Suchergebnisse

On August 9, 2010, Rwanda held its second Presidential elections since the genocide in 1994. As specified by the Rwandan constitution, the elections took place seven years after the 2003 Presidential elections when at the time interim President Paul Kagame was elected by an overwhelming majority of 95.5 percent. It was clear from the outset of the 2010 elections that Paul Kagame would be re-elected for another seven year term. This note describes the election campaign and outcome, and reflects on the democratic character of the elections. It uses information from different sources: reports from official Rwandan institutions and human rights groups, articles in international media and academic journals, and reflections of politicians, scholars and ordinary citizens collected during a research visit. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

A large body of research on political parties is devoted to the family of extreme right parties. Yet, systematic analyses of extreme right parties' discourse remain scarce. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by providing a discourse analysis of the Vlaams Belang, one of the most successful extreme right-wing parties in Europe. Moreover, by focusing on this party's economic discourse, the study also sheds new light on the ongoing debate about the economic viewpoints of the new extreme right parties. We conclude that the Vlaams Belang's economic rhetoric is in line with its ethno-linguistic, nationalist standpoints and pleas for a Flemish economic policy. The party's economic programme is built on liberal points of view and seems particularly aimed at attracting (dissatisfied) liberal voters. Importantly, as economic issues remain subordinated to the party's ideological core, it appears that the Vlaams Belang has largely instrumentalised its programme to expand its electorate. Adapted from the source document.

While the Vlaams Blok (currently Vlaams Belang) became one of the most successful and electorally durable extreme-right parties in Europe in the 1990s, the francophone Front National has yet to achieve a stable basis of support. We argue that an important reason for this divergence has been the behaviour of Social Democratic parties in the two regions of Belgium. In Wallonia, the Parti Socialiste (PS) held onto its traditional electorate through both distributing material benefits and by keeping traditional economic themes, or issues that it 'owns', high on the political agenda. The SP (currently SP.A) in Flanders has done less well on both counts. Since Social Democratic parties across Western Europe have lost voters to the extreme right, our comparison suggests that their behaviour is an important variable in understanding cross-national variation in the extreme-right's success. Adapted from the source document.

This election report focuses on the vulnerable complexity of the Brussels institutional system. It presents the institutions of the bilingual Brussels Capital Region in which the decision-making processes rely on negotiations, common agreements & mutual vetoes. The vulnerability of this consensus model became clear when the right-wing extremist Vlaams Blok grew & aimed at winning the majority within the Dutch language group in the Brussels regional Parliament. Given the fact that nobody wants to govern with the Vlaams Blok, that would mean the end of the Brussels consensus model & endanger the Belgian consensus model. In 2004 the Vlaams Blok did not succeed in gaining the majority, but the problem remains on the agenda for the next regional elections of 2009. Figures, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.

While the Vlaams Blok has become electorally one of the most successful extreme right-wing parties in Western Europe, the Francophone Front National does not seem to be able to establish a solid basis for support. This study provides an analysis of the possible reasons for the difference in the electoral results of the extreme right in Flanders & Wallonia in terms of individual sociological factors. The study takes individual-level social background characteristics & attitudes into account. Its findings show that the regional difference in electoral results cannot be explained by differences in voters' social background or by voters' attitudes. The hypothesis that after these individual elements have been controlled for the regional differences in extreme right-wing voting would be reduced, has to be rejected. Considering that in the Walloon provinces citizens are less involved in social & religious organizations & have, among other things, more negative attitudes towards immigrants, the regional difference in extreme right-wing voting becomes even greater after individual variables have been controlled for. The explanation for the difference therefore has to lie in other political, cultural & historical factors. 4 Tables, 37 References. Adapted from the source document.

Objectives: The current study offers the first systematic analysis of the impact of citizens' interest in and perceptions of specific elections on gender differences in turnout. Methods: Using an Internet panel survey conducted by the Making Electoral Democracy Work project covering the 2013 state, 2013 federal, and 2014 European elections in Bavaria (Germany), our probit models examine mediation and moderation effects of three election-related characteristics: the issues that citizens consider most central in the elections, citizens' interest in the elections, and the perceived influence among citizens of the policies of the different levels of policy making on their well-being. Results: The results indicate an overall gender difference in turnout in Bavaria with women being less likely to vote compared with men. Yet, this gender effect ceases to be significant once citizens' attitudes toward and perceptions of specific elections are controlled for. Interest in the election at hand has a particularly strong and positive effect on the likelihood of voting. We find no significant gender interactions. Conclusion: Citizens' interest in and perceptions of specific elections have a strong impact on turnout and gender differences therein.

