scholarly journals National Elections and Political Apathy: A Comparative Study of Voter Turnout in the 2019 General Elections of Nigeria and South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Nweke ◽  
Eunice Etido-Inyang
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Political Apathy ◽  
The Impact

This research examines the impact of political apathy on electoral participation in Nigeria and South Africa in the 2019 general elections. The paper determined the causes of political apathy, its impact on the electoral process as well as its trend (voter turnout) in the general elections of 2019 in Nigeria and South. This research was borne out of the need to address the increasing rate of political apathy, especially voter turnout in both democratic nations. The research argued that the causes of political apathy, particularly poor voter turnout in the two countries are attributable to political marginalisation, corruption, lack of trust in the electoral process, political violence and militarisation of the electoral system. The research further found that there is no significant difference in the nature and trend of the political apathy (voter turnout) in both countries. The Rational Choice Theory (Downs, 1957) and the Democratic Deprivation Theory (Ebenezer, 2017) were used to theoretically justify the potentials of political apathy in undermining democratic participation. This study used descriptive research design to determine the impact of political apathy on the 2019 national elections in both countries. Trends and nature of political apathy, particularly voter turnout in the two countries were ascertained using secondary data and the analysis was based on content analysis in view of the historical trends and nature of the research. The research concluded that there is an obvious decline in political participation in both countries due to lack of trust in the electoral process, among others, which has largely undermined the interest of the electorate in the political systems of both countries. This research, therefore, recommends that political elite in both countries should be transparent, honest, responsible and responsive in order to encourage voter turnout in both countries at future national elections. A free, fair and credible electoral process, the study also recommended, would help rebuild citizens’ confidence in both countries’ electoral processes.

Election delay will not solve Libya's problems

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Armed Group ◽  
The Core

Significance This is expected to be followed by the first parliamentary election since 2014, at some point in early 2022. It now looks increasingly likely that both elections will be delayed. The electoral process lacks the elements it would need to be truly transformative, but it is prompting shifts in the political elite which will dictate developments for at least the next year. Impacts Khalifa Haftar will keep pushing for his armed group to form the core of Libya’s future army Seif al-Islam Qadhafi’s candidacy in the elections is unlikely to result in him becoming president. Aguileh Saleh looks set to stay on as House of Representatives speaker with no clear date for parliamentary elections.

"YouTube Debate"

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Deligiaouri ◽  
Panagiotis Symeonidis
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Model ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
The Political ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
Internet Communication ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
National Elections ◽  
New Era ◽  
Internet Technologies ◽  
The Impact

The convergence of television with Internet technologies has renewed the discussion about a new era of political communication. The adoption of Internet communication regulations in television programs has created a new hybrid model of “Internetized Television.” This hybrid model aims to reverse the passivity of television democracy, supporting a more active political participation by citizens. In this paper, an extensive empirical study of certain variables relating to participation in internetized television was conducted, focusing, in particular, on the impact of this new medium during the 2007 national elections in Greece, when a specific broadcast was aired on TV, namely the “Skai-YouTube Debate.” Based on the results of the authors’ survey, an in-depth theoretical discussion of the political and communicative challenges imposed by this form of internetized television was conducted.

Flight and fortitude: the decline of the middle class in Zimbabwe

Africa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-547
Author(s):  
Roger Southall
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Black Middle Class ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
National Union ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article focuses on the impact of the policies of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government on Zimbabwe's black middle class. It does so by exploring three propositions emerging from the academic literature. The first is that during the early years of independence, the middle class transformed into a party-aligned bourgeoisie. The second is that, to the extent that the middle class has not left the country as a result of the economic plunge from the 1990s, it played a formative role in opposition to ZANU-PF and the political elite. The third is that, in the face of ZANU-PF's authoritarianism and economic hardship, the middle class has largely withdrawn from the political arena.

