Coordinating nominations: how to deal with an incumbent surplus after electoral reform

How do parties and candidates react to electoral system reform? While the literature on causes and consequences of electoral reforms is receiving increasing attention, we lack a systematic micro-level account on how parties and candidates adopt to changes in electoral rules and district boundaries. This paper examines the case of the Japanese Liberal Democrats to explore how the party has managed to accommodate a surplus of incumbents to a reduced number of nominal tier seats following the 1994 electoral reform. By using micro-level data, I examine how the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has matched candidates based on their expected electoral strength and ideological positioning to new districts. Moreover, I investigate how the newly instituted party-list allowed the LDP to avoid its disintegration at the local level by systematically defusing local stand-offs through the handing out of promising list positions. My findings help to understand how the LDP could avoid its disintegration and could continue to dominate Japanese politics until today.

Malaysian Electoral System Reform and the Challenges of its Implementation After the 14th General Election

Prior to the 14th general election (GE-14), electoral practices in Malaysia have been often criticised as being obscure and biased since it was plagued with issues such as dubious voter registers and ballot paper fraud. Therefore, in its manifesto during GE-14, Pakatan Harapan (PH) promised to reform this electoral practice to make it more independent, transparent, and fair. PH then won the GE-14 on the strength of this vow, forcing it to keep its manifesto pledge. However, implementing the said promise is not easy as most of the proposals involve amendments to the Federal Constitution that require the support of at least a two-thirds majority. The fact that PH lacks such a majority has raised the issue of whether or not the objective to reform the electoral system can be materialised. Thus, this article examines the aspects of electoral reform implemented by PH during its 22 months in power and assesses the challenges faced in implementing such electoral system reform. The concept of electoral reform was used as an analytical tool in this article. This article mainly obtained its data from secondary sources including books, journals, theses, official government documents and websites, while primary data were collected from unstructured interviews with authoritative informants. Findings revealed that among the important reforms of the country's electoral system that have been accomplished by PH are improving the standard operating procedures of elections, enhancing election rules that do not require amendments, amending laws that require simple majority support in the parliament, and implementing ‘high-impact’ electoral reforms that require amendments to the Federal Constitution. Moreover, it was also discovered that the main challenge to reforming the electoral system was the constraint of electoral rule amendments that require the approval of a two-thirds majority of parliamentarians. Other obstacles included politicians' unwillingness to accept a new electoral system culture, barriers to accessing data and information owned by other agencies, discrepancies between federal and state legislation, and financial constraints on improving existing hardware and systems necessary for electoral reform success.

Elusive empowerment: characteristics of indirectly elected women chairpersons of district councils in Uttar Pradesh, India

The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India was introduced with a stated legislative intent of reserving not less than a third of seats for women in institutions of local self-government, the three-tier panchayati raj institutions. That amendment is considered a milestone in India’s project of empowerment of women. This paper evaluates the power and prestige of the post of an adhyaksha (chairperson) of a zila (district) panchayat (council) in general, and in particular the status of women elected to the post during 2016 in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Analysing the candidature, electoral success, electoral practices and subsequent functioning of zila panchayat adhyakshas (ZPAs), the authors argue that despite seats being reserved for women, no meaningful political empowerment of women has occurred in UP. The paper questions the efficacy of the indirect mode of election of ZPAs in bringing about empowerment of women, arguing that indirect elections enable powerful ruling elites to use women as proxies, subverting the legislative intent of the 73rd Amendment. The paper therefore proposes electoral reforms.

The Malaysian Election Commission: Navigating Electoral Authoritarianism and Political Change

The urgency of electoral reforms has long been identified as a key to improving democracy in Malaysia. For decades, electoral manipulation through gerrymandering, malapportionment, and issues with the electoral roll and conduct of elections have undermined democratic quality and competition. The Malaysian Election Commission (EC) has – understandably – come under scrutiny for its role in facilitating and sustaining these problems. However, what requires a greater level of attention is the question of how the EC – despite its position as a constitutional institution that exists independently from the other branches of government – has operated in ways that undermined Malaysia's democracy and maintained a dominant party regime for over six decades. This Article brings this to light by examining the structural, institutional, and political conditions that shape the EC's operation, particularly with regard to re-delineation of constituencies and the conduct of elections. It argues that flaws in constitutional design, along with subsequent constitutional amendments, have rendered the EC vulnerable to partisan capture and thus affected its ability to function as an independent constitutional institution. In addition, this Article demonstrates how changes in political imperatives and judicial restraint in reviewing the EC's decision-making have also contributed to the deficiencies in Malaysia's electoral democracy.

