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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > Elections & referenda
Real Power to the People describes a unique experiment in democracy that took place during 2004-2005. In this experiment, the government of British Columbia gave its citizens the power to take control of its electoral reform process and make a final decision. This new approach to electoral reform was implemented through a citizens' assembly of 160 randomly selected, nonpartisan British Columbians and a referendum. The citizens' assembly first studied the different electoral options, listened to the views of their fellow citizens, and recommended a new electoral system for British Columbia. Later, all British Columbians took part in making a final decision on the recommended new system through the referendum. Dr. Herath was directly involved in the process as one of the assembly members. This unique new approach has gathered attention from political pundits all over the world. There are indications that other jurisdictions will adopt it. The Netherlands and Ontario have already begun to do so while there is a growing movement in California to follow suit. The work first introduces the reader to electoral reform in general, the historic context of the new approach, and its implementation. This is followed by an explanation of the six most critical features of the new approach. The work ends with Dr. Herath's conclusions that include five important lessons to be drawn from this first time application of the new approach and its worldwide applicability.
This book offers the first comprehensive, comparative and coherent perspective on parliamentary candidates in contemporary representative democracy. Based on the unique database of the 'Comparative Candidate Survey' project which interrogated parliamentary candidates in more than 30 countries, it fills a significant lacuna by focusing on the thousands of ordinary candidates that participate in national elections. It examines who the candidates are in terms of their socio-demographic background and political career patterns, how they were selected by their parties, what their policy preference are and whether these are congruent to those held by their voters, who they seek to represent and how they intend to do so once elected, and what their visions are on representative democracy and party government. Last but not least, it investigates how they go about reaching out to their potential voters during the election campaign. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of political parties and party politics, political elites, political communication, political participation, elections, theories of democracy and representation, legislative studies, voting behaviour and more broadly to European politics, as well as to political and policy professionals throughout Europe.
This book studies how established political parties react to the far left and far right parties that have surged in many democracies worldwide. While some of the extremist parties are being imitated in response, established parties can also choose to systematically rule out all political cooperation with them, imposing a cordon sanitaire. A third response by established parties combines these two reactions. How common are these three responses, and how do they affect far left and far right parties' electoral support? This book addresses these questions by analyzing experimental and non-experimental data from fifteen European countries since 1944. In doing so, it informs scientific and public debates about challenges to established parties, how these parties deal with these challenges, and what the consequences are for the quality of democracy in contemporary democratic societies.
This book provides a systematic overview and in-depth analysis of the effects of rebel group inclusion on democracy following the end of conflict across the globe. It examines different types of rebel groups, addressing the subject matter through the lens of three dimensions - democracy, stability and governance - which structure the book and the individual chapters. As such, it affords a rare opportunity to bring together two heretofore separate research traditions - conflict studies and political parties. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of political parties and party theory, civil wars and peacebuilding, democratization studies and state building and more broadly to comparative politics, development studies, and security studies.
This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the determinants of EU support between 2006 and 2015, and of electoral behavior during the European Parliament elections. In light of the Eurozone financial and debt crisis, it also examines how political and economic turbulences have affected EU citizens' stance on democracy and their support for EU institutions. It explores measures taken in the context of the Euro crisis management and the reactions of EU citizens, in order to shed new light on the determinants and developments of EU support. The author highlights the heterogeneity of the developments between the member states and identifies social, political, and economic facets of the crisis that have changed the ways citizens form their political attitudes towards the EU. The book delivers a profound account of the Euro crisis, integrating approaches from political economy, psychology, sociology, and public opinion research. It will appeal to scholars and anyone interested in learning more about the declining citizen support in the EU and the heterogeneous developments in the member states, which may significantly endanger the long-term existence of the European Union.
Communicator-in-Chief: How Barack Obama Used New Media Technology to Win the White House examines the fascinating and precedent-setting role new media technologies and the Internet played in the 2008 presidential campaign that allowed for the historic election of the nation's first African American president. It was the first presidential campaign in which the Internet, the electorate, and political campaign strategies for the White House successfully converged to propel a candidate to the highest elected office in the nation. The contributors to this volume masterfully demonstrate how the Internet is to President Barack Obama what television was to President John Kennedy, thus making Obama a truly twenty-first century communicator and politician. Furthermore, Communicator-in-Chief argues that Obama's 2008 campaign strategies established a model that all future campaigns must follow to achieve any measure of success. The Barack Obama campaign team astutely discovered how to communicate and motivate not only the general electorate but also the technology-addicted Millennial Generation - a generational voting block that will be a juggernaut in future elections.
