Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed October 13, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

By selecting the pool of candidates that voters can choose from in the general election, party nominating contests play a fundamental role in determining the outcome of elections at all levels of government. However, past research has indicated that, due largely to the incumbency advantage, primary competition has declined dramatically since the institution’s origins. Strategic entry theory suggests that skilled candidates, often those holding prior political office, wait for the most opportune chance to run for higher office. To test this hypothesis, I collected data on all congressional districts and candidates from the 2014 midterm elections. Using candidate information gathered from the Federal Election Commission and other candidate databases, district level demographic and political data, and incumbent statistics, I developed a model using the individual and structural factors to predict when an experienced politician will challenge an incumbent within their own party. The data show that strong intraparty challenges are rare compared to cross-party challenges, and that the most ideologically centrist incumbents, of either party, are the most likely to be “primaried” by an experienced and ambitious challenger.

Cette thèse propose une réflexion sur le concept de populisme aujourd’hui, à partir d’une comparaison entre des cas français et japonais. Elle se focalise sur des périodes de campagne électorale et l’étude d’éléments présents dans les comptes rendus de presse écrite. Son raisonnement est structuré en deux parties. La première présente le concept de populisme et ses problèmes actuels, puis propose une réflexion d’ordre méthodologique, centrée sur la volonté de ne pas séparer les populistes des démocrates, et de considérer le populisme comme intrinsèque au politique. Dans le lignage de la théorie de la « raison populiste » d’Ernesto Laclau, cette partie définit une théorie du populisme comme composition médiatique : il y a du populisme quand s’opère avec succès une composition autour d’un élément dont on perçoit la trace médiatique. La seconde partie s’attache à étudier ce phénomène à travers une comparaison France-Japon. Elle définit les caractéristiques principales des compositions telles qu’elles se réalisent dans les deux pays, s’agissant à la fois de la composition de l’incarnation (comment l’on devient chef) et de celle du projet politique (comment l’on devient un enjeu central), au sein des élections législatives japonaises de 2005 et 2009, et de l’élection présidentielle française de 2007. Une attention particulière a été accordée à François Bayrou, Ségolène Royal (2007) et Koizumi Junichirō (2005) ; ainsi qu’à la privatisation de la poste (2005), le changement de gouvernement (2009), et mai 68 (2007). La conclusion de ce travail propose une théorie du populisme comme émergence et des pistes méthodologiques futures centrées sur la notion de « monade ». / This thesis offers a study of the concept of populism today, through a comparison between French and Japanese cases. It focuses on election campaigns and the study of elements present in newspapers articles. The reasoning is divided into two parts. The first one analyzes the current problems of the concept of populism, and then proposes a methodological reflection, based on a will not to distinguish populist people from democrats, and the empirical inclusion of populism and the political. Following Ernesto Laclau’s “populist reason” theory, this part gives a definition of populism as a “mediatic composition”: populism exists when a composition is successfully created around an element that is visible within mass media content. The second part is dedicated to the study of such phenomena through a Japan-France comparison. It defines the main characteristics of the compositions seen in both countries, with particular regard to incarnation (how to become a leader) and the political project (how to become a central issue), within the 2005 and 2009 Japanese legislative elections and the French 2007 presidential election. It dwells on the specificities of each country regarding the emergence of populist dynamics, consisting of elementary expansions within a campaign, whatever its nature (proposition, person, enemy…). A particular attention is given to François Bayrou, Ségolène Royal (2007) and Koizumi Junichirō (2005); as well as the postal privatization (2005), the change in government (2009) and May 68 (2007). The conclusion proposes a theory of populism as emergence and some methodological prospects based on the notion of ‘monad’.

This thesis explores the potential impacts of electoral governance on the democratic quality of elections in Nigeria. It concentrates on the debates over the role electoral administration in securing the credibility of elections in emerging democracies, using Nigeria as an example. The thesis argues that the explanation of democratic quality of elections is best approached through comparative case studies, relying on detailed accounts of election observers, interview respondents and the perceptions of the electorate. Drawing insights from the literature on democratisation, the thesis offers a straightforward conceptual and methodological model for gauging the democratic quality of elections, emphasising the relevance of electoral governance in Nigeria. It is a comparative study of the conduct of the 2007 and the 2011 elections that shared various social and institutional variables but differ in significant ways. The case comparison illustrates how the institutional dynamics of election management influence elections quality, explaining the various interconnections between the democratic quality of elections and electoral governance in Nigeria. It provides a contextual explanation of key political terms like participation, competition and perceived legitimacy. The failures and achievements recorded in the 2007 and 2011 general elections respectively depend on effective electoral governance. The restructuring of the autonomy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and improvement of the electoral cycles recorded in the 2011 elections plus the active contribution of the electoral courts and tribunals set the stage for an increasingly fair political engagements of contestants. It has enhanced the quality of individual voter pariticipation in the 2011 elections. These case-based findings substantiate, empirically, various assumptions in the literature, particularly those explicit in the work of Mozaffar & Schedler (2002) and Elklit & Reynolds, (2002; 2005).

