoral apprenticeship in France was thus a lengthy and uneven process, in geographical as well as chronological terms. Somewhat ironically, it was the authoritarian Second Empire that marked a vital turning point in this regard, when frequent and regular polling began to attract a consistently increasing degree of participation. By the turn of the twentieth century high levels of turnout had become the norm, not just in national elections, but also at the local level, where the habit of voting was deeply embedded.

Need to pioneer Islamic tourism in tourist resorts in Maldives

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 895-916
Author(s):  
Aishath Muneeza ◽  
Zakariya Mustapha ◽  
Fathimath Nashwa Badeeu ◽  
Aminath Reesha Nafiz
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Financing Structure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to formulate ways in which Maldives could pioneer Islamic tourism on a befitting framework and financing structure as a leverage to develop its tourism industry. Design/methodology/approach The research uses qualitative approach whereby primary and empirical data on tourism practices as well as relevant laws and guidelines, issued in Maldives and in other Muslim jurisdictions of the Muslim, are analyzed. Doctrinal approach is used in analyzing secondary data on the subject. Findings The research reveals the potential of Islamic tourism in Maldives as well as the challenges that have constrained its development in the country. Certainty is needed in halal products, services and conducts. Codifying extant Maldives Halal Tourism Standards will establish legal framework for a standard Shariah-compliant tourism industry. Islamic financing structure enables mobilizing required funds and address financing constraints. Practical implications This research presents an insight into establishing and developing Islamic tourism industry in the Maldives. Harmonizing tourism regulations with Shariah shall bring about the required consciousness on Shariah compliance in target tourists and their desires. Private individuals can contribute in mobilizing the much needed Shariah-compliant resources to finance Islamic model resorts befitting an Islamic tourism industry. Originality/value The research puts forward proposal that identifies and recognizes a more viable Islamic financing alternative as well as Shariah-compliant regulations to pioneer the development of Islamic tourism in Maldives. The research recommends how to overcome related challenges helps government understand the proposed strategies for establishing Islamic tourism industry.

Electoral Systems, Integrated Institutions and Turnout in Local and National Elections: Canada in Comparative Perspective

1997 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Milner
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Weak Links ◽  
Information Costs ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
High Turnout ◽  
The Cost

AbstractIn this article, it is argued that Canada's relatively low rate of political participation is related to its electoral system being nonproportional, but that a complementary factor is to be found in its political institutions being discontinuous. Discontinuous institutions are manifested in relatively weak links between political organizations active municipally, regionally (provincially) and nationally. While the relationship between proportional representation (PR) and high turnout has been well established in the literature, there is still a puzzle surrounding the theoretical explanation for it. The author argues that the key to the solution to this puzzle lies less in the additional potential benefits to the voter in a PR system than in the reduction of costs, specifically information costs under such a system. PR is seen to frame incentives and disincentives for political actors in such a manner as to result in a reduction of the cost of political information. This is especially the case when PR is embedded in integrated (non-discontinuous) political institutional arrangements. The most salient manifestation of this effect is seen in comparative turnout levels in municipal elections.

Western Europe and Scandinavia

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Brockliss
Keyword(s):  
Government Policy ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
Childhood Studies ◽  
History Of Childhood ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sharp Focus ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Insight Into

Childhood in western Europe is obviously a vast topic, and this entry will approach it historically and largely chronologically. The study of childhood is still relatively new, and historians have sometimes struggled to construct a history of childhood, with very few firsthand accounts and limited archives. So many children left very few traces of their lives, and historians have had to piece together their history, not from diaries or archives but from court reports, visual representations, and childcare manuals. They have had to struggle to recapture the world of childhood in eras prior to 1800, when sources are especially limited. They, like others interested in childhood studies, have had to address the issue of how to define a child and what childhood is. They have had to contemplate the different historical meanings of the word child prior to 1600 and to resist the temptation to believe that childhood has inevitably improved through the centuries. They have also had to become aware of the dangers of historicizing a phenomenon that has few stable parameters and, in some cultures, may not even exist at all. In several languages there is no word for child; even in English, the word has drastically shifted its meaning over the centuries. These shifts need to be historicized in order to see both the continuities and the discontinuities between the past and the present that suggest that childhood has always been a time of suffering; children have always been the victims of perilous disease, parental neglect, government policy, war, etc. Concurrently, children have also always been the hope of the future, the focus of special love and attention. A historical perspective on European childhoods brings this insight into sharp focus.

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