This book examines the seismic impact of Brexit on the British political system, assessing its likely long-term effect in terms of a significantly changed political and constitutional landscape. Starting with the 2015 general election and covering key developments up to "Brexit Day", it shows how Brexit "transformed" British politics. The unprecedented turmoil - two snap elections, three Prime Ministers, the biggest ever defeat for the Government in Parliament, an impressive number of rebellions and reshuffles in Cabinet and repeated requests for a second independence referendum in Scotland - as a result of leaving the EU, calls into question what sort of political system the post-Brexit UK will become. Taking Lijphart's "Westminster model" as its reference, the book assesses the impact of Brexit along three dimensions: elections and parties; executive-legislative relationships; and the relationship between central and devolved administrations. Based on a wealth of empirical material, including original interviews with key policymakers and civil servants, it focuses on the "big picture" and analytically maps the direction of travel for the UK political system. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of Brexit, British politics, constitutional, political, and contemporary history, elections and political parties, executive politics, and territorial politics as well as more broadly related practitioners and journalists. Chapters one and two of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Funded by the University of Trento and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.
This book examines the seismic impact of Brexit on the British political system, assessing its likely long-term effect in terms of a significantly changed political and constitutional landscape. Starting with the 2015 general election and covering key developments up to "Brexit Day", it shows how Brexit "transformed" British politics. The unprecedented turmoil - two snap elections, three Prime Ministers, the biggest ever defeat for the Government in Parliament, an impressive number of rebellions and reshuffles in Cabinet and repeated requests for a second independence referendum in Scotland - as a result of leaving the EU, calls into question what sort of political system the post-Brexit UK will become. Taking Lijphart's "Westminster model" as its reference, the book assesses the impact of Brexit along three dimensions: elections and parties; executive-legislative relationships; and the relationship between central and devolved administrations. Based on a wealth of empirical material, including original interviews with key policymakers and civil servants, it focuses on the "big picture" and analytically maps the direction of travel for the UK political system. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of Brexit, British politics, constitutional, political, and contemporary history, elections and political parties, executive politics, and territorial politics as well as more broadly related practitioners and journalists. Chapters one and two of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Funded by the University of Trento and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.
Upturning the typical view of Turkey's democratic trajectory as a product of authoritarian assault or unfortunate circumstances, this book argues that the AKP, first elected in 2002, has consistently advanced a narrative of democracy as the work of an elite working for the 'National Will'. Beginning with an analysis of the historical processes that led to the AKP's rise at the beginning of the 21st century, the book then focuses on the AKP since 2002. Though Turkey's democratic transition was originally characterised by Western co-operation, the author outlines the gradual deterioration of these relations since the 2010s, as well as the decline of political rights, freedom of expression and the rule of law. However, bringing in theoretical perspectives of democracy, it is argued that the AKP has adopted an alternative definition based on the 'National Will' throughout its rule, resistant to the Western essentialist view. As such, the AKP's story highlights that the root of this crisis lies within democracy itself. The book will appeal to historians and analysts of Turkish politics, as well as to political scientists interested in theories of democracy. Moreover, for those interested in the global contemporary crisis of democracy, the book provides an important case-study.
This book provides a systematic overview of the prevalence, causes, and stability of left-wing and right-wing extremist attitudes in Germany between 1994 and 2017. It shows that there are many similarities between left-wing and right-wing extremists, both in terms of their ideologies and their individual experiences. Overall, these causes can be traced back to three factors: unmet individual needs (e.g., deprivation or disenchantment with politics), access to ideological narratives that promise simplified solutions to individual problems, and the larger social circumstances of life (e.g., transformation processes, unemployment, or immigration). Although extremist attitudes are relatively rare, they are also shown to be highly stable: once acquired, individuals are difficult to bring back onto the democratic path. This book is the first to systematically compare left-wing and right-wing extremist attitudes, to provide an intensive methodological contribution to the measurability of such attitudes, and to relate their causes and stability.
This is a story about how the extreme became mainstream. It reveals how the truth became ‘fake news’, how fringe ideas spread, and how a candidate many dismissed as a joke was propelled to the presidency by the dark side of the internet. For several years, Andrew Marantz, a New Yorker staff writer, has been embedded with alt-right propagandists, who have become experts at using social media to advance their corrosive agenda. He also spent time with the social-media entrepreneurs who made this possible, through their naive and reckless ambition, by disrupting all of the traditional information systems. Join Marantz as some of the biggest brains in Silicon Valley teach him how to make content go viral; as he hangs out with the conspiracists, white supremacists and nihilist trolls using these ideas to make their memes, blogs and podcasts incredibly successful; and as he meets some of the people led down the rabbit hole of online radicalization. Antisocial is about how the unthinkable becomes thinkable, and then becomes reality. By telling the story of the people who hijacked the American conversation, Antisocial will help you understand the world they have created, in which we all now live.
This major new work from the well-known team of Heath, Jowell and Curtice explores the emergence of New Labour from the ruins of old Labour's four successive defeats at the hands of the Conservatives. Based on the authoritative British Election Surveys the book explores some of the key questions about contemporary British elections and the social and political factors that decide their outcomes.
