"Demokracija je počela" - demokratski izbori u Općini Bjelovar 1990.

Author(s): Željko Karaula / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 2/2008

The downfall of the communist system in Europe in 1989, during a peoples’ awakening of a kind, was very soon reflected upon the events occurring in Socialist Yugoslavia, where the Yugoslav Communist Union had, until that time, exercised absolute power. Under the pressure of the communist system having fallen down in Eastern Europe, the true power takeover happened in 1990, when – after the introduction of a multi-party system – the Communist Union disappeared from the Croatian political scene. Referring to and based upon articles from local newspapers, publications issued by political parties and other written sources, the author notes how hard the way to democracy had been and indicates to the emergence of political parties in the area of the then Bjelovar Municipality. The paper presents the election results in the Bjelovar area in detail.

"Francuski socijalistički eksperiment" - od željenog do mogućeg socijalizma

Author(s): Ognjen Pribičević / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 02/1989

The electoral victory of French socialists and the establishment of a socialist government in France brought new hope and new expectations not only to French, but also to all European progressive and socialistically oriented forces, concerning the possibilities of more radical social and political reforms even though capitalism continues to rule beyond that country’s borders. Special interest was provoked by the ideas of French Socialists, which were also proposed in the electoral program, relating to the nationalization of the greater part of private firms and to the inclusion of members of the French Communist Party into the government. Although it fulfilled a large part of its electoral promises of 1981, the Socialist Party of France was defeated in the 1986 elections. The author points to the main reason for this failure and also indicates the main changes which have taken place in French society since the beginning of the 1980s.

"MJESTO SJEĆANJA" ILI IZBORNA KAMPANJA? ANALIZA SADRŽAJA HRVATSKIH MEDIJA PRIJE PARLAMENTARNIH IZBORA 2015.

Author(s): Marko Mustapić,Ivan Balabanić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 3/2018

After a brief theoretical consideration of the cultural memory and political communication in electoral campaigns, this paper analyses statements of politicians during the 2015 Croatian parliamentary campaign. The main goal of the paper is to establish the manner in which events and happenings from modern Croatian history and the various ‘collective memories' surrounding them were present in the media excerpts analysed. Research of excerpts from the leading Croatian media outlets (daily newspapers, TV stations, web portals) was performed through content analysis. The results show that excerpts including political communication about modern historical themes were present to a significant extent, and that discussions of these topics were most often provoked by the largest political parties, Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). On the level of general conclusion, it can be claimed that the electoral campaign largely became a "site of memory" where further political conflicts surrounding historical issues were generated, while discussions of solutions to numerous social problems were neglected.

"Ponovljeni" vanredni izbori 2016. godine. Šta se zapravo dogodilo?

Author(s): Zoran Stojiljković / Language(s): Serbian / Publication Year: 0

(Ne)poštovanje Kodeksa novinara Srbije u kampanji za predsedničke izbore u 2017. godini

Author(s): Dinko Gruhonjić / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 40/2017

The paper presents a comparative analysis of several monitoring reports on the reporting of public media and commercial televisions with a national frequency during the campaign for the presidential elections in Serbia in 2017, with the aim of determining the extent and manner in which the Serbian Code of Journalists was violated. The monitorings, which, rather than being done by the competent state institutions such as the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM), were largely carried out by civil society organizations, unequivocally demonstrated that, in most cases, reporting was extremely biased in favor of the ruling coalition candidate Aleksandar Vučić. In addition to the fact that they violated the provisions of key media laws and reporting rules during the pre-election campaign, the editors and journalists of televisions also violated the Code of Journalists in various ways. The monitorings, on the one hand, have shown the inadmissible bias of the majority of public and commercial televisions, but, on the other hand, have also shown that there were commercial cable televisions that largely took account of a uniform reporting on presidential candidates. Most of the analyzed televisions did not, however, abide by the preamble of the Code of Journalism, which states that the reason for the existence of media is public interest, and the business, political and private interests of the publisher/media owner should not be an excuse or justification for violating the Code. Most of the monitoring has also shown that the provisions of the Code of Journalism have been violated regarding the truthfulness of reporting, independence from pressures, journalists’ accountability, and journalistic attention.

(Nie)utrwalenie się systemu partyjnego na poziomie regionu w okresie autonomii Województwa Śląskiego (1922-1939). Wybrane aspekty

Author(s): Maciej Marmola / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 3/2015

Presented article describes the political scene of Silesian autonomy (1922-1939) in context of political science approaches concerning the possibility to form the regional party system. The analysis includes the specificity of sub-national elections, profiles of parties and their strategies in regional elections. The research indicates that in interwar Silesian Voivodeship there have been developed different set of parties than at nationwide level (with strong Christian Democratic Party and German parties). Nevertheless, the regional party system was not created due to dominant position of regional branches of nationwide parties in Silesian politics.

