Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

In recent years, critics have argued that the California attorney general’s role in formulating ballot language opens the door to biased titles and summaries for statewide propositions. This paper examines the debate over the propriety of the attorney general’s role, using the largely unexamined case study of Proposition 58 (2016) to gain insight about the attorney general’s influence. In November 2016, voters in California – many in counties that supported Donald Trump – approved Prop. 58 with 73.5 percent of the vote. This proposition removed many restrictions on bilingual education programs in public schools. Eighteen years earlier, 61 percent of Californians had approved an initiative to restrict bilingual education in the state. This paper uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis to examine potential reasons for this swing in voting behavior on bilingual education policy, concluding that the attorney general’s ballot language most compellingly explains the bulk of this shift. As such, the paper suggests adding an extra check on the attorney general’s office during the ballot drafting process to ensure that Californians receive clear, impartial information on election day.

What role does political knowledge play in campaigning for and participation in direct democracy? A foundational principle of democracy is citizen participation in decision-making. This foundation assumes that citizens are at least somewhat knowledgeable about government and able to make informed choices. This analysis examines the role that meaningful decisions play in direct democracy, because “for voters to make meaningful decisions, they must understand the options on which they are deciding” (Dalton 1988: 13). This analysis uses three different methodologies to investigate this relationship. First, through qualitative analysis and a mail survey of petitioners, this study explores how petitioners view and approach the public. This study finds that expectations of political knowledge affects how petitioners approach the public and how much time they spend educating the public about their initiative. Second, through statistical (multi-level regression) analysis, this study investigates the impact of the ballot language on participation in individual ballot propositions. This study finds that ballot language is a significant barrier to participation. Third, through experimental analysis, this study connects measures of political knowledge and participation on ballot propositions written by petitioners across the country. This study finds that when confronted with more difficult ballot language voters are less likely to participate. However, when controlling for political knowledge this effect is truncated. The findings of this analysis argue the elite bias of direct democracy in ballot language, accessibility, and motives of petitioners. The study of participation in direct democracy and political knowledge across American states advances the theoretical understanding of democratic participation, and furthers our understanding of the role citizen political knowledge plays in policymaking.

This thesis examines verifiability and receipt freeness in cryptographic voting protocols in detail and points out the contradiction between these requirements. Firstly, an extensive electronic voting requirement set is clearly defined, and then the voting dilemma is described. This is followed by a suggestion of an applicable solution to overcome the voting dilemma by introducing Predefined Fake Vote (PreFote) scheme. Based on a comprehensive literature review, a classification of the existing privacy preserving approaches and a taxonomy of the existing cryptographic voting protocols extending the previous studies are provided. Thereby, a complete and secure cryptographic voting protocol satisfying all electronic voting security requirements at the same time seems non-existent. Hence, an alternative privacy preserving approach is highly needed. Pseudo-Voter Identity (PVID) scheme, proposed in the present study, is a practical and low cost one. The PVID scheme is based on RSA blind signature, and it allows recasting without sacrificing uniqueness. Furthermore, this study proposes a dynamic ballot mechanism including an extension with PreFotes. This study, wherein the PVID scheme and extended dynamic ballots with PreFotes are employed, proposes a practical, complete and secure cryptographic voting protocol over a network for large scale elections, which fulfils all of the electronic voting security requirements: privacy, eligibility, uniqueness, fairness, uncoercibility, receipt-freeness, individual verifiability and accuracy. Lastly, a method to analyse voting systems based on security requirements is suggested, and a detailed analysis of the proposed protocol, which uses this method, concludes this study.