Covers an extraordinary political event of having four national elections in two years. The book relies on empirical analysis, including extensive use of the Israel National Election Studies data; on theoretical rigor; and on the contextualization of the elections from comparative and long-term perspectives. Ideal for students and researchers of Israeli politics and society, electoral studies and the crisis of democracy more generally.
This authoritative overview of election redistricting at the congressional, state legislative, and local level provides offers an overview of redistricting for students and practitioners. The updated second edition pays special attention to the significant redistricting controversies of the last decade, from the Supreme Court to state courts.
Zimmerman examines in detail the use of the recall by United States voters to remove elected state and local officials from office. The arguments of recall proponents and opponents are analyzed, and model constitutional and statutory provisions are developed to guide governments considering adoption of the recall or revision of current recall provisions. This book is the first since 1912 devoted to a national evaluation of the recall. The recall currently is authorized by a constitutional or statutory provision in 26 states and by home rule charters in a number of additional states. Zimmerman examines in detail the use of the recall by United States voters to remove elected state and local officials from office. The arguments of recall proponents and opponents are analyzed, and model constitutional and statutory provisions are developed to guide governments considering adoption of the recall or revision of current recall provisions. Recall attempts throughout the United States are reviewed to obtain evidence to evaluate the arguments of recall proponents and opponents. The evidence, Zimmerman suggests, generally supports the proponents. The recall has not produced a new era of public official responsibility, yet the device has not caused extensive disruption of state and local governments as feared by early opponents. In his conclusion, Zimmerman analyzes current constitutional and statutory recall provisions to develop model provisions to guide those considering adoption of the recall or revision of existing provisions. This analysis will be of particular interest to scholars and researchers of state and local government, American constitutional law, and public policy.
This book analyses the coverage of elections that occurred between September 2015 and February 2016 in six European countries (Greece, Portugal, Poland, Croatia, Spain and Ireland). The sample examined includes all news stories published during the official electoral campaign in different types of media outlets: three newspapers per country covering centre-left and centre-right wing political leaning, as well as reference and tabloid papers; three main television news broadcasts covering commercial/private and public broadcast television channels; and three papers that are published only online, taking into account their levels of audience and importance within each national media and political system. The book also examines different connections to the EU and to the Euro Crisis. Questions such as the following guide the overall analysis: In what ways is news election coverage similar and different in these countries? Which issues are mostly covered by the news media and how? Are there patterns of election news coverage in these six European countries? This book is indispensable reading for researchers and students in the field of the media coverage of election campaigns, political communication and populism. Chapters 4 and 8 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Explores who votes for Radical Left Parties in contemporary Western Europe, and why. Analyzes the radical left electorate in 17 West European countries for a period of 18 years (2000-2018). Considers not only voter characteristics, but also the characteristics of the parties themselves and of the political and economic context in which they compete for votes.
On 10 July 2020, Singapore held its 18th general elections in history and the 13th since independence in 1965. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) once again retained its supermajority by capturing 83 out of the 93 seats, controlling 89.2 percent of parliamentary seats. In spite of a changing social, political and economic landscape, Singapore is still very much identified as an illiberal democracy that has somehow thrived over the years.As the general elections was held during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were expectations that Singaporeans would overwhelmingly vote for the PAP government as the country was facing a serious crisis of a generation. The 'flight-to-safety' mode that some had expected in an election during a crisis, however, did not materialise. In the end, Singaporean voters decided to send a strong warning to the PAP that not all was well, with the opposition achieving its strongest gains since 1965, capturing 10 seats and an additional two Non-constituency Member of Parliament seats. The PAP's total votes dropped from 69.9 percent in 2015 to 61.2 percent in 2020. The rise of a credible opposition has also further strengthened Singaporeans' resolve to ensure that a fair-playing field exists in the political realm. With the highest voter turnout since independence, many have made it known that their voices mattered. The PAP also saw some cracks in its ranks, with some former cadre members and supporters being critical of the new fourth-generation team.Against this backdrop, this book hopes to address the following questions. What were the key issues in the general elections? Who were the main contenders in the polls? What accounted for the PAP's continued hold on power in Singapore? Why did the opposition perform much better than in the previous general elections? What are the main implications of the 2020 general elections results for the PAP, opposition and the broader society at large? How far have electoral issues shifted from 'bread and butter' concerns to much broader topics of social injustices and diversity of voices in parliament? What were some of the crucial talking points during this election? Last, but not least, how far did social media and internet campaigning determine the outcome of this election?