10th Majlis Election in Iran: Structural, Institutional, Legal, and Political Issues

Author(s): Abdol Moghset Bani Kamal,Bakhrullo Ashurov / Language(s): English / Issue: 14/2017

The 10th Majlis election was held in the Islamic Republic of Iran on 26 February 2016. The election witnessed a record number of disqualified candidates by the Guardian Council. Notwithstanding this, the pro-government candidates were well-received by the voters. President Hassan Rouhani’s foreign policy and the nuclear deal that had concluded with the international community, held a special place in the political debates during the election. This paper first analyses the importance of the 10th Majlis election in Iran in the light of President Rouhani’s foreign policy. Secondly, it explores the election process. This paper argues that elections in Iran suffer from four types of issues. First characteristic is closely linked with the theocratic nature of the Iranian political system. Second one is connected with the Iranian electoral system. Third one arises from the inefficiency of electoral institutions. Finally, those issues caused by the discriminative approach of the Iranian ruling elites towards certain political parties and ethno religious groups.

1908 Seçimlerinde Tanin’in Seçim Kampanyası

Author(s): Mesude Sezer Özdilli / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 1/2019

The 1908 elections have a very important place in Turkish political life. These elections after 1908 Revolution, would also give an idea about the value of the revolution, established the new young Meşrutiyet (Constitutional System) at the end of this revolutions and the architect of the revolution İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti (Union and Progress Party) by voters. If the Party doesn’t find the support it is looking for as a result of elections, the Party’s political authority could be shaken at the beginning. In this reason, it can be said that the Party conducted effective propaganda in these elections. The Party has carried out the election propagation particularly through the press. As a continuation of Jön Türk tradition, the Party has masterfully used the press. In this direction, the articles written and the announcements made in Tanin which defended the ideas of the Party, were used to divert voters. In this way, while the uninterested and inexperienced Muslim voters are trying to awaken and become conscious on selection and election, from the other side the sanctity and charisma of the Party is stressed. It has been tried to show how the future of the country and the Constitutional System depends on the Party.

1961 Anayasa Referandumu ve DP Tabanı

Author(s): Fatih Tuğluoğlu / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 24/2019

On May 27, 1960, the national unity committee, which seized power under military intervention, invited universities to refer to constitutional lawyers for the preparation of a new constitution. In the prepared 1961 constitution, it was desired to find solutions to political problems and uneasiness, economic troubles and social problems in the period when the DP was in power. The adoption of the new constitution, which was presented to the public with the referendum, was deemed necessary to return civilian life. Although the referendum activities, which started in an environment where the DP’s political life was terminated, seemed to be the scene of the propaganda of supporters of the constitution, the AP was set up to appeal to the DP voters, especially in the Western Anatolia region. The National Unity Committee has also sent its members to visit the country to discuss with the people and asked the public to accept the new constitution for the new period’s needs and the political controversies of the old era. The fact that the Constitutional Court had a numerical superiority in the founding parliament, which prepared the constitution, and the speeches of the CHP’s spokespersons who had adopted the constitution, caused the DP base to vote in a bad way. The result of the referendum was unexpectedly different because of the negative propaganda and the election of the DP, which were undergoing the secretly, and the participation was high, but not even 70 percent of the vote. The majority of negative votes were the military coup of the DP base and a reaction to the living process. While the result was welcomed in AP, which regarded the future as a hope for power, the National Unity Committee considered that the constitution was acceptable. The outcome of the referendum campaign with the support of the state and the support of the three parties is similar to that of the vote in the elections of 1957, and it is understood that the provinces that supported the DP voted no to the constitution.

1973'ten Günümüze Yerel Seçim Sonuçları Temelinde Samsun'un Siyasi Yapısı

Author(s): Ali Arslan / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 10/2006

This study aims to analyses socio-political structure of Samsun at the basis of the results of Turkish Local elections since 1973 up to date. Documentary and historical research techniques will be used during the study.

1979-2014 Yıllarında Afganistan Siyasetinde General Dostum’un Rolü ve Bunun Afganistan Türk Toplumuna Etkileri

Author(s): Abdulbashir Azad / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 1/2019

This study examines the role of General Rashid Dostum in political life of Afghanistan between 1979-2014 and its effects on Turkish society in Afghanistan. The study investigates the subject under three main titles. Firstly, the position and importance of Dostum in political life of Afghanistan before 1991 is examined. In the second part,information on the role of Dostum in the period of civil war and the struggle against the Taliban is given. Finally, the effect of Dostum and Turks on the Constitutional Loya Jirga is analyzed. Accordingly, some suggestions are presented in order deal with the problems that Dostum and Turks of Afghanistan face nowadays.

