We analyze Assessment Voting, a new two-round voting procedure that can be applied to binary decisions in democratic societies. In the first round, a randomly-selected number of citizens cast their vote on one of the two alternatives at hand, thereby irrevocably exercising their right to vote. In the second round, after the results of the first round have been published, the remaining citizens decide whether to vote for one alternative or to abstain. The votes from both rounds are aggregated, and the final outcome is obtained by applying the majority rule, with ties being broken by fair randomization. Within a costly voting framework, we show that large electorates will choose the preferred alternative of the majority with high probability, and that average costs will be low. This result is in contrast with the literature on one-round voting, which predicts either higher voting costs (when voting is compulsory) or decisions that often do not represent the preferences of the majority (when voting is voluntary).
Mode of access: Internet. ; With this are bound its: Ihrer Chur-Furstl. Durchl. zu Sachssen, &c. &c. Dresden : Johann Carl Krause, [1772]; and its: Ihrer Chur-Furstl. Durchl. zu Sachssen, &c. &c. Mandat die General-Innungs-Articul fur Kunstler, Professionisten und Handwercker hiesiger Lande betreffend. Dresden : Gedruckt und zu finden in der Churfurstl. Sachss. gnadigst privil. Hof-Buchdruckerey, [1780]; and also its: Ihro Konigl. Majestat zu Sachsen, &c. &c. &c. Mandat die abstellung verschiedener Innungs-gebrechen betreffend. Dresden : Gedruckt und zu finden beym Hofbuchdrucker, 1810.
It is an important rite of passage as a young adult in America: taking one'splace in the democratic process by registering to vote and casting a ballot.Unfortunately, too many young citizens do not take advantage of thisopportunity.Research shows that preregistration policies targeting 16- and 17-year-oldcitizens not only help to increase civic participation among young people,but also enfranchise a broader range of America's youth, particularly thosefrom historically underrepresented populations. Empowering this untappedpool of future voters can help reduce historical disparities in the electoratefor future generations with just a simple, inexpensive adjustment in theadministration of elections.This legislative brief discusses the underrepresentation of youth -- particularlyyouth of color -- in the general electorate, and how the growing trend ofpreregistration helps to address this problem. It concludes with recommendationsfor implementing preregistration policies.
This thesis contributes to the public finance literature concerned with fiscal sustainability, and consists of an introduction and four stand-alone essays. The first three essays analyse the reasons why governments accumulate large levels of debt. In the first essay, I find that parties that implement fiscal consolidations are punished by the voters in the following election. However, there does not appear to be a rewarding effect for governments that implement fiscal expansions. The second essay, which is co-authored with Rafael Ahlskog, shows how voter opposition to fiscal consolidation is shaped by moral considerations and feelings of personal responsibility. More precisely, we argue that voters are more likely to refuse fiscal consolidation when they do not feel responsible for the public debt. The third essay argues that misperceptions about the business cycle would have caused fiscal problems even if policy-making was conducted by independent experts. According to my estimates, biased projections have weakened annual budget balances by approximately one per cent of GDP. In the fourth essay, I argue that budgetary mechanisms created to improve fiscal discipline have a bias toward a reduced public sector. Because discretionary decisions are usually required to adjust public expenditures to price and wage increases, periods of rapid growth have repeatedly caused the welfare state to shrink. I use the introduction to discuss the commonalities between the essays and to situate the field of public finance in a broader, historical context.
Democracy and authoritarianism are but two aspects of Indian political culture. Both have their roots in Indian society and history, and many Indians probably would like to have a government which combines both. The majority of the Indian electorate voted Mrs. Gandhi out of power in 1977, because her authoritarian leadership lacked respect for democratic values. The same electorate voted her back to power, because the government of the Janata Party had restored democracy, but showed weak leadership .
