scholarly journals DIMENSIONS OF ELECTORAL REFORMS IN NIGERIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Olugbade Ojo
Keyword(s):  

Sem dúvida, as sucessivas eleições gerais na Nigéria estão muito abaixo do padrão mínimo internacionalmente aclamado para uma eleição livre e justa. Considerando que, a democracia que é o desejo dos nigerianos sobreviverá apenas se suas regras básicas e elementares - eleição livre e justa para os cidadãos - em termos de um-homem-um-voto para que os cidadãos exerçam sua escolha sejam observadas - infelizmente, “um número de eleições não atenderam nem mesmo o mínimo requisito em um Estado falho ”. É neste contexto que este artigo tenta agora um prognóstico das dimensões das reformas eleitorais e dos prováveis desafios para que a democracia nascente sitiada possa resistir à possibilidade de reversão para a autocracia. Para atingir esse objetivo, o artigo foi organizado em várias seções. Com uma visão geral introdutória, que trata dos imperativos de uma eleição livre e justa na Nigéria, o artigo prossegue com breves postulações teóricas que incomodam o nexo entre democracia e eleições confiáveis. O documento, entretanto, avança para as dimensões da reestruturação das instituições eleitorais para serem capazes de garantir eleições livres e justas com credibilidade. Algumas áreas de concentração para reestruturação incluem: uma revisão dos atos eleitorais, reordenamento do INEC, partidos políticos e democracia interna, a influência debilitante do dinheiro na política, mas especialmente compra de votos, fortalecimento do estado fraco e o papel do judiciário em eleições credíveis, entre outros. O documento, entretanto, infere que mesmo que todas as dimensões da reestruturação sejam realizadas, o Estado deve ser fortalecido a partir de seu atual status extremamente fraco com a adoção de TI, enquanto os nigerianos precisam receber uma reorientação para que possam absorver uma cultura política congruente em relação à democracia.

Author(s):  
Susan Franceschet

Despite electing a female president, Michelle Bachelet, and at one point achieving gender parity in cabinet appointments, women’s presence in Chile’s national congress remains small, is only slightly higher at local levels, and is extremely limited among party and coalition leaders. In her gendered analysis of representation, Susan Franceschet argues this is because of the strong formal and informal institutions that limit the size of electoral districts, require large thresholds to win seats, and require coalition negotiation over candidates for elected office. Even though women have a mixed record of representation, their presence has had important policy consequences. A gender-focused presidency has been critical for passage of gender-attentive policies. Women in Chile’s legislative arenas have been more likely to bring gender issues to the agenda. Franceschet points out that Sernam, the women’s ministry, has played a critically important role in this. The electoral reforms approved by congress in 2015 include a gender quota, creating expectations that improvements will continue.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-340
Author(s):  
Camille Bedock ◽  
Damien Bol ◽  
Thomas Ehrhard
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (324) ◽  
pp. 125-141
Author(s):  
Andrzej Jaeschke

The paper concerns the evolution of the political position of the House of Lords until the end of the 19thcentury. The author presents the time of stabilisation of the relations of the two parliamentary chambers andidentifies its causes. He also discusses the increasing disruption of relations between the two chambers ofthe British Parliament following from electoral reforms and, consequently, the decomposition of the hithertounified conservative political environment and the emergence of liberal forces. This resulted in increasinglystrong ideological and political rivalry between the conservative House of Lords and the largely liberal Houseof Commons.


1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Dawson

AbstractThe real significance ofthe Representation of the People Act, 1918, for the Liberal and Labour parties lay in its mundane and little discussed financial provisions, not in its extension of the franchise. Despite the electoral reforms of 1883–5, election contests before 1914 were still expensive enough effectively to exclude the Labour party from politics outside the industrial centres. In 1918 the politicians of the older parties took the opportunity to relieve their pockets of a substantial part of the expense of elections. However, Labour was the main beneficiary: its new strategy of contesting seats nationwide was only made possible by the changes in and underlying the Fourth Reform Act. These changes, in turn, enabled Labour to benefit from being a ‘national’ party and ‘alternative government’, during a period when the established leading ‘progressive’ party was divided and weakened. The Fourth Reform Act also assisted Labour's strategy of eliminating the Liberal party as a parliamentary force: Liberals could be denied election victories in the countryside and the suburbs by hopeless but inexpensive Labour interventions.


Gaining Voice ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 148-156
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Clark

This book has focused on African American state legislators through the lens of descriptive representation. Throughout the book, descriptive representation has been referred to as gaining voice, a multilayered metaphor that refers to the act of blacks voting, which is critical for whether black elected officials reach office. Once enough blacks gain voice, they choose to create caucuses to best advocate for shared interests. Gaining voice also refers to blacks making their political preferences known and, in some instances, actually having their interests represented in public policy. Once African Americans gain voice, they become more involved politically; and this informs how they think about electoral reforms governing access to voting. In this concluding chapter of the book, key themes and important findings are revisited. The implications of the book are considered, as well as how the book contributes to studies of state politics and black politics. Future studies informed by the book are also discussed.


Gaining Voice ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 123-147
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Clark

Given the difficulties blacks experience exercising their right to vote, it seems that African Americans would uniformly support laws that make it easier for people to vote (progressive electoral reforms), while uniformly opposing laws that make it more difficult for people to vote (prohibitive electoral reforms). Arguing against this logic and building on studies of winning and losing in politics, the chapter posits that descriptive representation in the state legislature should liberalize black public opinion toward electoral reforms governing access to the franchise, using 2008 Cooperative Congressional Election Study data to find partial support. An increased black seat share in the legislature is associated with blacks being less supportive of requiring that voters read from the US Constitution and requiring voters to show photo ID. Further, an increased black seat share is related to blacks being more supportive of automatic voter registration and election-day registration. The black representation ratio was unimportant for understanding whether blacks supported electoral reforms.


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