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This article seeks to examine changes in Czech party competition between 2006 and 2014. Drawing on Sani and Sartori’s concept of party competition, it incorporates later findings on the nature of party competition to facilitate the concept’s application to fluid party systems. It conceptualises party competition as multi-dimensional and according to the (a) salience the individual dimensions used in this analysis have for political parties and (b) the positions that the parties occupy on these dimensions. It distinguishes three types of relations in party competition – non-competitive, defensive and acquisitive competition – and using data from the Chapel Hill questionnaire survey focuses on three dimensions in Czech party competition: socio-economic, European, and social-liberal/conservative. Special attention is devoted to the competition strategies of individual parties while taking into account the duration of their existence (new vs traditional parties). The findings indicate that the nature of party competition has transformed, as changes have occurred in the intensity of the competition, the salience of the dimensions of the competition, the space of the competition, and how much competition occurs in one dimensions as opposed to another. Consistent with previous studies, the analyses reveal, that most of the competitive relationships (which were primarily defensive in nature) observed in this study occurred in the socioeconomic dimension, but they also show that there is very strong potential for intense party competition to develop in the other two dimensions if they become more salient.
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The aim of the article is to analyse the discussion about the electoral system in Slovenia during the 1990s. In the first part of the analysis we focus on the transitional electoral systems in East-Central Europe and its main characteristics. Later we present the specific development and preconditions in former Yugoslavia and Slovenia during the period of transition. Our analysis focuses here not only on the technical issues (electoral system and electoral mechanism), but also on the more general framework of party competition based on the initial cleavage Communism against Anti-Communism. In the main part of the study we analyse in detail the development towards the plebiscite about the electoral system in December 1996 and the controversial decision of the Constitutional Court about the result of the plebiscite two years later. This decision is often evaluated as legal, but not legitimate and was not accepted neither by the majority of political actors, nor by the society. The discussion about the electoral system we include into the broader debate about the transitional justice in new democracies.
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Recent findings related to the controversy over proximity and directional spatial models of voting suggest that the relevance of the models can change under different conditions. The political sophistication of voters and the issue factor are discussed in this article. In line with other authors, we believe that it is necessary to focus also on the question whether the examined issue is salient for the voter-party relationship. Contrary to what was expected, when voters’ preferences for parties emphasizing a particular issue are predicted by increasing sophistication of voters, it does not mean that these preferences are predicted by the proximity theory at the same time. Moreover, the directional theory is a better predictor of voters’ preferences for most of the issues, regardless of the sophistication influence. Yet voters’ proximity utilities from their preferences are increased by their increasing sophistication across all of the issues under examination.
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Anti-minority rhetoric as an almost universal feature of extremeright parties is often analytically and empirically linked to their electoral success. This article tests the link between the presence of an outgroup and the vote for the extreme right in an attempt to explain the electoral success of the first openly anti-system extreme-right party to enter the Slovak parliament in 2016. A multilevel approach is used to analyse the connection between Roma presence in a municipality and extreme-right support while controlling for the individual characteristics of voters. Analysis using exit-poll data covering 161 municipalities and 20 128 voters reveals no relationship between the presence of Roma in a municipality and support for the extreme right. A partial exception seems to be observed for older voters and the university-educated, who are generally the least inclined to far-right support. Interaction effects suggest that, for these groups, Roma presence might be connected to a higher probability to cast a vote for the extreme right. However, a notably higher chance of voting for the extreme right was associated with young, male, manual labourers and people without university education.
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ROMANIAN POLITICAL LIFE WILL CONTINUE TO BE EXTREMELY TURBULENT EVEN AFTER THE ABDICATION OF ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA AND THE BRINGING TO THE THRONE OF THE PRINCIPALITIES OF CAROL OF HOHENZOLLERN-SIGMARINGEN. AT THE BEGINNING OF CAROL'S REIGN, IN A PERIOD ROUGHLY EQUAL TO THAT IN WHICH CUZA RULED THE PRINCIPALITIES, THE FIRST ONE WORKED WITH TEN GOVERNMENTS. THE FIRST, LED BY LASCAR CATARGIU, WAS AT THE HELM OF THE COUNTRY FOR ONLY TWO MONTHS, BETWEEN MAY 11 AND JULY 13, 1866. THE GOVERNMENT LED BY ALEXANDRU G. GOLESCU (FEBRUARY 2 - APRIL 18, 1870) ALSO HAD A TWOMONTH MANDATE. EVEN THOUGH WITH THE INSTALLIG OF THE LASCĂR CATARGIU GOVERNMENT ON MARCH 11, 1871 ROMANIAN POLITICAL LIFE BECAME MORE STABLE, THE TWO GOVERNMENT PARTIES CONTINUED THEIR POLITICAL DISPUTE BOTH IN THE PARLIAMENTARY ROSTRUM AND IN THE STREETS, THROUGH PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS OR DURING ELECTIONS.
