scholarly journals The Rise and Limits of Participation

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 216-248
Author(s):  
Börries Kuzmany
Keyword(s):  
Political Representation ◽  
State Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Central State ◽  
Economic Weight ◽  
Voting System ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Revolution Of 1848

This article provides an overview of the political representation and integration of Galician Jews on the municipal, provincial, and central state level under Austrian rule. It demonstrates that political representation on the latter two levels started only after the revolution of 1848 and was rather modest considering the numeric and economic weight Jews enjoyed in Galicia. Even though representation in municipal councils started earlier, the position of Jews depended very much on local circumstances. After the turn of the century, the widening of the electorate to the lower classes led to a broader Jewish representation and participation not only in terms of numbers but also within the political spectrum. This is particularly true for the paper’s second part. In this section, the text explores the reform of the electoral system for Galicia’s provincial parliament and the attitude of Jewish politicians towards the compromise eventually found in 1914. The article argues that among Jews the positive or negative assessment of the new voting system depended largely on their position in the larger antagonism between Jewish nationalists and assimilationists. The former complained that the entire reform was on the backs of the Jews ignoring their numeric strength and their national rights. Assimilationists, on the other hand, were satisfied that, against all counterclaims of Zionists and Anti-Semites, the compromise legally established that Jews were Poles.

Minimalinvasiv oder wirksam? Debattenbeitrag zur Novellierung des Bundeswahlrechts vom Oktober 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 675-684
Author(s):  
Johannes Krause
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Vote System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Standard Size ◽  
National Parliament ◽  
System P ◽  
Voting System ◽  
The Way

Despite the 2020 reform of Germany’s national parliament voting law, the debate about a robust voting system has not ended . Träger and Jacobs have convincingly shown that Naun­dorf’s suggestion to introduce a parallel voting system creates more problems than it solves, and thus more far-reaching approaches have to be considered . One way to stop the Bunde­stag from growing is to reject the two vote-system . Comparable to the system of Thuringia’s local elections, with open lists and three votes per voter, both the standard size of the Bun­destag can be safely adhered to and at the same time a personalized proportional represen­tation can be maintained . Among other advantages, the voters would have greater influence on the personalized composition of the Bundestag . In particular, reservations on the part of the political parties could stand in the way of such a sustainable solution to the ongoing problems with the German electoral system .

scholarly journals Democracia, representación política y financiamiento de partidos y campañas electorales en Chile = Democracy, political representation, political parties and electoral campaign funding in Chile

2015 ◽  
pp. 543
Author(s):  
Humberto Nogueira Alcalá
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Political ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Electoral Campaign ◽  
Democratic System

This article focuses on the constitutional and legal regulation of political parties in Chile, especially from de point of view of the political representation in a democratic system. It also focuses on the actual reform process of the electoral system and the political parties funding in this country.Este trabajo analiza la regulación constitucional y legal de los partidos políticos en Chile, especialmente desde la perspectiva de la representación política que éstos hacen posible en un Estado democrático. El artículo analiza, además, las modificaciones que actualmente se están discutiendo en este país, relativas al sistema electoral y a la financiación de los partidos políticos.

Ideological congruence and socio-economic inequality

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter Schakel ◽  
Armen Hakhverdian
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Lower House ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Ideological Congruence

This study examines whether or not political representation in the Netherlands is biased toward the rich and higher educated by comparing the political orientations of members of parliament to those of the electorate. The analyses reveal stark differences in the representation of different socio-economic groups. The political views of elected national representatives are far more similar to those of rich, higher educated citizens than to those with less income and education. Moreover, a longitudinal analysis reveals that inequalities in political representation have actually grown in recent years. We also show that the use of measures of ideological self-identification might to lead to highly misleading results regarding the nature of political representation as opposed to the use of issue items. We conclude that, despite a highly proportional electoral system, the views which are represented in the Dutch lower house of parliament contain major distortions of the views of the broader electorate.