Politics of Inclusion: Review Essay

Politics of Inclusion (2009) is an unusual book as its major arguments are not merely valid but are increasingly relevant. Published over a decade ago, it remains a must read for policymakers, political scientists and developmental experts. This review essay has tried to lay down eight key arguments that the book made. These are expanding the ambit of the definition of discrimination from only historical to both past and present forms; accepting that Muslims are not only a poor community but also suffer a peculiar form of discrimination which is increasing; discrimination and backwardness both criterion must be fulfilled for any kind of affirmative action to be institutionalized; state should be welfare in nature and protect all vulnerable social groups; acknowledging that Hindutva is not only against religious minorities but also against women; political representation must be on the four axes of caste, ethnicity, religion and gender; for proper representation of Dalits, tribes, Muslims and women we need electoral reforms and lastly, Scheduled Caste (SC) status must be conferred to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. Rather than simply summing up the book, this review essay uses arguments from various contemporary political theorists and social scientists.

Mexico electoral reforms are unlikely to succeed

Significance President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) has repeatedly accused electoral institutions of being biased and unreliable. Such claims have intensified since the June 6 mid-term elections, when decisions on several disputed races at federal and local levels went against Morena candidates. Impacts The divisions that led to conflict over the Electoral Court remain and could drive renewed tensions that will undermine its legitimacy. The Electoral Court’s credibility will be further undermined if investigations into Vargas’s unexplained wealth lead to corruption charges. Government attacks on the electoral authorities will become more common ahead of March’s planned presidential recall referendum.

DIMENSIONS OF ELECTORAL REFORMS IN NIGERIA

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.

Electoral Violence and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges

The study examined the effects of electoral violence on the democratization efforts and democratic consolidation in Nigeria since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The nation’s elections, at all levels of governance, are characterized by violence. Violence mar as high as 70 percent of Nigerian elections resulting in deaths, destruction of properties, maiming, etc. Successive governments have made frantic efforts to institutionalize and consolidate democracy in the country, embarking on various electoral reforms with little or no result with respect to curbing electoral violence. Thus, the main objective of this study is to show that the high rate of electoral violence witnessed over the years has weakened and discredited the democratic consolidation drive of the Nigerian state. The theoretical framework adopted in this study is the “State Fragility Theory”. However, the author’s modified version of “State Compromise Theory” was used to analyze the nature, character and reasons for electoral violence in Nigeria and its effects on the institutionalization of democracy in the country. The study used both primary and secondary data. The primary data were mainly drawn from mainly the authors’ observations during elections, over the years, while secondary data were drawn from existing literature on the subject matter. The study revealed that the pervasive violence at different elections has greatly discredited and emasculated democratic governance in the country. Violence has become both physical and cathartic. It manifests in form of wanton shooting by political thugs to intimidate voters and electoral officials, so as to snatch election materials, disruption of voting, vote suppression, cancellation and annulment of elections in opposition strongholds, etc. The paper concluded that, to ensure the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria, election management bodies must adopt an electoral system that drastically reduces congregation of people at a voting point(s) so as to reduce violence. Some of the recommendations are that election management bodies should deploy appropriate technology to reduce congregation of people at a voting point, transmission of results should be done electronically to minimize human involvement, contacts error and manipulations.

Election Reform and Women’s Representation: Ranked Choice Voting in the U.S.

Ranked choice voting first gained a foothold in the U.S. during the Progressive Movement in the 20th century as calls for electoral reforms grew. Ranked choice voting was implemented in many cities across the U.S. in both single- and multi-seat districts. But, by the 1940s it became a victim of its own success, turning the tides of the hegemonic white male leadership in U.S. legislative bodies with the election of women. Since the 1990s, ranked choice voting has once again gained traction in the U.S., this time with the focus on implementing single seat ranked choice voting. This article will build on the existing literature by filling in the gaps on how ranked choice voting—in both forms—has impacted women’s representation both historically and in currently elected bodies in the U.S.

Citizen Assessment of Electoral Reforms: Do Evaluations of Fairness Blunt Self-Interest?

A large literature shows that citizens care about the procedural fairness of rules and institutions. This body of work suggests that citizen evaluations of institutional changes should be constrained by fairness considerations, even if they would personally benefit from the reforms. We test this expectation using two panel studies to examine whether citizens become more accepting of proposals rated as unfair (in wave one) after we experimentally manipulate (in wave two) whether the proposals aid their party’s electoral prospects. Using this approach, we are able to establish what citizens see to be fair or unfair separate from their evaluation of a given rule change. We find that supporters of both parties are consistently more favorable toward reforms their fellow partisans and, crucially, they themselves, claim reduce electoral fairness when framed as advancing their partisan interests. The results provide important insights into how citizens evaluate electoral processes, procedural fairness, and, hence, the acceptable limits of institutional change.