scholarly journals Warrior candidates: Do voters value combat experience in postwar elections?

2021 ◽  
pp. 106591292110405
Author(s):  
Josip Glaurdić ◽  
Christophe Lesschaeve
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Combat Veterans ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
War Veterans ◽  
Combat Experience ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
War Experiences ◽  
Electoral Performance ◽  
Unique Dataset

Electoral competition in postwar societies is often dominated by war veterans. The question whether voters actually reward candidates’ records of war service, however, remains open. We answer it using a unique dataset with detailed information on the records of combat service of nearly four thousand candidates in two cycles of parliamentary elections held under proportional representation rules with preferential voting in Croatia. Our analysis shows war veterans’ electoral performance to be conditional on the voters’ communities’ exposure to war violence: combat veterans receive a sizeable electoral bonus in areas whose populations were more exposed to war violence, but are penalized in areas whose populations avoided destruction. This divergence is particularly pronounced for candidates of nationalist rightwing parties, demonstrating the importance of the interaction between lived war experiences and political ideology in postwar societies.

MAU MAU'S ARMY OF CLERKS: COLONIAL MILITARY SERVICE AND THE KENYA LAND FREEDOM ARMY IN KENYA'S NATIONAL IMAGINATION

2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIMOTHY H. PARSONS
Keyword(s):  
Military Service ◽  
Combat Veterans ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
War Veterans ◽  
Combat Experience ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Mau Mau ◽  
National Imagination ◽  
Second World

AbstractScholarly and popular histories of Kenya largely agree that African Second World War veterans played a central role in the Kenya Land Freedom Army. Former African members of the colonial security forces have reinforced these assumptions by claiming to have been covert Mau Mau supporters, either after their discharge, or as serving soldiers. In reality, few Mau Mau generals had actual combat experience. Those who served in the colonial military usually did so in labor units or support arms. It therefore warrants asking why so many Kenyans accept that combat veterans played such a central role in the KLFA and in Kenyan history. Understanding how veterans of the colonial army have become national heroes, both for their wartime service and their supposed leadership of Mau Mau, reveals the capacity of popular history to create more useful and inclusive forms of African nationalism.

Constituency Effects and Legislative Dissent Under Closed-List Proportional Representation

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-99
Author(s):  
Eduardo Alemán ◽  
Juan Pablo Micozzi ◽  
Pablo M. Pinto ◽  
Sebastián Saiegh
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Electoral Incentives ◽  
Party Line ◽  
Ideological Space ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Unique Dataset

ABSTRACTAccording to conventional wisdom, closed-list proportional representation (CLPR) electoral systems create incentives for legislators to favor the party line over their voters’ positions. However, electoral incentives may induce party leaders to tolerate “shirking” by some legislators, even under CLPR. This study argues that in considering whose deviations from the party line should be tolerated, party leaders exploit differences in voters’ relative electoral influence resulting from malapportionment. We expect defections in roll call votes to be more likely among legislators elected from overrepresented districts than among those from other districts. We empirically test this claim using data on Argentine legislators’ voting records and a unique dataset of estimates of voters’ and legislators’ placements in a common ideological space. Our findings suggest that even under electoral rules known for promoting unified parties, we should expect strategic defections to please voters, which can be advantageous for the party’s electoral fortunes.

scholarly journals Invalid Ballots and Electoral Competition

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gani Aldashev ◽  
Giovanni Mastrobuoni
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Electoral Fraud ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Electoral Outcome ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Rational Allocation ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
High Share

In close elections, a sufficiently high share of invalid ballots—if driven by voter mistakes or electoral fraud—can jeopardize the electoral outcome. We study how the closeness of electoral race relates to the share of invalid ballots, under the traditional paper-ballot hand-counted voting technology. Using a large micro-level data set from the Italian parliamentary elections in 1994–2001, we find a strong robust negative relationship between the margin of victory of the leading candidate over the nearest rival and the share of invalid ballots. We argue that this relationship is not driven by voter mistakes, protest, or electoral fraud. The explanation that garners most support is that of rational allocation of effort by election officers and party representatives, with higher rates ofdetectionof invalid ballots in close elections.

Dalit Party Performance and Bloc Voting

2019 ◽  
pp. 85-120
Author(s):  
Amit Ahuja
Keyword(s):  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Uttar Pradesh ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Ethnic Parties ◽  
Electoral Mobilization ◽  
Party Vote Shares ◽  
Electoral Performance

This chapter outlines the electoral performance of Dalit ethnic parties. In non-movement states, Dalit ethnic party vote shares have been higher, and Dalits have won more seats in state assembly and parliamentary elections than Dalit ethnic parties in movement states. The chapter process traces Dalit electoral mobilization by ethnic and multiethnic parties across the two sets of states. It proceeds to show that Dalits’ ethnic party performance is explained by Dalits’ attitudes toward bloc voting and, that importantly, voters’ attitudes vary significantly across movement and non-movement states. Dalits in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are far less inclined to vote with members of their caste than Dalits in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Caste and Cultural Icons

2019 ◽  
pp. 218-241
Author(s):  
R. Thirunavukkarasu
Keyword(s):  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
The State ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
Electoral Performance

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may be an insignificant entity in the electoral arena of Tamil Nadu as the party won only one seat in the 2014 parliamentary elections. However, its efforts to expand its support base in the state where ideologically hostile political dispensations have near hegemonic presence demand a thorough scrutiny. BJP’s endeavours to expand by vernacularizing itself are arguably met with resistance, yet the party’s desperation to project itself as a Tamilized Hindutva party must be dissected. While tracing the genealogy of the BJP’s electoral performance and its modus operandi to expand its support base, this chapter elaborates a two-way process of ‘vernacularization’ and ‘pan-Indianization’.

