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Scholars of the world's most recent democratization processes have tended to focus on how national-level institutions have developed and how citizens have interpreted and responded to those developments. In this paper, we argue that the distinct subnational political environments that emerge from uneven national regime transitions are important determinants of how people view their political world. Specifically, we argue that citizens' experiences with and attitudes towards corruption are particularly influenced by the subnational political context in which those citizens live. We use survey data from across Mexico to test our theoretical expectations that a multi-party electoral context will heighten citizens' awareness of corruption as a governance issue, even as their chances of being victimized by corrupt behavior is reduced. Conversely, we posit that one-party electoral environments should facilitate a "business as usual" attitude toward corruption among government officials and citizens. As efforts to deepen democracy and improve governance continue across the developing world, our findings highlight the need to incorporate subnational political processes into efforts to under-stand and address such critical issues as corruption and its consequences. (GIGA)

The simplest way to get to grips with the American political system American Politics For Dummiesis an engaging and accessible guide to the inner workings of the U.S. government, cutting through the political jargon, to give you the facts. The book begins with the basics, including government structure and processes, and later covers current events that make the news. The world of American politics can be bewildering to anyone not born and bred in the U.S.A. This plain-English guide is perfect whether you are a student or simply fascinated by the world's most powerful democracy. From the electoral process to 'special relationships', you discover all you need to know with American Politics For Dummies. The birth of America – find out about the emergence of the US,from the ideas upon which America was founded to the creationof the US Constitution Go government – understand the powers of the President, how Congress operates, the function of the Supreme Court and howUS laws are created and passed Party on – discover the ins and outs of elections and political parties, from the electoral process and the two-party system to the voting behaviour amongst Americans One nation, many identities – get to understand the workings of a truly multicultural society All the world's a stage – grasp the grand strategy of the US to understand why the nation acts as it does in international politics2014 kicks off the latest round of U.S. Congressional election and marks the beginning the 2016 Presidential election cycle. There will be headlines, there will be debate and there will be news. If you're looking to keep up and understand it all, American Politics For Dummiesis a great place to start.

"Since 2000, more than twenty countries around the world have held elections in which parties that espouse a political agenda based on an Islamic worldview have competed for legislative seats. Islamist Parties and Political Normalization in the Muslim World examines the impact these parties have had on the political process in two different areas of the world with large Muslim populations: the Middle East and Asia. The book's contributors examine major cases of Islamist party evolution and participation in democratic and semidemocratic systems in Turkey, Morocco, Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. Collectively they articulate a theoretical framework to understand the strategic behavior of Islamist parties, including the characteristics that distinguish them from other types of political parties, how they relate to other parties as potential competitors or collaborators, how ties to broader Islamist movements may affect party behavior in elections, and how participation in an electoral system can affect the behavior and ideology of an Islamist party over time. Through this framework, the contributors observe a general tendency in Islamist politics. Although Islamist parties represent diverse interests and behaviors that are tied to their particular domestic contexts, through repeated elections they often come to operate less as antiestablishment parties and more in line with the political norms of the regimes in which they compete. While a few parties have deliberately chosen to remain on the fringes of their political system, most have found significant political rewards in changing their messages and behavior to attract more centrist voters. As the impact of the Arab Spring continues to be felt, Islamist Parties and Political Normalization in the Muslim World offers a nuanced and timely perspective of Islamist politics in broader global context."--Publisher's website

"The use of the Web in U.S. political campaigns has developed dramatically over the course of the last several election seasons. In Web Campaigning, Kirsten Foot and Steven Schneider examine the evolution of campaigns' Web practices, based on hundreds of campaign Web sites produced by a range of political actors during the U.S. elections of 2000, 2002, and 2004. Their developmental analyses of how and why campaign organizations create specific online structures illuminates the reciprocal relationship between these production practices and the structures of both the campaign organization and the electoral arena. This practice-based approach and the focus on campaigns as Web producers make the book a significant methodological and theoretical contribution to both science and technology studies and political communication scholarship. Foot and Schneider explore the inherent tension between the desire of campaigns to maintain control over messages and resources and the generally decentralizing dynamic of Web-based communication. They analyze specific strategies by which campaigns mitigate this, examining the ways that the production techniques, coproducing Web content, online-offline convergence, and linking to other Web sites mediate the practices of informing, involving, connecting, and mobilizing supporters. Their conclusions about the past decade's trajectory of Web campaigning point the way to a political theory of technology and a technologically grounded theory of electoral politics. A digital installation available on the web illustrates core concepts discussed in the text of the book with examples drawn from archived campaign Web sites. Users have the opportunity to search these concepts in the context of fully operational campaign sites, recreating the Web experience of users during the election periods covered in the book."

