scholarly journals Do Mayoral Elections Work? Evidence from London

2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 653-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Curtice ◽  
Seyd Ben ◽  
Thomson Katarina
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Voting Behaviour ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Mayoral Elections ◽  
Single Person ◽  
Major Reform ◽  
New Institutions

The introduction of directly elected mayors potentially represents a major reform of the operation of local government in Britain. Drawing upon survey data collected at the time of the first two London mayoral elections, this article considers whether such elections necessarily deliver the advantages claimed for them by their advocates. It addresses three questions: (1) What was the basis of public support for the new institutions; (2) who participated in the London elections, and why; and (3) what accounts for voting behaviour in the London elections? In particular we examine how far the election of a single-person executive helps provide people with a clear choice, encourages citizens to vote on the qualities of individual candidates rather than on their party affiliation, and motivates people to vote on distinctively local issues as opposed to national ones. Our results suggest that while mayoral elections deliver some of the advantages claimed for them, they may be less successful on others. The extent to which directly elected mayors enhance the local electoral process is thus doubtful.

Baptism by Wildfire? Wildfire Experiences and Public Support for Wildfire Adaptation Policies

2021 ◽  
pp. 1532673X2110239
Author(s):  
Iris Hui ◽  
Angela Zhao ◽  
Bruce E. Cain ◽  
Anne M. Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Personal Choice ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Public Funds ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Wildfire Smoke ◽  
American States ◽  
Adaptation Policies

In recent years, wildfires have ravaged the landscape in many Western American states, especially California. But will these horrific wildfire experiences increase public support for wildfire adaptation measures? We conducted an individual-level survey in California in 2019. Combining survey data with geocoded information about a respondent’s proximity to wildfire events and exposure to wildfire smoke, we assess whether respondents’ experiences increased support for several wildfire adaptation policies. We also control for party affiliation. We find that Californians generally oppose restrictive resilience policies and view the decision to take adaptive steps as a matter of personal choice. Republicans are generally more opposed than Democrats to spending public funds to incentivize resilience measures, but proximity to wildfires lessens their opposition to using public funds to encourage homeowners to upgrade their properties for increased protection from wildfires and encourage relocation to safer places. Although exposure to wildfire smoke is extensive and harmful to health, we found that its main impact on policy preferences was statistically insignificant.

All by Myself: Personal Qualifications versus Party Affiliation in Colombian Mayoral Elections

2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia N. Avellaneda ◽  
Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Elected Officials ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
National Party ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Mayoral Elections ◽  
The People ◽  
Relative Value ◽  
Party Elites

AbstractPolitical decentralization has been promoted as a way to devolve responsibility, bring government closer to citizens, and improve accountability. The shift prompted new local elections, but were the elected officials responsive to citizens or to national party elites? This study examines unique survey data from 125 Colombian mayors to identify the factors they believe were critical in their victories and thereby to identify the people to whom they believe they owe loyalty: citizens or party leaders. Examining the relative value mayors assign to their own actions versus those of the party, combined with information on how they financed campaigns, sheds important light on subnational electoral dynamics in Colombia.

Disguised Tourism and the Electoral Process in Africa: A Study of International Observers and the 1998 Local Government Elections in Nigeria

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
Kayode Soremekun
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Present Status ◽  
Career Aspirations ◽  
Western World ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Power Play

This article is based on the premise that the aid establishment views Africa as probably the world’s last backwater. Simply put, bureaucrats, politicians, and other policymakers in the western world are rather content with Africa’s present status, an attitude that not only accords with their career aspirations, but also spawns a certain amount of sybaritic pleasure about the inclement condition of the continent. It is against this background that this article examines the motives and aspirations of the international observers in the Nigerian electoral process, focusing on the attitudes and the impact of the observers in the 1998 local government elections.International electoral observation and monitoring are an integral part of the global dimensions of democratization. Many writers have averred that one major reason for the upswing in Africa’s quest to democratize is the cessation of the power play between Moscow and Washington.