1995-2015: Žene i politički život u postdejtonskoj Bosni i Hercegovini

Author(s): / Language(s): Bosnian / Publication Year: 2015

Gradeći i razvijajući program i organizacijski portfelj za ženska ljudska prava, brzo smo uvidjeli_e nedostatak intenzivnijeg i vidljivog tematizovanja ”ženske” istorije u Bosni i Hercegovini. Iako postoji veliki broj publikacija i nekoliko aktivističkih inicijativa koje obrađuju određene fragmente, pojave, periode ili regije, ne postoji institucionalizirano pamćenje niti se ono podstiče. Akademska zajednica je, nažalost, zakazala kada govorimo o ovoj temi. Istorija žena i njihov doprinos i dalje ostaju na marginama akademskog života.

2002 Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine. Events, Results, Consequences

Author(s): Tadeusz A. Olszański / Language(s): English,Polish / Publication Year: 2003

On 31 March 2002, parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine. As expected, they were a major success for the centrist-rightist coalition focused around former Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko. The communists emerged significantly weaker from the vote, and the "party of power" achieved a poor result. Yet, due to the mixed electoral law (half of the deputies were elected in single-mandate districts), the latter block, firmly supported by President Leonid Kuchma, resulted as the main force in Parliament. The results of particular parties and blocks were as follows: Viktor Yuschenko's Block received 23.57% of votes and 112 seats, the Communist Party of Ukraine - 19.98% of votes and 66 seats, the "For One Ukraine" block - 11.77% of votes and 101 seats, Yulia Tymoshenko's Block - 7.26% of votes and 22 seats, the Socialist Party of Ukraine - 6.87% of votes and 22 seats, and the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) - 6.27% of votes and 24 seats. This shows how the mixed electoral regulations favour "For One Ukraine" and act against Yuschenko's block. One should note, however, that the latter gained the support of less than one quarter of voters.

2006 Seçimleriyle HAMAS’ın Filistin İçinde Değişen Konumu (2006-2010)

Author(s): Filiz KATMAN / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 28/2018

Actors in Palestine position themselves with respect to the developments in historical process, and also change their strategies based on this new position. Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) is one of actors evolving like that. Considering HAMAS’ position in Palestinian society, determining its role in the developments in Palestine, and analyzing the transformation process of HAMAS is the key to understand Palestinian issue. This paper elaborates the factors influencing transformation process of HAMAS, the winner of 2016 elections, from an organization rejecting the participation to the elections, the contribution to Palestinian national unity, and the negotiation process into an organization joining 2006 elections, reflecting a political will for Palestinian national unity and requesting an unconditional seat at the negotiation table, and it also elaborates how it is transformed in organizational level. When the transformation process of HAMAS is analyzed, its decision to participate in 2006 elections is an important turning point. In this paper, HAMAS’ decision to participate in 2006 elections as a political party, its performance in power within first four years and impacts of this on its position in Palestine after 2006 election triumph are elaborated.

2007 Bulgaristan Yerel Seçimleri Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme

Author(s): Seçil Öraz / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 15/2007

The 2007 local elections in Bulgaria, which went to gallop box six times since the regime change in 1989, was herald of the upcoming changes and new formations to ocur in the next years in this country. In these local elections, which were held after the country's EU membership, and under the targeted European conditions of transparency and justice, brought the DPS, political party of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria, the third rank. This and other developments give clues of expectable results of the general elections to be held in 2009.

2007 Seçiminin Siyasal Değer Haritası: Siyasetçilerin Söylemleri Üzerine Bir Değer Analizi

Author(s): Aynur Köse / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 2/2016

In this study by focusing the relationship between politics and values, discourse of political actors are analyzed in the framework of values in the Turkish general election on July 22, 2007. Values are criteria that are used by people to understand themselves and the world which is directly related with the politics. It is important to review that which values are emphasized by the political actors, which values are referred to tell themselves and tell you what to do and also to criticize their opponents. Also by analysing the values, which political parties convince the voters in election studies, it will determine that which values in the election will gain and which values will lose. In the research which was conducted by qualitative content analysis, 10 basic and 56 subvalue analysis categories located in the Schwartz Value Scale were used. When values used by political actors and the relationship between these values are analyzed, it is found that AKP emphasize performances as a responsible power and has positioned himself by the rhetoric; “absolutely nothing is guaranteed to do what we did”. CHP and MHP engaged in the business of producing the project, has entered the race to create the impression of a government that serves the people.

2008 US Presidential Elections: The Iraq War, Party Platforms and Social Polarization

Author(s): Anca Parmena Olimid / Language(s): English / Issue: 17/2008

La guerre d’Irak est le principal facteur de la campagne présidentielle de 2008. Aujourd’hui elle représente le problème central de l’opinion publique Américaine. Cet article est une approche analytique intégrative de cette campagne, portant surtout trois questions: les sondages concernant les préférences des Americains pour l’élection présidentielle de 2008, le vote de la population hispanique et les déclarations des candidats sur le problème Irakien.