Electorate size is recognized to affect a wide range of democratic processes and outcomes. This is particularly true at the local level of government where amalgamations have been common in recent years. Here, we explore the extent to which electorate size affects how city councillors communicate with their constituents in order to learn about those constituents' needs and preferences. We hypothesize that councillors cope with increases in electorate size by using face-to-face methods of communication less and mediated forms of communication, including social media, more. Drawing on original interview and survey data with Canadian city councillors, we find that councillors tend to rely on face-to-face meetings, telephone calls, and email to communicate with constituents, but are less likely to use social media to do so. However, we find no evidence to support the hypothesized relationships between electorate size and representational communication. Résumé La taille de l'électorat affecte un large éventail de processus démocratiques et ses résultats. C'est particulièrement vrai au niveau local des gouvernements municipaux au cours des nombreuses fusions des dernières années. Cet article, examine dans quelle mesure la taille de l'électorat affecte la façon dont les conseillers municipaux communiquent avec les électeurs afin d'en apprendre davantage sur les besoins et préférences de ces derniers. Notre hypothèse de base est que les conseillers face à l'augmentation de la taille de l'électorat utilisent moins des méthodes de communication face-à-face au profit d'une utilisation accrue de forme de communication médiatisée, y compris les médias sociaux. S'appuyant sur les données de l'enquête et des entrevues avec les conseillers municipaux, nous constatons que ces derniers ont tendance à se fier à des réunions face-à-face, des appels téléphoniques et des courriels pour communiquer avec les électeurs. Ils sont donc moins susceptibles d'utiliser les médias sociaux. Toutefois, nous n'avons trouvé aucune preuve à l'appui de l'hypothèse d'une relation entre la taille de l'électorat et le type de communication utilisé pour communiquer avec les électeurs.
Studies of clientelism typically assume that political machines distribute rewards to persuade or mobilize the existing electorate. We argue that rewards not only influence actions of the electorate, but can also shape its composition. Across the world, machines employ "voter buying" to import outsiders into their districts. Voter buying demonstrates how clientelism can underpin electoral fraud, and it offers an explanation of why machines deliver rewards when they cannot monitor vote choices. Our analyses suggest that voter buying dramatically influences municipal elections in Brazil. A regression discontinuity design suggests that voter audits—which undermined voter buying—decreased the electorate by 12 percentage points and reduced the likelihood of mayoral reelection by 18 percentage points. Consistent with voter buying, these effects are significantly greater in municipalities with large voter inflows, and where neighboring municipalities had large voter outflows. Findings are robust to an alternative research design using a different data set.
This policy brief synthesizes research from the Haas Institute Diversity and Democracy affiliated faculty, lifting up lessons from recent research on how to confront voter disaffection, support inclusive identities, and increase democratic participation among underrepresented groups. The brief argues that many conventions of polling, categorizing, and engaging voters in campaign outreach reinforce chronic disparities in US election turnout—disparities that are particularly stark in midterm years like 2018. If we are to work toward a voting electorate that more closely mirrors the country's diverse citizenry, we must confront the ways the information we do or don't collect—and the outreach we do or don't fund—contributes to a cycle of exclusion and non-participation.
The 1920s has had a reputation as being a fallow period in the history of American urban politics, having the image of being a decade when business elites and urban political organizations held undisputed hegemony over urban politics. This vision, however, is one that falls apart under close examination: neither of these groups held power to the degree that this image implies, and it was based on a belief that the decade generally was a conservative interlude between interesting times. Rather, the 1920s was a period of serious contestation politically, with issues of class, religion, and ethnicity serving as fault lines dividing the population and giving a rancorous tone to local political practices. Three case studies serve to demonstrate the contested nature of urban politics during the period. In 1923 Chicago, a combination of political scandal, hard times, and ethnic tensions led to a reform wave in Chicago, with three candidates offering different reform visions for Chicago, demonstrating the ways in which various ethnic and religious communities interpreted the concept of reform. In 1924 and 1925 Detroit, the Ku Klux Klan rose and fell as a political force, taking advantage of a combination of recent trends in Detroit politics towards an ideology of political Protestantism and the presence of large numbers of non-elite Protestants who felt neglected by the leading factions in Detroit politics. 1925 Boston witnessed the breakdown of ethno-religious solidarity, as the Boston Irish, heavily divided by matters of class and spatial location, splintered their vote between several major candidates, enabling the election of a Yankee Republican as mayor. Combined, these three case studies demonstrate the contested nature of city politics during the period, showing how ethnic and religious matters served to create a heated political environment. These events had lasting impact: machine dominance in Chicago, political ill-will in Detroit, and ethnic political realignment in Boston all held roots in these elections. They also offer a way to understand national politics, as the roots of the New Deal urban coalition, the limitations of class politics, and changing ethnic politics all have roots in these events.
