Suchergebnisse

The last local elections in Wallonia were marked by the introduction of a new legislation concerning the way mayors are appointed. Before 2006, mayors were appointed by the regional government. Since the last elections, a new decree institutes that is automatically appointed mayor the candidate having most preferential votes from the list having most seats. In this article, we explore how the new legislation has affected the way voters behave in 2006 & also how it has affected parties when it comes to coalition agreements. What appears is that the new legislation has a fairly limited impact. Voters did not cast more preferential votes in 2006 than in 2000. The logics of coalitions have not been changed significantly. Finally, the only notable -- even if not spectacular -- impact of the new Walloon decree is that the elections have been much more focused on the candidates that were leading their list, the ones that were presented by their party as their candidate to become mayor. These candidates have more often been appointed mayors in 2006 than in 2000 & the proportion of preferential votes that they have received is higher in 2006. In that sense, even if the degree of change must not be exaggerated, Walloon local elections are slightly turning into a horse race between candidates leading their list. Tables. Adapted from the source document.

In discussing the results of the Belgian local elections of 8 October 2006 the media devoted most attention to Antwerp. Not only because it is Flanders biggest city, but especially because of the remarkable result of mayor Patrick Janssens & his socialist party (Sp.a-Spirit). They won over 35% of the votes & became the biggest party of the city, a position that was taken by the extreme right party for more than ten years. In this article we tried to map & explain the so called 'Janssens-effect.' By analyzing the election results & the data of an (inter-university) Internet panel we managed to prove that Patrick Janssens had a large share in the victory of his party. A lot of citizens of Antwerp that normally would not vote for the socialist party supported Janssens. To explain this personal success we suggested four plausible motives: the perceived qualities of Janssens as a Mayor; his presidential campaign; the attention of & performance in the media; & finally the statement against extreme right. Our panel data suggest that a combination of these motives can explain the Janssens-effect. The appreciation for Janssens as a very capable mayor was present among the electorate long before the campaign started. This appreciation became the basis for his electoral success. The fact that many voters decided to switch to Janssens in the months & weeks before the election is related to his campaign & the media-attention it generated. The media strengthened the image of Antwerp as a polarized city. Especially the voters that changed their vote intention during the campaign were convinced that supporting Janssens was the most explicit signal against the extreme right image of their city. Tables, Figures, Image. Adapted from the source document.

A quantitative evaluation of shifts in the voting patterns of the Flemish population from the 1981 to the 1985 national elections in relation to sex, age, & occupational status. Mobility tables are calculated using statistical information from poll surveys & the results of the elections. The results of the analysis, using loglinear modeling, correspondence analysis, & cluster analysis, reveal significant shifts between the different parties, & indicate that sex of voter has no significant influence on voting behavior. 3 Tables, 9 Figures. Modified HA

The success of Eurosceptic parties had been predicted at the European elections of May 2014. The morning after the ballot battle made it all the headlines and since then the political cards in the European arena and a number of Member States are mixed thoroughly. But the last word on this electoral success has not yet been written, on the contrary. Many questions remain unanswered. Such as: Is the result an accident the track (for the traditional parties), or part of a more stable, long-term evolution? To what extent does Euroscepticism from country to country? And what is the effect of this victory to the position of eurosceptics in the European Parliament. Adapted from the source document.