Congruent Representation: Election Cycle in Poland 2009-2011

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-17
Author(s):  
Waldemar Wojtasik
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Median Voter ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Representation Election ◽  
Election Cycle ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
The Right

Abstract The article presents the results of research on the congruence of the political representation formed in elections held in the years 2009-2011 in Poland. The election cycle included the European Parliamentary elections in 2009, the Polish presidential election, elections to local government in 2010, and the parliamentary elections in 2011. The median citizen, median voter, and their positions on the left-right scale were used as tools for examining congruence. Studies have proven that in Poland, the median citizen and the median voter are positioned on the right side of the left-right scale. The legislature and executive authorities chosen in the elections are located left of the median citizen and the median voter. Studies have not demonstrated the existence of any impact of the electoral system on the positioning of the median citizen and the median voter.

scholarly journals The Effect of the Electoral System on Political Representation in Iraq Post 2003

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Mohammed Abed Hammadi ◽  
Magda Ali Saleh
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
The Social ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

The study discusses the influence of the electoral system on the political representation of the social compositions of the Iraqi people, and the nature of their political participation in the ongoing political process in Iraq, by means of structuring entities and parties on basis of subsidiary identities, aside from the national identity. The study is divided into two research objectives. The first research objective is examining the nature of the political representation of the social compositions after the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, through exploring the religious and nationalistic diversities of the social compositions of the Iraqi society, in addition to discussing the political blocs and parties in the Iraqi system post 2003. The study realizes that these parties and political blocs depend on the sectarian and doctrinal dimension as well as the nationalistic ideology shedding its shadow on the entire political process. In turn, the political process employs quota systems as an approach towards its formation, which also brings about weak leadership and personnel loaded with personal gain against loyalty and citizenship. The second research objective is discussing the development of the electoral system and its effect on the representation of social compositions within the political process, through tracing three legislative elections taking place after 2003. The study reached several points of results, the most important of which is the influence of the electoral system on the political process and its effect on the nature of political representation of social compositions, since this system produces a majority out of a single composition at the expense of other social compositions in the Iraqi society. As a result, it gave rise to a house of representatives unable to fulfill its legislative and inspective functions, and that operates as a field for settling preset agendas and expressing authoritative judgments.

scholarly journals Political Representation of Ethnic Minorities at Local Level: Factors, Context and Empirical Examples

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 352-373
Author(s):  
Martin Kryšpín Vimmr
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Minority Representation ◽  
Frankfurt Am Main ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Dependent Variables

Abstract This qualitative comparative study examines all sorts of the factors which have influence on the political representation of ethnic minorities at a local level. Two dependent variables are analyzed on the four empirical cases: the level of proportionality of political representation and nature of political representation of ethnic minorities. Influence of three different independent variables is discussed further on. These variables are an electoral system, special measures for minority representation and electoral rights as all these variables could possibly have an effect on the level of political representation of ethnic minorities. The selected cases are the cities of Leicester, United Kingdom, the Finnish city of Espoo, Cluj-Napoca in Romania and Frankfurt am Main in Germany. All these cases have a substantial amount of citizens of different ethnic groups.

scholarly journals Authenticating Representation: Women's Quotas and Islamist Parties

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (04) ◽  
pp. 781-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lihi Ben Shitrit
Keyword(s):  
Political Representation ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Numerical Representation ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Simple Addition ◽  
Meaningful Participation ◽  
The World ◽  
Significant Factors

The spread of women's quotas in legislative bodies across the world since the mid-1990s has become one of the most significant factors impacting levels of women's political representation (Dahlerup 2013; Krook 2009; Tripp and Kang 2008). In the Middle East, a region that has long held a place at the very bottom of global rankings of women's representation, the adoption of such quotas is transforming levels of representation (Kang 2009). But there is still much debate over the utility of quotas for women's meaningful participation in political life. There is now a well-established literature that examines the effects of quotas on women's descriptive or numerical representation. We have a fairly robust idea about the types of quotas that are appropriate for particular sets of electoral system contexts when the goal is to generate a target percentage of women elected to legislative bodies (Jones 2005; Larserud and Taphorn 2007). However, questions about whether and how quotas benefit women beyond the simple addition of several women parliamentarians to the political game remain contested. The various arguments for the utility of quotas rest mainly on two underlying propositions. The first is that quotas, by bringing more women to the political sphere, promote the substantive representation of women's interests. The second is that quotas have a symbolic effect. They help demonstrate that women are fit and able to govern and so contribute to countering women's historical exclusion from politics.