Why Ukraine Is Not Russia

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 813-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yitzhak M. Brudny ◽  
Evgeny Finkel
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Significant Extent ◽  
Considerable Part ◽  
The Public ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The Impact

The article discusses the impact of national identity on democratization and market reforms in Russia and Ukraine. We develop a concept of hegemonic national identity and demonstrate its role in Russian and Ukrainian post-communist political development. The article argues that Russia’s slide toward authoritarianism was to an important degree an outcome of the notions of national identity adopted by the main political players and society at large. In Ukraine, on the other hand, a hegemonic identity failed to emerge and the public discussion of issues of national identity led to the adoption of much more liberal and democratic notions of identity by a considerable part of the political elite. Adoption of this more liberal identity, in turn, was one of the main reasons for the Orange Revolution. The main theoretical implications of this argument are as follows: (a) choices of national identity profoundly affect the prospects for democracy in the newly democratizing states; (b) institutions do shape identities; (c) elites’ preference for (or opposition to) liberal democracy is not simply a consequence of their understanding of their self-interest in gaining and preserving power but also is dependent to a significant extent on their choices of political identity.

scholarly journals Democracy and Political Marketing in Nigeria: 2015, The Critical Turning Point

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Akinola Olanrewaju Olugbenga ◽  
William Heuva
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
The Body ◽  
Political Marketing ◽  
The Political ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Critical Juncture ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Critical Turning Point

Nigeria’s current democratic dispensation which started in 1999 entered its sixteenth year with the general elections held between March 28 and April 11, 2015. This study takes a retrospective look at Nigeria’s democratic journey since independence, with particular emphasis on the 2015 Presidential elections won by the opposition All Progressive Congress’ (APC) candidate, General Mohammadu Buhari. The processes leading to the 2015 general elections; its results and reactions to the results and the electoral process are reviewed from the political marketing perspective. Survey, observation and review of relevant literature formed the body of data for the study. The study submits that market-oriented strategy is starting to evolve in Nigeria and also that the country has reached a critical juncture in her democratic journey and she cannot afford to slide back.

scholarly journals Development and implementation of technologies for cultural enlightenment in the context of state cultural policy: semantic guidelines and priority areas

Communicology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-77
Author(s):  
V. V. Stetsenko
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Impact

The article represents the topical trends in contemporary Russian political discourse. The author proceeds from the thesis about the strengthening of the importance of the cultural component of state policy in relation to the education of young people, the reproduction of the political elite, as well as the building of communicative influences between the elite and the people. The article provides an overview of the legal framework of sources within the framework of the research area under consideration. In particular, the article analyzes changes in the field of constitutional legislation, as well as new law-making initiatives in the context of the discussion and adoption of the Laws on Culture and Youth Policy. Significant research platforms are highlighted that accentuate the problems of cultural policy, in the aspects of forming the foundations of the traditional cultural and civilizational identity of youth, as well as the reproduction and improvement of the quality of human capital in the field of training management personnel. Within the framework of the article, the phenomenon of cultural enlightenment is positioned as a promising direction of cultural policy, which is very relevant from the point of view of solving the problems being analyzed. The concept of «cultural imperative» is put forward, designed to become one of the «catalysts» of the process of value-semantic formation of the political elite. The methodological basis of the study was interpretive and empirical methods of studying the impact of state cultural policy, including cultural enlightenment, on the political outlook and socialization of young people, as well as the study of youth as a subject of political relations, its place and role in the political processes of the Russian state, development strategies civic and patriotic activity of young people in a modern society subject to globalization and informatization. In our research, we turned to an interdisciplinary method, in particular, we use the research techniques of sociology in the framework of monitoring on key research issues. As the results of the research, the author proposes projects of optional courses and retraining courses aimed at enriching the system of training the future political elite with value-semantic content through the tools of cultural enlightenment.

scholarly journals Geographical and industry differences on remuneration gap-enhanced labour productivity levels in a developing economy: South Africa as a case study

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 499-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhardus Van Zyl
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Negative Sign ◽  
Developing Economy ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

