Electoral Behavior of Voters in Ukraine in Crisis Times

The article contains an analysis of the impact of the crisis situation on the electoral behavior during the national elections in Ukraine. For this purpose, the study highlights the pre-crisis, crisis and postcrisis periods. The criteria for a comparative analysis of the electoral behaviour during these periods are the peculiarities of territorial differentiation of voting and the degree of support for election participants, as well as the specifics of the turnout in the regions of Ukraine. It has been revealed that with the transition from one period to another there has been a transformation of the electoral behaviour of voters. The pre-crisis period was characterized by a significant electoral split in Ukraine between pro-Russian and pro-Western forces. The sharp decline in voter turnout in the South-East of the country during the crisis period led to a significant fall in the influence of the pro-Russian forces. In the western regions of Ukraine, on the contrary, during this period there was an increase in voter activity, which determined the emergence of new relevant political forces of a pro-Western nature. In the post-crisis period, turnout rates generally returned to pre-crisis levels. However, this did not lead to a full restoration of the electoral division of the country due to the geographically homogeneous support of V.A. Zelensky and his party «Servant of the People». A forecast is made, including three scenarios of transformation of the political system of Ukraine taking into account possible changes in the electoral behavior of voters.

Explaining the Australian marriage equality vote: An aggregate-level analysis

The Australian public voted in November 2017 in favour of changing the law to allow for same-sex marriage – only the second such national popular vote after Ireland in 2015. Though 61.6% of the Australian public voting in the Marriage Law Postal Survey voted Yes in support of marriage equality, this support was not uniformly distributed across the country, with support at the electoral division level varying between 26.1% and 83.7%. What, then, explains such variation in support for same-sex marriage among the Australian public? In this article, we advance an aggregate, electoral division-level explanation of the Yes vote that links support for the legalisation of same-sex marriage to a set of local-level political and socio-demographic factors.

Elite Parties and Poor Voters: Theory and Evidence from India

Why do poor people often vote against their material interests? This article extends the study of this global paradox to the non-Western world by considering how it manifests within India, the world's biggest democracy. Arguments derived from studies of advanced democracies (such as values voting) or of poor polities (such as patronage and ethnic appeals) fail to explain this important phenomenon. Instead, I outline a novel strategy predicated on an electoral division of labor enabling elite parties to recruit the poor while retaining the rich. Recruitment is outsourced to nonparty affiliates that provide basic services to appeal to poor communities. Such outsourcing permits the party to maintain programmatic linkages to its elite core. Empirically, I test this argument with qualitative and quantitative evidence, including a survey of more than 9,000 voters. Theoretically, I argue that this approach is best suited to elite parties with thick organizations, typically those linked to religious social movements.

Online or conventional democracy? The Ashgrove election and networked journalism

This study focuses on new media use in democratic discourse, specifically in the Queensland state electoral division of Ashgrove in 2011. This site was chosen to make an enquiry into the place of mass media in public decision-making, asking the question: did online media provide an extension of democracy, and what would be journalism’s role in democratic discourse? The study utilises a survey of 280 constituents, a review of pertinent news coverage, and extensive interviews with a panel of informants. In the outcome, it found those most equipped to utilise online media showed a lack of will to get involved in deeper political, social engagements. It also sees younger demographics forming news habits, not usually in step with traditional political avenues, based on familiarity with online processes, while consciously marginalising the need for trustworthiness in this setting. These issues are considered together with one leading proposal as to where the future of new media might be heading. It assesses the notion of professional and amateur collaboration by employing the model articulated by Beckett, called ‘networked journalism’.

AN ESSENTIAL CENTER–PERIPHERY ELECTORAL CLEAVAGE AND THE TURKISH PARTY SYSTEM

For nearly forty years, scholars have utilized the metanarrative of a center–periphery cleavage first proposed by Şerif Mardin to explain a variety of phenomena in Turkish politics and society. When used to interpret electoral cleavages in the multiparty period, however, a center–periphery cleavage cannot effectively explain electoral outcomes. Focusing on the initial stage of multiparty competition, when the cleavage is often said to have been most salient, this article explores the empirical evidence to show that the concept as commonly employed has actually confounded an effective understanding of electoral behavior in Turkey. Rather than demonstrating a clear electoral division between the elites of the social center and the masses during this period, the article reveals two distinct cross-cutting patron-client strategies used by elite-dominated parties to cater to the rural population. The significant patterns of change in Turkey's electoral outcomes over time further illustrate the need to focus on how political parties and elites accumulate votes—that is, on their vote targeting strategies—rather than rely on static sociopolitical cleavages.