Budget allocation and budget planning can be used in different ways. In addition, it can be part of a political budget cycle. Previous research has highlighted the political budget cycle's existence in European countries, demonstrating its impact on public revenue and expenditure near elections. However, citizens often lack awareness of this phenomenon, underscoring the need for vigilant scrutiny. In addition, elected politicians increasingly rely on voters for support, targeting them during budget allocation and election campaigns. In Latvia, the mayors have a role in budget planning because they work full-time and are the head of the financial commission. In Latvia, despite a lack of trust in local politicians, there is a tendency for most of the mayors to be re-elected. The article aims to examine what kind of role the council's chairperson has in the local government's budget allocation process and what factors affect the budget allocation process in Latvia. The article's scope encompasses the years 2009 to 2017, spanning two election terms (2009-2013; 2013-2017), and focuses on eight state cities in Latvia, excluding the capital city, Riga. Notably, local governments with a higher percentage of council members from the mayor's party tend to exhibit higher expenditure levels. The findings of this study suggest that various socio-economic and political factors impact the financial performance of local governments in Latvia. These results underscore the significance of population and unemployment in shaping local government expenditures. Simultaneously, this research has highlighted the importance of political factors such as the majority in the local government and time spent in the mayor's position. Moreover, it reveals that long-serving mayors and a majority in the council also influence budget allocation decisions. This article's implications can guide policymakers in making informed decisions regarding municipal budget expenditures and revenues.

The last electoral reform in the Czech Republic opened up space for new quantitative and qualitative analysis. The main objective of this case study is to determine whether the constitutional reform of the mechanism for converting electoral votes into parliamentary seats, which came into effect on 1 June 2021, met the requirements of the ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic which requires, among other things, the provision of more proportional allocation of parliamentary seats among political entities. For this purpose were quantified and compared the effects of the old (original) and new (current) electoral systems in the two parliamentary elections held in 2017 and 2021. The core quantifier is a group of standardized indices to determine the degree of disproportionality of the election results. Results of the research suggested ambivalent behavior of the new voting mechanism. On the one hand, it strengthens the proportionality of the allocation of redistributed seats in the Chamber of Deputies and tends to increase mandate gains in favor of small parties. On the other hand, this phenomenon occurs only when a number of conditions, universality of which cannot be guaranteed in advance, is met. These conditions are then highly volatile, so in comparison to the older electoral mechanism, the new electoral system lacks the ability to generate lower values of disproportionality. This finding reinforces the controversy about the appropriateness of the configuration of the new electoral system and opens a discussion about the motives of the various actors involved in the process of electoral reform. The limits of the study can be seen primarily in the low number of analyzed parliamentary elections, but this fact does not reduce the relevance of the research conclusions.

After a rather boring election campaign the Social-Democrats (SPD) managed to achieve the position of the strongest party again which they lost to the Christian-Democrats (CDU) in 2019 . The CDU and the Left Party defended more or less their last election results whereas the Greens came up with a loss of more than five per cent of the votes . Apparently, the performance of the Greens in the three-party-coalition with the SPD and the Left Party obtained only low credit by the voters . With 5,1 per cent the Liberals were very close to enter the parliament . The SPD as the strongest party invited the Greens and the Left Party as well as the CDU to exploratory talks but came up very quickly with the decision to continue with the former left coalition . The coalition contract issued by the three coalition parties formulates ambitious goals with respect to investigations in the infrastructure, the ecological transformation of industries, and the increase of personnel in the education system, but remains vague with regard to their financing . The coalition plans to use money for many of these projects from the so-called climate-fonds that was already adopted in the last election period . Against this background the CDU announced that it will call the Bremer Staatsgerichtshof for a judicial review of constitutionality because the budgetary rights of the parliament may be violated by credit authorization without the parliament . Finally, the coalition decided to reallocate senate portfolios . Five portfolios went to the SPD, two to the Greens and the Left Party . Additionally, the representative of Bremen for national and European affairs from the SPD joins the senate in the function of a state councilor .

