Suchergebnisse

This report is an in-depth study of electoral commissions in six countries of West Africa – Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone – assessing their contribution in strengthening political participation in the region. As institutions that apply the rules governing elections, electoral management bodies (EMBs) have occupied, over the last two decades, the heart of discussion and practice on the critical question of effective citizen participation in the public affairs of their countries. The way in which they are established and the effectiveness of their operations have continued to preoccupy those who advocate for competitive elections, while reforms to the EMBs have taken centre stage in more general political reforms. Election Management Bodies in West Africa thus responds to the evident need for more knowledge about an institution that occupies a more and more important place in the political process in West Africa. Based on documentary research and detailed interviews in each country, the study provides a comparative analysis which highlights the similarities and differences in the structure and operations of each body, and attempts to establish the reasons for their comparative successes and failures.

The management of elections is increasingly generating impassioned debate in these East African nations - Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The bodies that manage and conduct elections are, therefore, coming under intense citizen and stakeholder scrutiny for the manner in which they are composed, how they organise and perform their mandates, and the outcomes they achieve. The effectiveness of electoral management bodies (EMBs) has largely been influenced by the impact of political violence on election management reforms in East Africa. Even in countries where EMBs are the products of reforms initiated in the aftermath of violent disputes over elections, they still face enormous challenges in dealing with electoral disputes and anticipating election-related crises. Although changes to constitutions and the laws in these countries have sought to make EMBs independent and, therefore, more inclined to deliver free, fair and credible elections, there are many issues that determine their impartiality and their ability to allow for the aggregation and free expression of the will of the people. These shortcomings negatively impact on democracy. This volume assembles case studies on the capacity of EMBs in these five East African countries to deliver democratic and transparent elections.

В статье раскрывается понятие и характеристики системы, а также указывается на необходимость построения системы избирательных комиссий в субъектах Российской Федерации, устойчивой к воздействию внутренних и внешних факторов. Первоочередной целью проводимого анализа авторы видят в совершенствовании законодательства для обеспечения адекватного отражения воли народа в результатах выборов (референдумов), иных институтов прямой демократии, в которых принимают участие избирательные комиссии. В статье проводится конституционно-правовой анализ системы избирательных комиссий в субъектах Российской Федерации, вносятся предложения по усовершенствованию законодательства в данной сфере, в том числе путем расширения полномочий избирательных комиссий субъектов Российской Федерации по контролю за соблюдением избирательных прав и права на участие в референдуме граждан Российской Федерации. Авторы рассматривают избирательные комиссии как органы публичной власти с особым статусом и приводят ряд проблемных вопросов, возникающих на практике и связанных со статусом избирательных комиссий, в частности с особым правовым положением избирательных комиссий муниципальных образований. ; The article deals with the concept and characteristics of the system, as well as the need to form a system of electoral commissions in the legal entities of the Russian Federation resistant to the influence of internal and external factors. The primary objective of the research that the authors pursue is to improve legislation in order to ensure adequate reflection of the will of the people in the election results (referendums) and other institutions of direct democracy where election commissions participate. The paper provides an analysis of the constitutional and legal system of electoral commissions in the legal entities of the Russian Federation, makes proposals to improve legislation in this sphere by means of enhancing the powers of electoral commissions of the RF territorial entities aimed at monitoring respect for electoral rights of citizens of the Russian Federation and their right to vote. The authors define an electoral commission as one of the public authorities with a special status and highlight a number of problems arising in practice and associated with the status of electoral commissions, in particular, with the special legal status of election commissions of municipalities.

Wahlrecht in der Europäischen Union.

Despite widespread fears to the contrary, the EU referendum passed off without major problems. But the vote revealed underlying problems with Britain's electoral system – most notably the difficulty of registering to vote. Toby S James and Alistair Clark, authors of a new report by the Electoral Commission on the quality of electoral administration at the referendum, say the burden on cash-strapped officials is growing. Indeed, nearly half of local authorities say they don't have enough funding to maintain the electoral register.

The electoral system embodied in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) is notable for its startling unfairness to voters who support minor parties. This article argues that the disparity between voter preferences and the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives means that the electoral system cannot be said to provide for the election of members 'directly chosen by the people', as required by s 24 of the Constitution, and is therefore open to challenge. Although challenges to the electoral system in Attorney General (Cth); Ex rel McKinlay v Commonwealth and McGinty v Western Australia were unsuccessful, dicta by majorities in both cases support the argument that at some point – albeit unstated by the courts in those cases - an electoral system will be so unrepresentative as not to be consistent with s 24. Subsequent decisions in Roach v Electoral Commissioner and Rowe v Electoral Commissioner, to the effect that franchise laws must be appropriate and adapted to the system of representative government, also provide grounds for a constitutional challenge to the current electoral system. The article ends with a discussion of the criteria to be used to determine what system would be consistent with direct representation of the people, and argues that the Single Transferrable Vote system satisfies the requirements of accurate reflection of voter sentiment and provision to voters of identifiable local representatives.