scholarly journals Features of Political Pluralism in Ukraine: Formation of a New Party System Model

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-299
Author(s):  
Alexander Kerimov ◽  
Tatyana Verbitskaya
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Level Structure ◽  
State Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Functional Method ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Political Pluralism ◽  
Political Processes

The paper features the specifics of Ukrainian party system that formed after the collapse of the USSR. The research objective was to determine the vector of its development. The party system is considered as a political institute with the potential to stabilize the political system in the context of the evolution of Ukrainian statehood. The authors determined factors that influenced the formation of the Ukrainian party system: the transformation of the electoral system, the tightening of legislation on parties, and the change in the balance of power in the political arena. The research helped to identify the following signs of the Ukrainian party system: relative autonomy, closed character, stability, three-level structure (the state level, the regional level, and the local level). The comparative-historical method was used to highlight the stages of the evolution of the Ukrainian party system and its specifics. The functional method was used to determine the role of the party system in political processes. According to N. Luman’s structural-functional method, the main features of the Ukrainian party system can be described as a set of elements with the ability to maintain stability in the context of events that are taking place in the Ukraine political arena. The case-study method was used to study the features of the party system that formed in the context of the evolution of Ukrainian statehood, including such events as political crises and color revolution. The authors came to the conclusion that the Ukrainian party system has fully developed, but there are no prerequisites for its development within the framework of democratic pluralism. The study determined the prospects for democratic transit of the Ukrainian party system and its formation on the basis of political pluralism.

scholarly journals El sistema electoral de Bélgica y sus reformas electorales

2020 ◽  
pp. 503
Author(s):  
Carlos Fernández-Esquer
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Electoral Reforms ◽  
El Sistema

El presente artículo aborda el estudio del sistema electoral de la Cámara de Representantes belga y sus reformas electorales. Bélgica fue el primer país europeo en adoptar un sistema de representación proporcional y, desde entonces, sus elementos centrales han exhibido una extraordinaria estabilidad. Sin embargo, con el cambio de siglo, el gobierno de coalición liderado por el liberal Guy Verhofstadt situó el debate sobre las reformas institucionales en el centro de la agenda política. Ello condujo a una reforma electoral que supuso la «provincialización» del mapa electoral, el establecimiento de una barrera electoral del 5 por ciento y la reducción a la mitad del peso de voto de lista. En 2012, se produjo la última reforma electoral, que consistió en la división de la polémica circunscripción de Bruselas-Halle-Vilvoorde. Este último episodio evidencia la complejidad del modelo federal belga, de carácter consociacional, bipolar y con dinámicas centrífugas.This paper deals with the study of the electoral system of the Belgian House of Representatives and its electoral reforms. Belgium was the first European country to adopt an electoral system of proportional representation and, since then, its main elements have exhibited extraordinary stability. However, with the turn of the century, the coalition government headed by the liberal Guy Verhofstadt put the debate on institutional reforms at the center of the political agenda. This led to an electoral reform that involved several novelties: the «provincialization» of the electoral map, the establishment of a 5 percent threshold and the reduction of the list vote weight by half. In 2012, there was the last electoral reform, which consisted of the division of the controversial constituency of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. This last episode shows the complexity of the Belgian federal model, consociational, bipolar and with centrifugal dynamics. 

Educating for Devolution: The Scottish Office Voter Education Campaign, 1999

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-50
Author(s):  
Martin Cloonan ◽  
Peter Lynch
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Education ◽  
The Political ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
Education Campaign ◽  
Voting System ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Additional Member

This article examines the origins and impact of a political education campaign of a type, which had not hitherto been witnessed in the UK. It examines how the Scottish Office sought to educate Scotland's adult population about a new electoral system which combined the traditional first past the post (FPTP) system used in elections to the Westminster Parliament with the additional member system (AMS). We set out events leading up to the voter-education campaign by outlining the development of the voting system and the political sensitivities which surrounded it We then review a similar voter-education campaign in New Zealand, before examining the Scottish campaign and responses to it. We conclude by drawing together common elements from the two campaigns and analysing the lessons which can be drawn from them.

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