Examining the “Referendum Theory” in Taiwan’s Local Elections

2020 ◽  
pp. 002190962096676
Author(s):  
Eric Chen-hua Yu ◽  
Kah-yew Lim
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Approval Rating ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Positive Assessment ◽  
Incumbent Party ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Open Seat

This paper analyzes the extent to which the performances of local and national governments can shape local election outcomes. Specifically, we use various waves of survey data from Taiwan’s Elections and Democratization Studies (TEDS) to explore whether a person’s assessments of local and central government performances affect his/her vote for the incumbent party candidate. Our empirical findings partially verify the so-called “referendum theory” and can be summarized as follows: First, voters who hold a positive assessment of the performance of local government are more likely to vote for an incumbent who seeks reelection, but this is not necessarily the case for an incumbent party candidate in an open-seat contest. Second, Taiwan’s local elections cannot be regarded as referenda on the central government because the central government approval rating does not consistently affect vote choices across different types/levels of local elections.

scholarly journals Toronto's 2018 Municipal Election, Rights of Democratic Participation, and Section 2(b) of the Charter

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Jamie Cameron ◽  
Bailey Fox
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
City Council ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Municipal Election ◽  
The City

In 2018, the City of Toronto’s municipal election overlapped with a provincial election that brought a new government to office. While the municipal election ran for a protracted period from May 1 to October 22, the provincial election began on May 9 and ended about four weeks later, on June 7.1 On July 27, after only a few weeks in office, the provincial government tabled the Better Local Government Act (BLGA) and proclaimed the Bill into law on August 14.2 The BLGA reduced Toronto City Council from 47 to 25 wards and reset the electoral process, mandating that the election proceed under a different concept of representation for City Council.3

Ethnicity and governing party support in Africa: A longitudinal multilevel analysis

2022 ◽  
pp. 135406882110649
Author(s):  
Carlos García-Rivero ◽  
Enrique Clari
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Multilevel Analysis ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Important Influence ◽  
Voting Behaviour ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Party Support

Historically, ethnicity has been considered to play a fundamental role in voting behaviour in Africa. However, researchers on the issue have found contradictory conclusions. The most recent research concludes that the African voter is more rational than expected. Overall ethnicity seems to be less influential than theory used to suggest. Against this background, this paper analyses vote for governing party in Africa and presents evidence that the method and data set used will have an important influence upon the final result. The research takes form of a quantitative analysis making extensive use of survey data from 2005 to 2019. Results indicate that ethnicity, although not exclusively, is still an explanatory factor. At a glance, African vote is rationally ethnic.

Financial Indicators as Determinants of Mayoral Elections

2020 ◽  
pp. 27-53
Author(s):  
Serena Santis ◽  
Francesca Citro ◽  
Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros ◽  
Marco Bisogno
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Public Choice ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Capital Expenditure ◽  
Financial Indicators ◽  
Public Choice Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mayoral Elections ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Italian Context

The chapter seeks to contribute to the literature on determinants of local government election by adopting a different perspective focused on the effects of financial indicators on the elections of mayors. Using the agency and the public choice theory, this study implements a model where specific financial indicators—whose selection takes into account the increased autonomy and responsibility of local politicians—have been included to document their effect on mayoral re-election. Focusing on the Italian context, the chapter examines a sample of 129 municipalities during the period 2008-2014, where several elections were held. By using different estimators, findings indicate that the re-election of mayors is affected by the level of indebtedness and the current equilibrium. In addition, current spending is better valued by citizens/voters than capital expenditure, which increases the probability of being re-elected.

Poverty, local services and austerity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen Bramley ◽  
Kirsten Besemer
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Service Access ◽  
Service Usage ◽  
Cultural Services ◽  
Local Services

While public support for local services as ‘essential’ remains high, there have been divergent trends in usage, with increases in public transport, corner shops and childrens services, but declines in information,leisure and cultural services. Distribution of service usage has become slightly more ‘pro-poor’, yet poorer groups are still more likely to report constraints in service access or quality. Services are not systematically worse in poorer neighbourhoods, in most cases, and service exclusion does not overlap much with other dimensions of social exclusion. While the service domain thus appears to continue to bolster equality, post-austerity cuts to local government spending threaten significant retrenchment in poorer localities.

Local–national political trust patterns: Why China is an exception

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cary Wu ◽  
Rima Wilkes
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Control Culture ◽  
National Government ◽  
Political Control ◽  
Local Levels

Is political trust in China anomalous? In most countries there are systematic differences in the level of trust in national and local government that take one of three patterns. In some countries, individuals trust the national government more than local government (hierarchical trust); in others individuals trust local government more than national government; while in some countries individuals trust both levels of government equally. Of 11 Asian societies, the only country where hierarchical trust predominates is China. Elsewhere the norm is to put more trust in local levels of government. While previous studies have described the pattern of trust in China, no study has considered relative trust as an outcome or comparatively. Taking advantage of the 2006 and 2010 Asian Barometer Survey data we consider whether the hierarchical trust pattern in China is the result of political control, culture, and/or performance. We find that political control explains the hierarchical trust pattern in China.

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