This thesis examines data from the National Election Studies in order to assess the significant determinants of the political behavior of Catholics in the American electorate. A complex array of variables including religious commitment, generational differences, social status, and policy attitudes account for limited change in partisan alignment among American Catholics. The analyses expose the long-term, durable nature of partisan attachment, as older generation Catholics who register as actively committed to their religion also remain committed Democrats. Therefore, older Catholics have not been part of the broader ideological realignment which has taken place among other religious adherents, namely evangelical and mainline Protestants. Younger Catholics are significantly more apt to become Republican in their partisan identification than were their parents. Comparing the effects of an array of policy attitudes and socio-demographic variables between Catholic and Protestants illuminates the differences and similarities among these religious groups. What emerges is a consistent pattern demonstrating an ideological realignment within the American electorate. This research adds to the ideological realignment thesis by showing how religious commitment is the driving force behind this realignment. In addition, this thesis presents evidence illustrating that younger Catholics and committed Catholics will continue to move toward Republican partisan identification and that the traditional allegiance of Catholic voters to the Democratic party will continue to decline. ; 2004-08-01 ; M.A. ; College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science ; This record was generated from author submitted information.
After nearly fifty-nine years of Independence, Nigeria is by all standards of measurement, a poor country. Poverty is endemic in Nigeria. As a result of this, money politics and vote buying have taken the centre stage in political activities. This is because parties and candidates have shown by their conduct during political campaigns, that good party manifestoes and integrity of candidates jostling for public offices are no longer sufficient to guarantee electoral success; thus, the resort to vote buying. On the other hand, the electorates too have obviously demonstrated cynical electoral behaviour by the readiness to sell their votes to the highest bidder. This uncharitable practice constitutes a blemish on public policy and on the electoral process. Politicians influence the electorate with money, food and other items by politicians. The paper argued that democracy does not thrive in a poverty infested environment and thus attributes the major challenges facing the present democratic experiment in Nigeria to the existence of poverty on a large scale. The paper observed that electioneering in Nigeria has been marred by contradictions that threaten objectivity in voting for a preferred candidate during elections. It concluded that to sustain Nigeria's nascent democracy, the political class must embrace good governance through prudent use of available resources, provision of critical infrastructures and social amenities, conduct of free and fair elections, and the promotion of accountability, transparency and the rule of law.
Given the increasingly polarized nature of American politics, renewed attention has been focused on the ideological nature of the mass public. Using Bayesian Item Response Theory (IRT), we examine the contemporary contours of policy attitudes as they relate to ideological identity and we consider the implications for the way scholars conceptualize, measure, and use political ideology in empirical research. Although political rhetoric today is clearly organized by a single ideological dimension, we find that the belief systems of the mass public remain multidimensional, with many in the electorate holding liberal preferences on one dimension and conservative preferences on another. These cross-pressured individuals tend to self-identify as moderate (or say "Don't Know") in response to the standard liberal-conservative scale, thereby jeopardizing the validity of this commonly used measure. Our analysis further shows that failing to account for the multidimensional nature of ideological preferences can produce inaccurate predictions about the voting behavior of the American public.
Given the increasingly polarized nature of American politics, renewed attention has been focused on the ideological nature of the mass public. Using Bayesian Item Response Theory (IRT), we examine the contemporary contours of policy attitudes as they relate to ideological identity and we consider the implications for the way scholars conceptualize, measure, and use political ideology in empirical research. Although political rhetoric today is clearly organized by a single ideological dimension, we find that the belief systems of the mass public remain multidimensional, with many in the electorate holding liberal preferences on one dimension and conservative preferences on another. These cross-pressured individuals tend to self-identify as moderate (or say "Don't Know") in response to the standard liberal-conservative scale, thereby jeopardizing the validity of this commonly used measure. Our analysis further shows that failing to account for the multidimensional nature of ideological preferences can produce inaccurate predictions about the voting behavior of the American public.
The concept of party identification has been central to our understanding of American electoral behavior. This research builds upon the functional logic of party identification and asks what occurs if citizens become better able to manage the complexities of politics without relying on habitual party cues. Using the data from the American National Election Studies, we track the distribution of party mobilization and cognitive mobilization within the American electorate. Then, we demonstrates the importance of these different mobilization patterns by documenting strong differences in the content of political thinking, voting choice, and electoral change. The results suggest a basic transformation in the characteristics of the American public since our the classic images of The American Voter, leading to a more differentiated and dealigned electorate.