The aim of the article was to determine the geographic and industry differences for employee-remuneration gap-enhanced labour productivity levels in a developing economy. The Winter-Ebmer and Zweimuller model was used to estimate the signs and magnitudes of the employee-remuneration gap-enhanced labour productivity levels for the different industries in the different geographical areas. The estimation results for all three industries indicated a significant difference between the higher gross geographical product (GGP) provinces and the lower GGP provinces in terms of the employee-remuneration gap-enhanced labour productivity indicator coefficients (ERGLP indicator coefficients). The negative sign of the ERGLP indicator coefficients for the industries of some of the lower GGP provinces relates to the non-existence of any possible positive labour productivity effects that might stem from employee-remuneration gaps. The introduction of business uncertainty resulted in smaller ERGLP indicator coefficients across all industries and geographical areas. The impact was much more severe in the case of the lower GGP provinces

scholarly journals An analysis of the declining support for the ANC during the 2011 South African local government elections

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C Twala
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Majority Vote ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Basic Services ◽  
Registered Voters

Local government elections are notorious for low voter turnout, but the May 2011 elections in South Africa showed a record 58 percent of the 24 million registered voters. In South Africa, local government matters and not just because it provides a pointer to what might happen in the provincial and national elections due in 2014, but helps in determining the readiness of the African Nation Congress in providing basic services to the different communities. Interestingly, these elections were preceded by service delivery protests against the ANC. The article is an analysis of the decreased support for the ANC during the 2011 local government elections. The multifaceted reasons behind the boiling cauldron of this decline in support for the ANC are scrutinised. Underpinning this decline in support often lie deep and complex factors which can be uncovered through a careful analysis of the ANC’s campaigning strategies ahead of these elections; the media which has been accused of rampant sensationalism; service delivery protests and mudslinging from other political parties. However, it is not the author’s intention in this article to deal with how other parties fared during these elections, but to highlight their impact on the declined support received by the ANC in the elections. The discussion is presented in four parts: the first presents an exploratory discussion on the theory of local government in the sphere of governance. The second part discusses some key strategies and tactics used by the ANC in attempts to galvanise support, as well as the challenges encountered. The third deals with the opposition parties’ machinery in preventing the ANC from getting a majority vote during the election. Lastly, the article concludes by highlighting the lessons learnt by the ANC during these elections within the framework of electoral politics in South Africa.Keywords: local election 2011, African National Congress (ANC), local government. Disciplines: History, political science, electoral studies

Uganda president co-opts to dilute Mbabazi threat

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Presidential Candidate ◽  
Regional Stability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
General Elections

Subject Election outlook in Uganda. Significance President Yoweri Museveni is confirmed as the National Resistance Movement's (NRM) official presidential candidate for February 2016 general elections. His most threatening challenger is former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, whose defection is the most significant in a decade. However, in the wake of the NRM party primaries and delegates conference, Museveni has shown his ability to consolidate support among the political elite. Impacts Uganda's elections will distract focus from its official mediation role in Burundi's deteriorating security crisis. However, Museveni may also guard Uganda's position as the regional mediator for fear of losing influence. Burundi is at high risk of civil conflict, with repercussions for regional stability ahead of Uganda's elections.

Internetized Television Debates

2012 ◽  
pp. 157-177
Author(s):  
Anastasia Deligiaouri ◽  
Panagiotis Symeonidis
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
Internet Communication ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
National Elections ◽  
The Impact

The convergence of television with internet technologies has further upheld the participatory role of Internet in modern political communication. The adoption of Internet communication regulations in television programs has created a new hybrid model of “Internetized Television” which has the potential to strengthen citizens’ voice in political life. In this research paper, an extensive empirical study of certain variables relating to participation in internetized television was conducted, focusing, in particular, on the impact of this new medium during the 2007 national elections in Greece, when a specific broadcast was aired on TV, namely the “Skai-YouTube Debate.” Based on the results of our survey, an in-depth theoretical discussion of the political and communicative challenges imposed by this form of internetized television was conducted.

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