AbstractThe emergence of politicians with overwhelming financial muscle in Nigeria since 1990s has complicated the relationship between money and politics in the country. This has been intensified by lack of clear legislation on how political parties should seek funding for their campaigns. Although effective supervision of political parties' finance is critical to the survival and consolidation of any democracy, the relevant electoral laws in Nigeria have not been effectively enforced. This is evident in the unbridled deployment of financial and other material resources by moneyed politicians and corporations during party campaign fundraising and electioneering. Among other things, this paper investigated the interface between the electoral laws and monitoring of campaign financing during the 2015 Presidential Election in Nigeria. The study is a documentary research and data were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive method. Utilizing the Marxist theory of the post-colonial state, the paper established that the electoral laws are generally couched ambiguously by politicians with vested interests in order to weaken the enforcement capacity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as well as facilitate the advancement of the electoral interests of the 'political entrepreneurs'. Thus, the unbundling of the Commission is recommended as a sine qua non for effective monitoring and supervision of political parties in the country.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2016.02.012 ; In spite of a rapidly expanding literature on democratization, elections, and conflict, we lack systematic understanding of what determines electoral results in post-conflict societies. This article offers a novel initiative in revealing electoral patterns in states recuperating from painful experiences of war by analyzing data from more than 500 Croatian municipalities during five post-war electoral cycles. While the findings suggest voters do respond to parties' economic policies, the underlying pattern of electoral support demonstrates that competition is heavily constrained by the legacy of conflict, with the communities more exposed to the violence being more likely to vote for the principal party of the center-right which led the country into independence and throughout the war. This tendency exhibits a remarkable level of stability over time, which suggests conflict dynamics can become firmly embedded in post-conflict democratic electoral competition – even in societies that are not ethnically diverse. ; The authors express their gratitude to Irena Kravos of the Croatian Electoral Commission, Ivanka Purić of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Mirna Valinger of the Croatian Tax Administration, and in particular to Maruška Vizek of the Institute of Economics, Zagreb for invaluable help with data collection. The article has also benefited from comments and suggestions by Marin Božić, Monika Maminskaite, Kathleen Montgomery, Petra Posedel, Branko Salaj, Pieter van Houten, Maruška Vizek, as well as participants of the Research Colloquium at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge. Damir Galić provided useful research assistance, and Tomislav Kaniški of The Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography created the maps. Josip Glaurdić is also grateful to the Leverhulme Trust and the Isaac Newton Trust (ECF-2012-399∖7) which supported his work on this study.

Cover -- Dedication -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Contents -- About the Contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1. The Nigerian State and Politics in the Fourth Republic -- Introduction -- The Concept of State -- The Nigerian State -- Colonialism and the Character of the State before Independence -- Post-Independence Politics, Oil-based Economy and the Political Elite -- The Nigerian State in the Fourth Republic -- Conclusion -- References -- 2. An Overview of Party Formation in Nigeria, 1960-1999 -- Introduction -- Post-Colonial Party Formation (1960-1983) -- Party-formation under the Babangida-era transition to democracy -- The Abacha Transition -- Abubakar's Transition -- Alliance for Democracy (AD) -- All People's Party (APP) -- Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) -- Conclusion -- References -- 3. Electoral Commissions and the Conduct of Elections in Nigeria: The Role of INEC -- A Historical Perspective of Electoral Commissions in Nigeria -- Electoral Commissions and Elections in Nigeria -- INEC and its Institutional Framework -- Result of Findings -- Observations -- Conclusion and Recommendations -- References -- 4. Governance and Local Government Elections in Nigeria's Fourth Republic -- Introduction and Statement of Problem -- Local Government - Conceptual Discourse -- Governance -- Historical Perspective on the Nigerian local government system -- Legal Framework for Local Governments in Nigeria -- Research Design and Methods -- Research Method -- Study populations -- Sample and Sampling Techniques -- Research Instruments -- Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) -- Data Collection -- Data Analysis -- Challenges of the Fieldwork -- Findings -- Political Behaviour -- Challenges of Local Government Council Elections -- Assessment of Provisions of Social Services -- Chairmen's Performance Evaluation -- Recommendations

Technological specifics of the organization and conducts of the parliamentary elections in 2012 in Chernivtsi region are searched. The procedure of formation of single-member constituencies and electoral commissions, the technological features of the activities of political parties and majoritarian candidates is analyzed. Keywords: electoral process, the election campaign, the electoral district, the district election commission, precinct election commission, ethnic group. ; Досліджено технологічну специфіку організації та проведення парламентських виборів 2012 р. у Чернівецькій області. Проаналізовано утворення одномандатних виборчих округів, процедуру формування складу виборчих комісій, технологічні особливості діяльності політичних партій та кандидатів-мажоритарників. Ключові слова: виборчий процес, виборча кампанія, виборчий округ, окружна виборча комісія, дільнична виборча комісія, етнічна група.