The super Catalan numbers T(m,n) = (2m)!(2n)!=2m!n!(m+n)! are integers which generalize the Catalan numbers. Since 1874, when Eugene Catalan discovered these numbers, many mathematicians have tried to find their combinatorial interpretation. This dissertation is dedicated to this open problem. In Chapter 1 we review known results on T (m,n) and their q-analog polynomials. In Chapter 2 we give a weighted interpretation for T(m,n) in terms of 2-Motzkin paths of length m+n2 and a reformulation of this interpretation in terms of Dyck paths. We then convert our weighted interpretation into a conventional combinatorial interpretation for m = 1,2. At the beginning of Chapter 2, we prove our weighted interpretation for T(m,n) by induction. In the final section of Chapter 2 we present a constructive combinatorial proof of this result based on rooted plane trees. In Chapter 3 we introduce two q-analog super Catalan numbers. We also define the q-Ballot number and provide its combinatorial interpretation. Using our q-Ballot number, we give an identity for one of the q-analog super Catalan numbers and use it to interpret a q-analog super Catalan number in the case m= 2. In Chapter 4 we review problems left open and discuss their difficulties. This includes the unimodality of some of the q-analog polynomials and the conventional combinatorial interpretation of the super Catalan numbers and their q-analogs for higher values of m.

Se pencher sur « les élections que fait le peuple » dans la République de Genève revient à se fixer un double objectif. Il s’agit d’une part d’éclairer un des points obscurs de l’historiographie genevoise pendant les quelques trente dernières années du « long sommeil » du Conseil général, avant la crise de 1707 ; d’autre part d’approfondir des questionnements plus généraux concernant l’histoire du vote et de la procédure électorale sous l’Ancien Régime à partir du terrain genevois, qui est de ce point de vue d’une richesse exceptionnelle. Ces deux approches permettront de réinterroger le concept de formalité, qui a été souvent utilisé à propos de ces élections, en faisant varier les échelles et les points de vue.Sans occuper une place centrale dans le système constitutionnel genevois ni dans l’accession aux charges, les élections populaires gardent une importance autant théorique que pratique à Genève (1ère partie, à quoi sert-il d’élire ?). Si la légitimité vient d’ailleurs, que ce soit dans la théorie gouvernementale qui conçoit le pouvoir comme le patrimoine de certaines familles, ou dans l’opposition bourgeoise en 1707, qui veut avant tout restaurer l’exercice direct de la souveraineté par le Conseil général (vote des lois, de l’impôt etc.), et n’envisage à aucun moment un système représentatif, l’élection populaire crée néanmoins un lien particulier entre certains magistrats et le peuple (Ch.1). Si les résultats sont souvent prévisibles, ils ne le sont pas totalement et des enjeux demeurent si l’on y regarde d’assez près : le jeu est plus ouvert quand un poste de syndic est vacant et, si les syndics sortants sont toujours reconduits sur notre période, il est arrivé plusieurs fois que les citoyens menacent de « faire sauter les vieux » (Ch.2). Les multiples précautions qui sont adoptées dans la manière d’élire montrent aussi que ces élections populaires demeurent importantes, d’une façon d’ailleurs différente pour le gouvernement et pour les citoyens (2ième partie, comment élire ?). Malgré l’ordre aristocratique qu’affirment les préséances, la fiction de la souveraineté théorique du peuple doit être préservée par le rituel électoral (Ch.3). Si l’organisation spatiale du vote et la technique du vote auriculaire mettent les électeurs sous pression, les citoyens s’insurgent finalement contre ce système et obtiennent le vote par billet et l’isoloir, grande nouveauté dans l’Europe d’alors (Ch.4). Certains citoyens s’impliquent enfin d’une manière quelque peu particulière dans l’élection à travers les brigues, qui sont pour les brigueurs comme pour les brigués un grand moment de sociabilité, dont nous pouvons découvrir les différents acteurs grâce aux sources exceptionnelles que constituent les dossiers d’enquête des procès pour brigue (Ch.5). / By leaning on « The elections the people does » in the Republic of Geneva, we have set to reach two objectives. On the one hand, we wanted to shed light on a subject which has been largely overlooked by the scholarly literature concerning the 30 last years of the “long sleep” of the General Council. On the other hand, we wanted to raise larger questions about the history of voting and electoral proceedings in the Ancien Regime through the exceptionally well-documented case of Geneva. In crossing these two approaches, we will reinterrogate the concept of formality, which has often been used about these elections, and use various scales of analysis and points of view. Even if popular elections do not play a central role in the constitutional system or in the accession to offices, they still have a theoretical and practical importance in Geneva (1st part. What is the use of elections?).Though legitimacy lies elsewhere, both in governmental theory which considers power as the patrimony of certain families, and for the citizens in the opposition party in 1707 who want to restore the sovereignty of the General Council through the direct exercise of its powers (the vote of laws, of new taxes etc.) and never envision a representative system, popular elections still create a particular link between some magistrates and the people (Ch.1). Though the outcome of these elections is often highly predictable, it is not always so and we see that there are stakes if we look close enough: the game is more open when one of the seats for the syndicate is vacant and, though the incumbent syndics are always reelected during our period, citizens have threatened several times that they would “skip the old ones” (Ch.2). The multiple precautions adopted in the manner of electing also show that these popular elections matter, and in a different way for the government and for citizens(2d part. How to elect?). Despite the aristocratic hierarchy maintained by the order of precedence, the electoral ritual must preserve the theoretical sovereignty of the people (Ch.3). Though the spatial organization of the vote and the practice of the auricular vote put citizens under pressure, they finally rise against this system and obtain the vote by ballot and the voting booth, a great novelty in Europe at the time (Ch.4). Finally, some citizens are involved in the election in a quite peculiar way, by taking part in electoral cabals, which are a great social occasion both for cabal leaders and for bribed voters, and which we can discover in great details thanks to exceptional primary sources such as the investigation files in the trials for caballing (Ch.5).