2016 Lithuanian Parliamentary Elections: Implicit and Explicit Attitudes of Young Adults Toward the Political Parties

Author(s): Tomas Maceina,Gintautas Valickas / Language(s): English / Issue: 4 (88)/2017

Our study is directed toward the examination of attitudinal grounds of political decision-making among young (≤ 24 years old) Lithuanian voters in the national parliamentary elections. The focus is on their attitudes regarding politically specific evaluative dimensions (competence, honesty and leadership). To estimate the prognostic values of explicit/implicit attitudes toward different Lithuanian political parties, we asked participants to fill out a questionnaire and to perform three sets of ST-IATs respectively. Due to the low voting diversity among participants, an elaborate data analysis could only be conducted regarding two Lithuanian parties: the Liberal Movement (LRLS) and Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD). The results of our study suggest that explicit attitudes are more important than implicit attitudes in predicting voting behavior. We found that positive explicit and positive implicit attitudes toward the LRLS competence and leadership, respectively, predicted the decision to vote for this party (reference group: non-voters). On the same note, our findings suggest that positive explicit and implicit attitudes toward the TS-LKD honesty predicted the decision to vote for this party (reference group: non-voters). Positive implicit attitudes toward the party’s competence also predicted this decision. Finally, we found that political sophistication was an important factor by only considering explicit attitudes toward TS-LKD. Namely, the increase of explicit attitudes’ prognostic power on the decision to vote for TS-LKD was associated with the decrease of voters’ political sophistication (reference group: non-voters).

2016 metų Seimo rinkimų iššūkis partinei sistemai ir politologams: kaip numatyti žemės drebėjimą?

Author(s): Mažvydas Jastramskis / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 2 (86)/2017

This article strives to begin an academic discussion about the impact of the 2016 parliamentary elections on the Lithuanian party system. It was previously argued by political scientists that stabilization could be observed around the 2012 parliamentary elections. On the basis of renewed measures of electoral volatility (total volatility, party replacement and external volatility), the following is argued: the observed party system stabilization was more an exception than a trend. In 2016, the party system returned to the usual track: despite the deceptively small success of new parties, an increase in total and especially external volatility (signifying a weak institutionalization of the party system) was observed. If compared to the Western countries, such levels of electoral volatility point to an inchoate party system at best: 2016 was not that special, since earthquakes in Lithuanian elections are very common. Moreover, an updated map of party competition (based on the voters’ evaluations of the parties) space raises another challenge for previous research. It was previously accepted that traditional parties in Lithuania are quite successful in the integration of newcomers: hence, the party system sustains its patterns of competition from election to election, despite the high levels of volatility. However, the 2016 elections bring back the second dimension of competition, which now divides not only the newcomers and the surviving parties, but also the older populist parties vs. the election winner, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union. Resting on these preliminary findings, the need to further investigate electoral behavior in Lithuania is obvious. The second part of the article discusses what questions are (again) raised for the electoral research after the 2016 elections. It is not an exhaustive list, but there is a clear need to advance knowledge in these aspects: the logic of electoral volatility at the voter’s level, the (changing?) role of the electoral system, the impact of the electoral campaign, the divide between voters and politicians. In the context of these unknowns, the current possibilities of both the party system stabilization and electoral forecasting (political scientists in Lithuania are sometimes criticized for their inability to do this successfully) are viewed critically. There is a parallel between seismologists and Lithuanian political scientists, as both an earthquake and earthquake elections are hard to predict. There is a three-body problem in Lithuanian elections: unstable interactions between the supply, demand and the electoral system lead to unpredictable election results. But precisely because of this there is a need for continuing research.

2016 Parliamentary Elections in Slovakia and the Political Parties of Ethnic Hungarians

Author(s): Iván Halász / Language(s): English / Issue: 19/2017

On Saturday 5 March 2016, Slovakian voters went to the polls again. Since the first free elections after the political changeover, this was the ninth occasion that citizens could express their will in this way. In Slovakia, formed on 1 January 1993, this was the seventh election for the 150-member unicameral Parliament (i.e. the National Council) in Slovakia. On the other hand, this was the third occasion since the 2009 schism of the political parties representing the Hungarian minority in Slovakia that each of them competed on its own (2010, 2012, 2016). Although there have been some minor amendments and corrections during the past quarter of a century, the election system of Slovakia has shown a remarkable stability since 1992. In other words, its fundamental rules have not undergone any significant modifications. It is still a proportionate election system in which voters can cast their votes for party lists nominated by the individual political parties and movements. The threshold of entrance is 5%, but it shows a growing trend in the case of electoral coalitions. Currently, the whole country is a single constituency, so each party drafts a national list.