Critically examines the role of electoral systems in the democratisation process and conflict management in divided societies such as Kenya and Rwanda. Analyses the power sharing arrangement institutionalized in Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide in order to demonstrate the potential to mitigate issues of ethnic. Also explores the anomalous results caused by the current electoral system in Kenya (First Past The Post) in its process of democratization and then find out which is the most suitable electoral system which encourage co-operation and inclusiveness and discourage conflict and exclusiveness. minority representation / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Atangcho N Akonumbo, Faculté de Sciences Sociales et de Gestion, Université Catholique D’Afrique, Centrale Yaounde Cameroun. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The paper addresses the question whether the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance would effectively address the identified electoral problems at a substantive as well as implementation levels. Accordingly, the aim of the study is two fold. This paper analyses the key electoral problems in Africa by analysing trends in recent elections that jeopardise democratic consolidation. Secondly, it evaluates the Charter in addressing the identified problems at normative as well as practical levels. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Nico Steytler of the Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Among scholars in the field of state and local politics, the value of using the state and local levels of analysis cannot be overemphasized. Examining political trends at these levels often provides us with far more information about the United States than only looking at the national level. This is true particularly for subjects like elections, parties, and realignment. The research reported here adds to a body of literature that focuses on the state level when examining elections and party realignment. In this thesis I focus on the dynamics of elections in West Virginia. The main focus of this research is to see to what to extent West Virginia has experienced a realignment of its political party system. Due to regional differences within the state I anticipate that more change will occur farther north and east. The data used here to explore these differences are at the county and state legislative district levels and were gathered from the Secretary of State's office in West Virginia (on-line) and from the 1980 and 1990 U.S. census. Such measures as turnout, registration and election results at the federal and state levels will be used to indicate changes in partisan competition. / Master of Arts

The aspects of mid-nineteenth-century Canadian history which have received the fullest examination are the Rebellions of 1837, the Union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841, the winning of Responsible Government in 1847-48, and Confederation in 1864-67. To a large extent these have been studies in imperial relations and the character of internal politics has received less attention. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the political system which evolved in Upper Canada after 1848 from the vantage point of the six general elections between 1848 and 1863. (The Legislative Council was made elective in 1856, but there was little interest taken in it or its elections and this study is concerned only with elections to the Legislative Assembly.) The thesis attempts to discover the internal wordings of politics in Upper Canada: the issues which aroused the most interest in the elections, the parties and their organizations, the electorate and the system of representation, and the various forces, both legitimate and corrupt which were used to influence the voters. In some instances there has been an attempt to arrive at quantitative or definitive conclusions, but in most cases this was neither desirable or possible. Instead, specific examples hove been used to give e general picture of how the political and electoral systems operated.

Leonid Kuchma (1994-2004) and Viktor Yushchenko (2004-Present) discerning if democracy has progressed or diminished over the past fifteen years.

The basic aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse how �the woman voter� was constructed within Labor discourse during the Hawke/Keating years. My domain of investigation is electoral politics, in particular the federal election campaigns of 1983 and 1993. These elections flank the beginning and the end of the Labor decade, a period of great significance to both the development of Labor politics specifically and Australian politics in general. The elections of 1983 and 1993 were campaigns in which the Party made a concerted effort to attract women�s votes. Through a reading of the various texts associated with these two campaigns, I explore the construction of �the woman voter� as a �new� political subject position within Labor discourse. The dominant influences on the construction of �the woman voter� as a new subject position were Labor discourse and feminism, or more precisely Labor discourse affected by the incursion of feminism from the 1970s onwards. This thesis describes and analyses how this subject position has been produced and reproduced within Labor discourse. The gender gap research developed for the 1983 federal election constitutes one of the more important technologies that work to construct �the woman voter� within Labor discourse. A reading of the texts associated with the 1983 campaign reveals the character of �the woman voter� as a caring figure. However, as the Labor decade progressed, �the woman voter� is articulated in Labor discourse as a more complex figure, focused on her responsibilities both in the home and at paid work. A reading of various texts associated with the 1993 election campaign shows that �the woman voter� is constructed as a carer-worker; this subject position is broadly consonant with the objectives liberal, economic government. Certain modifications within this basic subject position can be observed in Labor�s anti-GST campaign materials, which made an appeal to the woman voter as consumer.