It has been well established that politicians attack their competitors to reach their political goals. As such, there is a considerable amount of literature on their attack behaviour. However, this literature almost exclusively investigates attack behaviour during campaigns, and so far, few studies have addressed the nature of attacks during more routine times in parliaments. This article aims to fill this gap by examining in-parliament attack behaviour and, more specifically, the gender characteristics of attacks. It is theorised that women are less likely to attack and be attacked than men due to the stereotypical gender roles. However, it is anticipated that this compliance to stereotypes diminishes as proximity to elections increases, resulting in women engaging in attacks as much as men. To limit the cost of their divergence, attacks employed by and toward women are expected to be more civil. Lastly, this study argues that adherence to gender stereotypes is stronger in countries with candidate-centred parliamentary systems than party-centred ones. This study finds support for the theoretical framework using longitudinal data on individual attacks in the parliaments of Belgium, Croatia, and the UK. Results confirm that politicians adhere to gender stereotypical roles in parliaments, with women attacking and being targeted less than men, and when women do attack or are targeted, less incivility is employed. Proximity to elections makes both women and men more hostile, but women lower the cost of their increasing attack behaviour by using less incivility, unlike men who increasingly opt for uncivil attacks closer to elections. Additionally, these findings strongly apply in the candidate-centred system of the UK, whereas in the party-centred system of Belgium and Croatia, hardly any support for the theory can be found.

AbstractObjectiveDuring the political transition, people lose their confidence in their leaders, faith in the so‐called "democratic" elections, and no longer trust their political institutions. The issue of trust in institutions is highly regarded in social sciences research, as it reflects people's perceptions and valuation of how well their institutions are functioning. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to investigate the case of the Middle East and North African Region following the Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2011. Specifically, the relationship between youth self‐perception identity and confidence in various institutions is examined in the post‐Arab Spring era.MethodWe use a microlevel data set extracted from the SAHWA Youth Survey conducted in 2016. The sample consists of around 10,000 randomly and nationally representative youth aged 15 to 29 years. The survey includes 2000 observations from Lebanon, 1970 observations from Egypt, 2000 from Tunisia, and 2036 and 1854 from Algeria and Morocco, respectively. The empirical analysis is carried out through the ordered probit model.ResultsControlling for a comprehensive set of socioeconomic characteristics, we find that religious associations are not confined to people who belong to an Arab, global, national, or even religious identity. Young people who identify with citizens of the world only seem to confide in the police. Additionally, Arab identity is correlated with absolute positive confidence in the elections. Coherent with previous literature, we note that a nationalistic identity increases politicians' and administrations' confidence despite the domestic turmoil. We also find that religious identity is negatively correlated with all institutions except elections, including religious associations.ConclusionThis research highlights that policies that are up‐to‐date and secure gender equality may create a modernist atmosphere that allows people to retrieve trust and confidence in the institutions and administrations in the countries.

Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis penegakan hukum dalam penyelenggaran pemilihan umum anggota legislatif telah berjalan efektif dan upaya penanggulangan oleh BAWASLU dalam menangani kejahatan politik uang pada penyelenggaraan pemilihan umum anggota legislatif. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian hukum empiris. Adapun hasil dari penelitian ini yaitu Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Penegakan Hukum Tindak Pidana Politik Uang dalam Pemilihan Umum Calon Anggota Legislatif yaitu faktor undang-undang, faktor penegak hukum, dan faktor masyarakat. Upaya penanggulangan Tindak Pidana Politik Uang dalam Pemilihan yaitu upaya Pre-Emptif yakni pendidikan moral kepada masyarakat. Masyarakat harus tahu bagaimana politik uang dapat merusak moral bangsa, serta adanya hukum yang menjerat bagi penerima dan pemberi. Upaya Preventif yakni memetakan titik rawan yang diduga berpotensi terjadinya praktik politik uang sekaligus melakukan posko malam terutama pada tahapan masa tenang dan hari pemungutan suara yang sering digunakan oleh oknum-oknum tertentu untuk melakukan tindakan yang sering disebut dengan istilah serangan fajar. Serta upaya Represif yaitu penanganan dan tindak lanjut tindak pidana Pemilu segera di ekspos (digelar) dalam tim sentra Gakkumdu dan selanjutnya meneruskan kepada penyidik. Sentra Gakkumdu harus berjalan dan di berdayakan sebagai wadah koordinasi dan kerjasama semua unsur (Jaksa Penuntut Umum, Penyidik, dan Bawaslu).Kata-Kunci: Penegakan Hukum, Money Politic, Pemilihan UmumThis study aims to analyze law enforcement in the implementation of the general election for legislative members has been running effectively and the countermeasures by BAWASLU in dealing with money politics crimes in the holding of general elections for members of the legislature. This study uses empirical legal research methods. The results of this study are the factors that influence the law enforcement of criminal acts of money politics in the general election for legislative candidates, namely legal factors, law enforcement ...

Climate change, as well as the challenges that come with it, is one of the main issues in international and national politics today. Addressing the threats posed by climate change requires close cooperation at the international level and within each country, creating a dialogue between the political elite and society, thus promoting a common understanding and action across the European Union (EU). The aim of this research is to (1) identify what climate policy narratives are projected to the Latvian electorate (public) and (2) assess how these narratives are aligned with the EU-defined strategic climate policy narrative. The theoretical basis and methodological approach of the study is based on the concept of strategic narrative. It is assumed that the viability and impact of a strategic narrative is enhanced when there is coherence between all stages of the narrative life cycle (i.e., the EU level and the national policy level). The empirical basis of the study is based on the identification of the EU climate policy narrative in the sector's regulatory documents, as well as an analysis of the election programmes of Latvian political parties (the last European Parliament (2019) and parliamentary (2018) election programmes). The results show that the narrative that the Latvian public receives from its political elite through the European Parliament and the national pre-election programmes is significantly different from the EU strategic narrative on climate policy. Based on the theoretical concept of strategic narrative, it can be concluded that the observed dissimilarity of narratives does not stimulate the inclusion of the Latvian public in the common EU space of climate policy understanding and action.

In the New Nation case, the Constitutional Court declared the provisions of the Electoral Act that prevent independent candidates from competing in provincial and national elections unconstitutional. It ruled that the impugned provisions violated independent candidates' constitutional rights to stand for public office, to freedom of association and to dignity. In a minority judgment, Froneman J disagreed and held that the Constitution contemplates a right to contest elections as a party-nominee only. The differences between the majority and minority judgments are largely the result of distinct interpretive approaches. The majority conducted an analysis of the right to stand for public office within a restricted textual framework that has the potential to disturb the harmonious inter-relationship between the right and the electoral and parliamentary framework for its realisation. This result flows from the fact that the Constitution still reflects the exclusively party-based electoral and parliamentary systems of its predecessor in several important respects. At best, this situation may result in independents being largely at the mercy of political parties for meaningful execution of their legislative and oversight obligations. At worst, they may be excluded from exercising core parliamentary functions altogether. Therefore, to avoid disturbing the normative coherence between the right to stand for public office, the foundational democratic values, and the electoral and parliamentary arrangements, constitutional amendments appear to be necessary for the implementation of the court's order. In any event, expectations about the contribution to electoral reform of allowing independents to contest elections must be tempered by the low political impact of independent representatives on governance, as well as the ambivalence surrounding the democratic functionality of independent candidacy, when measured against the values of transparency and accountability.