Direct democracy was adopted by states to balance the influence and power of corporate interests. Although corporate money has always been a part of American democracy, dark money expenditures have increased significantly since the Citizens United v. FEC case. Corporate money in elections poses a problem because it inconsistent with the tenants of direct democracy. Little published literature addresses the influence of corporate money on direct democracy measures. Using Kingdon's multiple streams approach as the foundation, the purpose of this case study was to investigate the perceived influence of corporate money on the 2018 ballot initiative and referendum measures in Arizona. The research question was focused on the perceptions of political professionals of the influence of corporate money on direct democracy. Data were collected through using a purposeful sampling that identified 10 political professionals. Semi-structured interviews with participants were supplemented with document review. Data were inductively coded, and then subjected to a thematic analysis procedure, producing 4 thematic elements. The key findings of this study indicated that access to the ballot, using an effective campaign strategy, running an effective paid media campaign, and the outcome all hinged on the money available to fund and support, or oppose, a measure. The implications for social change for the study include informing policy makers of the perceived influence of corporate money on direct democracy so they are equipped to implement policy aligned with the original goal of citizen participation in the state's constitution.

The thesis concentrates on the application of gamificaton principle in the quantitative online research. The main goal of the thesis is to evaluate the effects of gamification on answers provided by respondents and their overal perception of the questionnaire. The hypotheses, based on the research of theoretical and methodological literature and metaanalysis of already conducted case studies, refers to the most discussed topics concerning gamification: survey evaluation, evaluation of respondent's behavior and the impact on the survey data. The results are validated using the split- ballot method on a carried out quantitative research. As a research tool serve a standard questionnaire and a questionnaire with small gamification adjustments. The results favor the version of questionnaire with gamification in the area of overall perception of the questionnaire and increased time spent on the research by the respondents. However, the results don't show any measurable impact on the respondent's behavior or survey data.

The effect that different electoral systems have on political participation is a widely discussed and researched topic in social sciences. However, this thesis has examined the relationship between western countries' ballot structures and electoral systems and satisfaction with democracy. By using statistical tools such as SPSS, this thesis has conducted a comparative quantitative analysis that aimed to investigate if ballot structures and electoral systems affect western citizens' satisfaction with democracy. The result is presented with the help of graphical tools, such as tables and diagrams to make it easier for the reader to understand the result. The result concluded that Western countries which have implemented a proportional electoral system do have higher levels of satisfaction with democracy among their citizens, compared to western countries that have implemented majoritarian electoral systems. Further, this thesis has concluded that ballot structures do not affect western citizens' satisfaction with democracy in any significant way.

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