Electoral effects of candidate valence

Ideological proximity is not the sole determinant of electoral choices. Voters frequently select candidates whose policy profiles do not exhibit the closest match with their own policy preferences. Instead, non-spatial factors can govern the vote. The empirical literature has struggled to assess the effect of candidate valence on electoral outcomes due to the challenge of estimating a comprehensive indicator of candidate valence. This paper investigates the effect of non-spatial factors on candidates’ electoral results by estimating candidate valences from a vote advice application. A conservative estimate based on an analysis of the two-tiered German federal election system suggests a surplus of several percentage points for high-valence candidates over low-valence competitors – even for competitors from minor parties.     

Electoral Reform as an Engine of Party System Change in Italy

Abstract

After more than forty years of proportional representation, in 1991 Italy embarked on a period of electoral law revision. The ongoing debate about how to engineer an electoral system capable of producing the preferred political outcomes stands out against the stasis in constitutional reform, most recently demonstrated in the rejection by popular referendum of Matteo Renzi’s package of reforms. The extent to which the different electoral reforms have had an impact on Italian politics, especially following the 2005 electoral legislation, can be evaluated by analysing the changing Italian party system over the past decade and beyond in terms of its morphology, dynamics, and party/parliamentary group switching. The 2005 electoral reform has had a clear effect on Italian politics and on the party system, but that effect is unlikely to endure given the highly controversial new electoral law that came into force in 2017.     

Abuse and Cruelty in Religious Bureaucracy: The Case of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on critical theories of organisations to question why child sexual abuse is a frequent correlate of male authority in institutional settings. While acknowledging the role of other risk factors, the paper suggests that the contemporary bureaucratic form is itself conducive to child sexual abuse. This argument is developed through an analysis of Case Study 42 of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, centred on allegations of sexual abuse by the clergy and laity in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle. The extensive allegations of abuse in the diocese illustrate how rationalised structures of governance and oversight can facilitate rather than inhibit child sexual abuse. The analysis advanced by the paper contests the assumption that institutional abuse represents the deformation or paedophilic “infiltration” of otherwise neutral organisational arrangements. Instead, the paper emphasises how rationalised institutional structures can mystify relations of domination and promulgate a milieu in which children are viewed instrumentally as the means for the fulfilment of personal drives.     

Freedom to hate: social media,algorithmic enclaves,and the rise of tribal nationalism in Indonesia

Empirically grounded in the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election (Pilkada DKI) case, this article discusses the relationship of social media and electoral politics in Indonesia. There is no doubt that sectarianism and racism played significant roles in the election and social media, which were heavily utilized during the campaign, contributed to the increasing polarization among Indonesians. However, it is misleading to frame the contestation among ordinary citizens on social media in an oppositional binary, such as democratic versus undemocratic forces, pluralism versus sectarianism, or rational versus racist voters. Marked by the utilization of volunteers, buzzers, and micro-celebrities, the Pilkada DKI exemplifies the practice of post-truth politics in marketing the brand. While encouraging freedom of expression, social media also emboldens freedom to hate, where individuals exercise their right to voice their opinions while actively silencing others. Unraveling the complexity of the relationship between social media and electoral politics, I suggest that the mutual shaping between users and algorithms results in the formation of “algorithmic enclaves” that, in turn, produce multiple forms of tribal nationalism. Within these multiple online enclaves, social media users claim and legitimize their own versions of nationalism by excluding equality and justice for others.     

Technology transformation and changing demographic patterns: Perspectives for Africa’s future elections

The last decade of the 21st century has so far seen many important elections on the African continent. These elections offer windows for the development of democracy and freedom throughout the continent. The same period has been characterised by a burgeoning population, estimated to be over one billion. The rapid growth in population has fuelled a quick growth in the number of eligible voters. Around the same period, another increase has been under way: evolving new technology penetration in electoral management systems. The introduction of innovative technologies into the electoral management systems (prior, during and post-election) has raised both interest and concerns. This review article provides insights into, and a critique of the role of emerging technologies in Africa’s electoral managements systems. The article taps on some of the best practices of modern technology applications in the electoral process. Some of the areas of focus in this article include constituency delimitation, political party registration, voter registration, voting operations and stakeholder engagements. The discussion denotes a rising recognition and use of new technologies in these areas to improve efficiency, ensure credibility of democratic processes and reliability of election results. The literature engages with a mixture of successes and failures, improvements and challenges, innovations and obstacles in the context of countryspecific electoral systems technological applications.     

Newspaper Representation of the Debates in the 2007 Jamaican General Election Campaign

This article deconstructs the newspaper representations of three debates held in 2007 during the Jamaican General Election campaign. The theory of social representation is used in this article to explain political behaviour and outcomes. Representations are the images, words, symbols or phrases that are generated from people's dialogic interaction that signify meanings. Content analysis of relevant articles covering the electoral campaign in the main print media in Jamaica forms the empirical basis for study. The majority of representations of the three main debates were negative, revealing that political manifestos were largely ignored and policy funding was not addressed. Significant issues such as crime, education, health, garrison politics, corruption and unemployment were inadequately addressed, and the wider global context of these matters was ignored. The consensus was that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won two of the three debates, notably the leadership debate in which the Leader of the Opposition, Bruce Golding MP, performed more effectively than the then current Prime Minister, Portia Simpson‐Miller of the People's National Party (PNP). Social representation theory is used to assess the types of political meanings generated by media coverage during the General Election. It is suggested that the perceived success of the JLP candidates in the main debates was an important contribution to the party's overall electoral victory.     

The German Enquete Commission on Sects: Political Conflicts and Compromises

This paper deals with the enquete commission on sects and cults established by the German Budestag (Federal Parliament) from 1996 to 1998. The author, who was appointed as an expert member of the commission, explains the public pressure leading to its establishment and the political considerations restricting its work. Although the majority of the commission was convinced of the harmful nature of cults, it was not possible to find any evidence of unlawful activites. Scientific research authorized by the commission modified the prevailing view of the dangerous influence of new religious movements. The final report of the commission is a political compromise denying any danger to the State and society posed by cults, but at the same time it demands new legislation to deal with them.     

共同犯罪论

本文系研究共同犯罪基本理论的学术论文。本文通过对共同犯罪的概念、正犯的概念 ,共犯的概念及其相互关系的分析入手 ,研究各共同犯罪人的犯罪构成及其刑事责任。     

Oversight of the Executive in the Eastern Cape Province,South Africa

This paper examines legislative oversight of the Executive in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, since the divisions within the ANC in the run-up to the party's 2007 Polokwane conference. It explores the dynamics of oversight and experiences of MPLs of the governing and opposition parties and of legislators and senior officials of government. Importantly, it assesses the perception and confidence of citizens in rural communities in the oversight process of the Legislature. The paper argues that the factions within the ruling party have had remarkable impact on the oversight of the Executive in the Eastern Cape. Whilst a vital element of the legislative process in the Eastern Cape, oversight is weak and ineffective: ineffectual oversight intersects with citizen apathy in legislative and oversight processes in the province.