Argentina's Landmark 2003 Presidential Election: Renewal and Continuity

This article provides an analysis of the political and socioeconomic context of the April 2003 presidential elections, focusing particularly on the campaign platforms of candidates, the outcome of the first round and the election's consequences for the party system. The election's results were far reaching in many respects. Argentina's longstanding two-party system came to an end with the virtual vanishing of the Radical party (UCR) at the national level. An evolved political culture resulted in new, more rigorous criteria for the selection of candidates. Finally, new political parties (MNR and ARI) emerged that could conceivably improve the quality of democratic governance in the future. In short, the 2001–2002 crisis fostered a significant degree of political renewal. Contrary to some predictions, however, the societal rejection of political parties did not result in either the complete demolition of the party system or the wholesale renovation of the political class. In particular, the Peronist party showcased its staying power and uncanny ability to adapt to new political environments.     

Piercing the Incumbency Syndrome: Ghana’s Democratic Transition in 2017

Ghana’s political landscape changed dramatically in 2017, with the election of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo as president. Ghana’s political transition in 2017 raises new insights into presidential recruitment and politics in Ghana. The purpose of this article is to examine the 2016 elections within the spectrum of the politics of Ghana’s presidential recruitment. This article discusses the hurdles that were surmounted by the opposition New Patriotic Party party, in unseating the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC) party. The author coins the term ‘the John Syndrome’ to highlight the mythology held by some commentators that Akufo Addo could not be elected president, because his name is not ‘John’. Discussions about intra-party squabbles that resulted in the loss of NDC’s incumbency are provided. The article concludes that Akufo Addo’s presidency symbolises a de-mythologisation of ‘the John Syndrome’. The perception that Akufo Addo saved the nation in 2012 was his major weapon in piercing John Mahama’s incumbency. The demise of the NDC is likely to create an intra-party shift in favour of the party’s founder.     

Issue framing and electoral violence in Ghana: a conceptual analysis

Ghana has conducted several successful elections since 1992, but the country continues to face many threats of widespread violence due to the recurrent nature of micro-level electoral violence and the existence of vulnerabilities such as political patronage, politics of exclusion, winner-takes-all electoral system and ethnic cleavages. While these factors have been used to explain the causes of electoral violence, issue framing by political elites and its connection to electoral violence have not been adequately examined. To better understand this phenomenon, this article draws on the concept of framing to underscore the argument that issue framing and reframing by political elites tend to shape micro-level electoral violence in Ghana.     

Straining without training? Capacity-related problems facing African election executives and officials

This article argues that the empowerment of election officials and executives is usually overlooked, understated or simply ignored; yet elections cannot be conducted without plans in place to improve their efficiency and effectiveness; especially through training. As one of the foremost mechanisms for improving elections, training is crucial to organisational performance enhancement. However, training for election officials and executives is fairly new in many African countries. Generally incorporated in generic university or vocational institute courses globally, training is usually offered as a special tailor-made module for polling officials in western countries. Even then, it rarely covers the severe conditions election officials regularly face, especially in Africa. This article examines these issues based on a review of the extant literature, conceptual and theoretical reflection on election management, and practical interaction with some election authorities who participated as trainees in the Unisa Management of Democratic Elections in Africa (MDEA) course (2012–2014). The article concludes that the training of election officials and executives poses challenges for Africa; partly because some election management bodies (EMBs) prefer to “strain” rather than effectively train their members to ensure sustainable performance, and partly because others prefer short-term irrelevant training that undermines their organisational goals. These hurdles need to be overcome if Africa is to address its election-related challenges.     

Forecasts of the 2004 French European Election

The purpose of this article is to build and to estimate a model which explains and forecasts the outcomes of the French European elections by department, by electoral district and at the national level. The model is accurate in forecasting the elections of the past. Its forecasts for the 2004 French European election are satisfactory and take into account the recent changes in the voting system.     

经常联系党员是党代表的基本职责

党的代表大会是中国共产党的领导机关,经常联系党员不仅是党代表的基本职责,也直接涉及到党内权力合法性的基础。长期以来党代表难以经常联系党员,原因既有认识上的误区,也有机制上的积弊。解决这一问题的基本思路,一是在党内大力弘扬“尊重党员主体地位”的认识,二是改革党代表产生的制度机制,三是积极推进党代表任期制的具体制度建设。     

6·2地方选举结果与预示：以政党公推为中心

2010年6月2日,韩国在全国范围内进行地方选举,此次地方选举是1991年韩国重新实施地方选举以来的第六届。在以往的地方选举中,获胜的往往是在野党,而此次地方选举也沿袭了这一趋势,作为第一在野党的民主党人士占据了地方自治团体长和地方议会的大部分席位,这预示着当前的政治版图将发生巨大的变化。大国家党在选举中落败的一个原因正是在于公推制度的弊端,因此,本文将以该问题为切入点深入分析6.2地方选举的结果及其预示,以期为地方选举制度中存在的问题提供有益的改善方案。     

The Mexican Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2000 and Democratic Transition

The article examines the presidential and congressional elections of July 2000 in Mexico. The elections brought to an end more than 70 years of single party government and the culmination of a gradual democratisation process stretching back at least a decade. The long term decline in the bases of support for the regime and the changing institutional rules for elections and parties are described by way of contextualising the campaign itself and its leading protagonists. While the new rules of the game guaranteed free and fair elections, issues of internal party democracy and negative, personality-based campaigning do not paint a universally rosy democratic picture. Analysis of the election results demonstrates how the opposition was able to move beyond its traditional geographic confines and challenge across the country. However, voters did not give an unambiguous victory to Vicente Fox; his alliance does not possess a majority in either house of congress. Divided government and developments in the party system are considered as two key issues that will shape Mexico's democratic future.     

Contested Forests: An Analysis of the Highlander Response to Logging,Ratanakiri Province,Northeast Cambodia

This article examines in detail the influence of the global on state-local relationships in the particular context of Ratanakiri Province, Northeast Cambodia. It is argued that modern state power in Cambodia is based on Western concepts of nation-building, including territorialization, assimilation, economic development, and the commercial exploitation of resources and has led to the incorporation of the remote forested areas of the periphery into the net of the state. Since the 1993 election, the plunder of the northeast has been justified in the name of “development.” The author shows that the response of forest-dependent highlanders to this state intervention cannot be understood as either simple opposition or acquiescence. Rather it has been a contradictory and fragmentary response, emerging from the conflicting desires for autonomy over land and forests and for the benefits to be gained from “development” and inclusion within the hypothesized “nation-state.”     

Who benefits? Intergovernmental transfers,subnational politics and local spending in Ecuador

ABSTRACT

This paper looks at the intervening role that local political elites play to translate government transfers into effective public spending. We want to know whether mayors spend IGTs to provide basic public services or infrastructure works, and whether such investments are instrumental to secure their advantage as incumbents. To test these arguments, we use a combined dataset of local public finances between 2001 and 2015 and electoral results for the 2009 and 2014 municipal elections in Ecuador. We find that mayors do respond to political incentives and make strategic spending decisions to invest on public services and visible infrastructure projects. However, we find selective spending was insufficient to secure incumbency advantage in the 2014 election. We argue that the executive intervened to block or limit the impact of spending decisions at the local level, thus creating an incumbency disadvantage for mayors. Further research is needed to explain this.