How do Democratic and Republican party leaders react after their party has lost a presidential election? Is there a pattern of response to defeat that reflects the distinctive cultures of the two parties? This book answers these questions by examining how the two national party organizations have responded to presidential election defeats between 1956 and 1993. Drawing on party documents, interviews with party officials, and contemporary accounts, Philip Klinkner provides detailed case studies of opposition party politics. He shows that Republican national committees have reacted to losses by making organizational changes to improve campaign technology and fundraising and that losing Democrats have sought to refine or make more democratic their internal procedures for selecting delegates to the national convention or for choosing presidential candidates. Klinkner suggests that the reasons for these reactions stem from the historical development of the parties. The organizational response of the Republican party is the result of its long-term relationship with business, its homogeneity and hierarchical structure, and its minority party experience. The Democrats' emphasis on participation and representation for its constituent elements is based on its characteristic composition of social and economic out-groups, its heterogeneity and decentralization, and its tradition as the majority party.
This book argues that it is now the generational gap that is key to understanding and defining contemporary American politics, with an individual's age cohort being one of the most important predictors of difference in political behavior. Utilizes quantitative data in the form of American National Election Studies, the 2020 national Election Pool exit polls, A.P Votecast surveys, and numerous Pew research Center surveys to demonstrate findings. One of the first books to factor in the arrival of Generation Z into the electorate during the 2020 election, identifying how they differ to previous generations, includign millenials.
Based on in-depth interviews conducted with British politicians, this book analyses the different impacts of leaving political office. Representative democracy depends on politicians exiting office, and yet while there is considerable interest in who stands for and gains office, there is curiously little discussed about this process. Jane Roberts seeks to address this gap by asking: What is the experience like? What happens to politicians as they make the transition from office? What is the impact on their partners and family? Does it matter to anyone other than those immediately affected? Are there any wider implications for our democratic system? This book will appeal to academics in the fields of leadership, political science, public management and administration and psychology. It will also be of interest to elected politicians in central, devolved and local government (current and former), policy makers and political commentators, and more widely, the interested general reader.
This Pivot explores the mechanism of election manipulation in ostensibly democratic but essentially authoritarian systems called the hybrid regime, using the 2018 parliamentary elections in Bangladesh as an example. The 2018 election has delivered an unprecedented victory to the incumbent Bangladesh Awami League. Elections pose serious dilemmas for the leaders of hybrid regimes. While contested elections bolster their claims of democracy and augment their legitimacy, they can also threaten the status quo. Faced with the challenge, the incumbents tend to hold stage-managed elections. This book offers incisive examination of Bangladesh's political environment, rigorous scrutiny of the roles of state institutions including the law enforcing agencies, and meticulous analysis of election results. It also fills in a gap in the extant hybrid regime literature which seldom explores the strategies of engineered elections.
An assessment of the recent unprecedented Taiwanese democratic elections, which, despite threats from Beijing, set the stage for genuine democracy in Taiwan. A firsthand account of three crucial elections in the 1990s, two of which were unprecedented: the 1994 election of the first governor of Taiwan and the 1996 presidential election. The latter marked the first direct election of a chief executive in Taiwan or any Chinese nation in 5,000 years of Chinese history. This study considers the political environment in which these elections were held, particular political issues, party strategies and campaigns, and election results. Taiwan is now in the final stage of democracy, and its impressive political modernization is one proof of its new status. The 1995 legislative election and the 1996 presidential election were held amidst Beijing's intimidation in the form of missile tests close to Taiwan's shores, massive military excercises, and verbal threats. Such posturing forced the United States to send aircraft carriers to the area in response. Taiwan's remarkable progress has begun to draw the attention of the leaders of developing countries who have come to see Taiwan's political modernization as a model for their own nations.
Hillary Rodham Clinton and the 2016 Election: Her Political and Social Discourse is an edited collection that demonstrates the ways in which Clinton has used political rhetoric and discourse to provide and assert her right to leadership in her many roles as First Lady, Senator from New York, and Secretary of State. This collection lends itself to the potential Democratic nomination of Clinton for U.S. President with its examination of current media reports and interviews with Clinton. Each chapter analyzes various aspects of the campaign to present readers with a pre-election picture of Clinton's political discourse and how it relates to the 2016 election. Recommended for scholars of rhetoric, political rhetoric, political discourse, leadership studies, women's studies, and gender roles in politics.
This book explains the development of the Conservative Party's immigration policy during the seven decades since 1945, up to today. By bringing together existing theories from the fields of political science and migration studies, this book offers a new model of party policy-making, which could be modified and tested in other contexts. Grounded in rigorous scholarship, but of interest to general readers as well as specialists and students, this book provides a thoughtful and engaging account of the making of modern Britain. The book draws on 30 interviews with figures who were at the heart of policy-making, from Kenneth Clarke and Douglas Hurd, to Damian Green and Gavin Barwell, to reveal that the 'national mood' often has more impact on policy-making than the empirics of the situation. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and readers interested in British politics; immigration and migration studies; Conservative Party politics; and, more broadly, public policy, political parties and European and comparative politics. |
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