Suicide Risk Assessment with Combat Veterans—Part II

2017 ◽  
pp. 89-102
Author(s):  
Phillip M. Kleespies ◽  
Abby Adler ◽  
Christopher G. AhnAllen
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Combat Veterans ◽  
Outpatient Basis ◽  
Combat Experience ◽  
Emergency Intervention ◽  
Suicide Risk Factors ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Suicidal Patients

The evidence for combat experience per se as a risk factor for suicide is reviewed in this chapter. The chapter discusses assessing the risk of suicide with combat veterans with a particular emphasis on suicide risk factors associated with combat-related PTSD. A controversy about whether combat-related PTSD actually is a risk factor for suicide is reviewed. In conducting a risk assessment with veterans, clinicians are encouraged to be sensitive to issues of particular relevance to veterans who have experienced combat. Finally, the chapter offers suggestions for the management of suicide risk, including comments on when and how suicidal patients can be managed on an outpatient basis and when an emergency intervention might be needed.

Role of Hope in the Survival of Vietnam Combat Veterans

2002 ◽  
Vol 90 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1191-1196
Author(s):  
Marlene Belew Huff
Keyword(s):  
Vietnam Veterans ◽  
Combat Veterans ◽  
Combat Experience ◽  
Vietnam Combat Veterans ◽  
Determining Factor

75 Vietnam combat veterans participated in extensive interviews about their combat experience. Regardless of the nature of the combat, Vietnam veterans reported that “hope” was a determining factor in their survival. An analysis of the interview narratives suggests a typology of different processes for hoping.

The Rise and Fall of a Populist Contender in Albania

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Blerjana Bino
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Secondary Resources ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
The Public ◽  
Electoral Performance

In light of populism surging in Southeastern Europe, this paper investigates the rise and fall of the Red and Black Alliance (rba), a populist political party in Albania with hard-line nationalism and anti-establishment feelings at its core. The paper investigates the initial breakthrough and the subsequent non-success of the rba by analysing the specific contextual settings for the emergence of populist parties in Albania, the party’s political discourse and its electoral performance in the general parliamentary elections of 2013. By adopting a qualitative methodology of discourse analysis and review of secondary resources, this paper argues that the insignificant electoral results of the rba in the general parliamentary elections in 2013 were determined by a group of interrelated supply and demand factors as well as institutional and contextual factors, with party credibility and the availability of the public being the two most important explanatory variables.

Plurality Maximization vs Vote Maximization: A Spatial Analysis with Variable Participation

1970 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 772-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvin J. Hinich ◽  
Peter C. Ordeshook
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Analysis ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Spatial Models ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Representation Systems

Spatial models of party competition constitute a recent and incrementally developing literature which seeks to explore the relationships between citizens' decisions and candidates' strategies. Despite the mathematical and deductive rigor of this approach, it is only now that political scientists can begin to see the incorporation of those considerations which less formal analyses identify as salient, and perhaps crucial, features of election contests.One such consideration concerns the candidates' objectives. Specifically, spatial analysis often confuses the distinction between candidates who maximize votes and candidates who maximize plurality. Downs and Garvey, for example, assume explicitly that candidates maximize votes, though plurality maximization is clearly the assumption which Garvey actually employs, while Downs frequently assumes that vote maximization, plurality maximization, and the goal of winning are equivalent. Downs, nevertheless, attempts to disentangle these objectives, observing that plurality maximization is the appropriate objective for candidates in a single-member district, while vote maximization is appropriate in proportional representation systems with many parties. All subsequent spatial analysis research, however, assumes either implicitly or explicitly that candidates maximize plurality. If Downs is correct, therefore, this research may not be relevant for a general understanding of electoral competition in diverse constitutional or historical circumstances. The question then is whether those strategies that maximize votes differ from those strategies that maximize plurality.

scholarly journals Ambiguity, Authority, and Legitimacy: Reciprocal Echoes among Political Levels in Bangkok

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-134
Author(s):  
Michael Herzfeld
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Binary Model ◽  
Homogeneous Composition ◽  
The One ◽  
Gubernatorial Election ◽  
Electoral Performance ◽  
Social Poetics

AbstractThai political life is caught in a tension, sometimes temporally rendered as an oscillation, between extremes of democracy and egalitarianism on the one hand and authoritarian relics of older structures on the other. The confrontation between Red and Yellow Shirts leading up to the 2014 coup might seem to suggest a binary model of Thai political ideology, but the internal complexities of both groups belie a simplistic model of two parties with diametrically opposed views and homogeneous composition. In this article, I argue that it is more productive to approach these tendencies in terms of political performances by politicians representing mutually overlapping and often strikingly convergent ideological tendencies. With the benefit of hindsight, I analyse the 2004 Bangkok gubernatorial election – and in particular one key rally held at Thammasat University ten days before polling day – as a case study in the value of an approach from what I have called ‘social poetics’ for understanding the dynamics of electoral performance, showing how the relevant social actors play more or less creatively with established norms of electoral conduct.

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