Using data collected within the scope of a Dutch internet panel survey (LISS) in 2011, this study tracks public support for direct, stealth and representative democracy according to educational level. Our findings indicate that, in terms of overall support for each specific type of democracy, lower educated citizens are significantly more supportive of stealth and direct democracy than highly educated citizens. While the mean levels of support for representative democracy do not differ significantly between levels of education, multivariate OLS regression analyses show that lower educated citizens are noticeably more supportive of representative democracy once political efficacy, trust and satisfaction are introduced. When contrasting the different types of democracy directly with one another, we find that lower educated citizens have a greater tendency to prefer direct and (to a lesser extent) stealth democracy over representative democracy than higher educated citizens. Multivariate OLS regression analyses indicate that most of these educational gaps cease to be significant once the lower levels of political efficacy, trust and satisfaction of lower educated citizens are taken into account. Implications of these results for the debate on the functioning of democracy are discussed. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

Equality of participation and shared understandings of citizenship are fundamental to democracy. Although clear patterns of inequality according to racial group membership have been found regarding political participation, the extent to which such inequalities are also seen in public definitions of citizenship is unclear. Using the 2004 US General Social Survey, we examine respondents' beliefs about citizenship duties and rights. Starting from theories on group membership and self-interest, and given the unequal access to full citizenship inherent in the United States, we hypothesize more support for citizenship as a duty among Whites, but more support for democratic rights among non-Whites. The findings of our multivariate analyses show that support for these expectations is mixed. Whites and non-Whites do not differ in the importance they place on citizenship duties. However, non-Whites are significantly more likely to support citizenship rights. The difference is partly explained by non-Whites' greater likelihood of identifying with the Democratic Party. Implications for democracy and racial (in)equality are discussed. Adapted from the source document.

Whereas research on political participation typically investigates a variety of socio-economic and attitudinal characteristics, this cross-national study focuses on the relevance of norms when explaining political participation. We examine respondents' normative beliefs about the importance of various measures of 'good citizenship', and their relationship to three modes of political engagement (activism, party membership and voting). We find assigning higher importance to paying taxes/obeying the law is negatively linked to all forms of participation, whereas the opposite is true for norms about the importance of voting and being active in associations. Greater emphasis on norms about understanding others and shopping politically is positively associated with political activism but not with more institutional forms of participation. The relationship between norms and participation differs somewhat across nations, with the most differences between Eastern European respondents and those from Western European and Western non-European respondents. In line with theories on democratic learning, we find that the relationship between citizenship norms and participation is often weakest among Eastern Europeans. Conclusions about the subjective and variable nature of democratic citizenship are discussed. Adapted from the source document.

Objective. Research indicates partisan polarization on a number of social and moral attitudes. However, it is unclear whether a similar polarization can be found regarding citizenship norms, a question we investigate. Methods. Using 2004 GSS data, we examine regression results analyzing citizens' beliefs about a wide range of citizenship duties and rights based on their partisan identity. Results. Democrats and Republicans differ little in regard to many key rights and duties, such as the importance of voting and the right to equal treatment by the government. However, compared to Republicans, Democrats attach more importance to social duties and rights for political participation and for minority groups. Independents are most distinctive, placing much less importance on political duties and social rights of equality and an adequate standard of living, particularly in comparison to Democrats. Conclusion. The majority of Americans share a common set of citizenship norms. Yet, some differences occur along partisan lines, and Independents hold weaker citizenship norms compared to Republicans and Democrats. Adapted from the source document.

Using insights from theories on marital homogamy and political behaviour, this research examines the tendency of husbands and wives to vote for the same party family. It disentangles the extent to which similarity in party family preference can be explained by (1) partners choosing one another because of their shared socio-economic position and (2) partners influencing one another. For this purpose, we conducted probit regression models with instrumental variables using data from the 2000 and 2003 Dutch Family Survey. Using instrumental variables to analyze endogenous relationships, we found that Dutch partners tend to support parties belonging to the same party family (left, confessional or right). There is some support for the idea that similarity in preference for a leftist and confessional party is - at least partly - a by-product of 'self-selection', i.e. the preference for a partner who is similar in socio-economic characteristics to oneself. As regards rightist voting, there does not seem to be an effect of similarity in socio-economic characteristics. Similarity in preference for a rightist party rather seems to be uniquely the result of mutual influence. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

It is commonly found that young people tend to adopt the political party choice of their parents. However, far less is known about the applicability of this theory when investigating radical right support. Using the Swiss Household panel data (1999-2007), this study empirically identifies the relationship between parents' preference for the Swiss radical right party SVP and their attitudes toward immigrants and the EU, and their offspring's preference for the SVP. Disaggregating fathers' and mothers' influence reveals that in particular, mothers' SVP support plays a role in SVP support among young people, even after controlling for educational similarities. We also demonstrate that girls are more likely to be influenced by their mothers than are boys. Furthermore, parents' negative attitudes toward the EU exert a positive influence on their children's radical right voting, independent of their voting pattern. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

A substantial literature has studied gender differences in political participation in Western industrialized democracies, but little is known about such gaps in sub-Saharan African nations. Using 2005 Afrobarometer data, this paper presents a systematic investigation of the gender gap in political participation across 18 sub-Saharan African countries. In line with cultural isomorphism, patterns in gender gaps across different types of participation generally mirror those of Western democracies, with small to no gender gaps in registration to vote, but substantial gaps in less institutionalized types of participation. Yet, the remaining large gaps cannot be explained by gender differences in socioeconomic characteristics and political attitudes as suggested in studies on Western industrialized nations. Finally, substantial cross-national differences within the sub-Saharan African are found, substantiating the importance of more fine-grained examinations of variation across sub-Saharan African nations.