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The article examines how use of the topic of corruption in the election manifestos of Czech political parties has transformed over the course of the entire post-communist period. The theoretical framework used to grasp the anti-corruption positions expressed in the manifestos is populism. The study builds on the discussions about mainstream political actors (not) adopting populist principles and on the methodological debate around the possibilities offered by populist communication research. Using a content analysis and the principle of triplets, the article analyses the election manifestos of all the parties that were successful in the parliamentary elections between 1990 and 2017 in order to determine whether there was a stronger presence of populist principles in communication on the topic of corruption. Among other things, the study shows that: (1) statements on corruption that are consistent with a populist communication strategy can be found in parties that are not commonly understood as populist throughout the entire researched period; (2) mainstream parties did not respond to the success of populists in the 2010, 2013, and 2017 elections by adopting populist principles; (3) the populists who won a share of power strengthened the elements of populist communication in the next election manifesto.
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Bourgeois parties, especially the H.S.S. and the S.D.S. have tried to use municipal elections in Banovina in Croatia, which they held on the 19th. May 1940, to assure their power in village councils and in this way strengthen the Party’s position and respectively putting an end to the narrowing of political groundplans. Ultimately, the H. S. S. and S. D. S. are trying to assure the leading position in Banovina brought about by the Cvetković/Maček agreement.
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This study seeks to examine the implications of vote-buying on the electoral credibility of Kogi state 2019 gubernatorial election in Lokoja Metropolis. This study adopted the Survey method because of the nature which requires people’s opinion. The population of study is 137,301 registered voters, and a sample of 400 voters were used for this study. Meanwhile, stratified random sampling was adopted for the study. Out of the 400-questionnaire given to respondents, 387 were filled and returned. Mean was used for the analysis of data. The study revealed that vote-buying has negative implications on the credibility of the 2019 gubernatorial election in Lokoja Metropolis. Lastly, this study recommends among other things that since the research revealed that there is a relationship between income (economic position) and voters' decisions, political parties should provide excellent governance when elected and improve the situations of electorate who voted them into office.
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This paper analyzes the characteristics of the presidential system. The subject of the analysis of the paper is the various features of the system such as the constitutional structure, the constitutional powers of the executive branch, the electoral system, the party system, the advantages and disadvantages of this system. We will look at the development of the very concept and key features of the presidential system as a form of state power that is typical of the United States. The basic feature of this system is the constitutional guarantee of the independence of the presidential government. In both the presidential and parliamentary systems, there is a fundamental difference that is reflected in the institution of government itself. There is no government in the presidential system as a collective body, because the bearer of government activity is the president himself, who is also the head of state and represents a set of powers. In order for this to exist, three conditions must be met: the head of state comes from the people, there cannot be a vote of no confidence in parliament and he runs a government of his own choosing.
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Anti-austerity protests revived anti- and post-hegemonic sociopolitical imaginary, around the word. In Spain, 15M movement built the premises for political projects based on direct democracy and horizontal models of social organization, as defining features of the new muncipalists who won 2015 elections in several cities. The case of Madrid has revelatory value in the debate regarding outcomes of participatory innovations, as the alliance which pioneered digital democracy and multi-actor multi-level local governance lost elections of 2019. Although a relatively large body of research investigated the feasibility of democratic innovations by contrasting their designs and implementation processes onto the matrix of their objectives and underlying ideological principles, the literature explaining their outcomes is scarce. Few studies focus on factors modeling the sustainability of participatory democracy as city regime, and the most common approach stresses out neoliberal inhibitors, as structural breaks which limit the depth and quality of participation. The present study aims to contribute to filling this gap by extending the analytical framework to encompass factors related to horizontalism, as enablers of democracy innovations. It is concluded that while horizontal governance works as a spillover of inclusive participation, it is highly vulnerable to attacks designed to vertically restructure its working processes.
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The security of each country is related to ensuring that access to certain information essential for its functioning is limited. Therefore, information protection systems are created. In the modern world, in 21st century, information accompanies man at every stage of his activity, be it of a professional or private nature. Information is processed and recorded in various forms, ranging from oral, written in the traditional dimension, to the form using electronic means. Therefore, the overriding objectives of the state include ensuring adequate protection of information, i.e. information security
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This paper addresses the access to information by people who are hearing impaired from electoral committees disseminated during election campaigns on the basis of the commission’s draft law on amending the Electoral Code (Term IX/Sejm print 1695, concerning improving access of people who are hearing impaired to information from electoral committees disseminated during election campaigns).
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Elections for the Constituent Assembly in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were the first parliamentary elections in the newly founded state. They had a special importance for Bosnia and Herzegovina, because they were the first parliamentary elections ever held on this soil. The elections took place in rather unsettled conditions in the country.
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The purpose of the article is to analyse the impact of pre-election polls on the behaviour of Polish voters in the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2015. The results of public opinion polls published during the election campaign could have influenced the behaviour of some citizens in a way that either mobilised them to take part in voting for and supporting individual committees and candidates or discouraged them from doing so. The article attempts to identify and characterise the ‘poll effects’ that may have occurred in the cases discussed, as well as assessing the impact of the polls on the final election results.
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This article is about Nayib Bukele’s presidency in El Salvador, and to what extent it is a case of populism, and if it has contributed to a negative democratic development between 2019–2021. By using the concepts of democratic backsliding, autocratization, and populism, three main conclusions are made. First, actions taken by Bukele during his presidency has directly contributed to a negative democratic development. Second, both during the electoral campaign and in office, there are also signs of populism, such as anti-pluralism, hijacking the state, mass clientelism, and a feeling of a less democratic civil society and free media. Consequently, Bukele has pushed the country into a process of autocratization, where the future destiny toward less democracy is still uncertain.
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The article is devoted to the study of electoral choice. It is proved that it is a complex phenomenon that requires a comprehensive study in the framework of different approaches, which are formed in behaviorism, postmodernism, cognitivism, moral and communicative philosophy. It has been shown that the study of electoral choice is related to the analysis of thought processes. Given the unrestricted dissemination of information and the growing role of irrational aspects, political behavior cannot be explained by the doctrine of rational choice alone.
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The study aimed to describe bureaucratic neutrality at regional level and its necessity in direct regional head elections in Indonesia. This research is important in examining whether state civil apparatuses are tempted to enter the practical political arena in regional head elections despite being prohibited by the principle of bureaucratic neutrality. This study employed a descriptive quantitative research method and index analysis techniques. A research population of 12,539 state civil apparatuses (SCAs) in Banyumas, Indonesia was utilized, 400 of which were selected as the research samples. Employing Slovin formula, 95% confidence level and margin of error 4.92% were obtained. This study indicates a satisfactory level of bureaucratic neutrality at 3.18 or 79.59. Indicators of high bureaucratic neutrality level include the absence of SCAs’ support to non-incumbent or incumbent regent candidates on social media as well as the non-response of SCAs to the request of incumbent regent candidates’ campaign team to perform actions that may benefit incumbent regent candidates. Meanwhile, indicators of low bureaucratic neutrality level include the preservation of neutrality upon discovering other SCA colleagues’ support to non-incumbent or incumbent regent candidates on social media and the preservation of no support to non-incumbent or incumbent regent candidates. These findings present an opportunity to realize a professional merit and bureaucracy system in Indonesia. This study offers recommendations of increased neutrality awareness campaigns among bureaucratic officials and the importance of encouraging SCAs to consistently remind colleagues who may violate the principle of neutrality. Enforcement of legal actions against violators of bureaucratic neutrality is also necessary as a deterrent effect for bureaucratic officials who are not committed to upholding bureaucratic neutrality.
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Party politics across Central and Eastern Europe has become less structured. Many of the divides that anchored political competition have waned in recent years, weakening the attachment of voters to the existing palette of parties and making them more likely to be attracted to new and non-traditional electoral vehicles. But for such parties to succeed at the ballot box, they need to be able to frame elections and campaign effectively. Drawing on data from a specially commissioned survey, we find that the success of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) led by Igor Matovič in the 2020 parliamentary elections in Slovakia owed much to the crafting of an anti-corruption appeal combined with an effective campaign. Both mobilization and conversion of voters, particularly through television and the leaders’ debates, in the months leading up to election day ensured OĽaNO won a quarter of the vote. OĽaNO stands in stark contrast to other parties whose leaders failed to craft as effective a message, miscalculated the impact of electoral rules and in some cases were unable to distance themselves enough from their past actions. The success of OĽaNO underlines that themes related to anti-corruption and good governance have become central to party politics and political contestation. More broadly, the election and its aftermath continued a general trend of forward movement of voters from old parties to new to newer still, indicating the churn of party politics in Slovakia is likely to continue.
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