The objective of this study is to assess the problems associated with how the people of Mozambique participate in the exercise of political power, through election of parliamentary representatives. This study also aims at suggesting alternatives to improve the system in order to make it more inclusive. Focus is placed on demonstrating how democratic principles may fall short as a result of inadequate electoral standards. To achieve these objectives the study makes a comparative study of the Ghanaian electoral system, for its specific significance in promoting effective and meaningful participation in the exercise of political power. Addresses the following research questions: (1) What features characterise parliamentary elections in Mozambique? (2) What weaknesses are there in the system of parliamentary elections in Mozambique? (3) What consequences arise from such a system? (4) How to improve the system for election of parliament in Mozambique? / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / 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 Josiah Aryeh of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This diploma thesis deals with the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic in view of history, voter turnout and electoral system. The main purpose of the thesis is to present the Senate in terms of broad perspective, based on the analysis of selected parts of the political system. The thesis is a case study which includes an analysis of the Czech Constitution preparations, a voter turnout analysis with the main purpose to present crucial trends and simulation of some variations of qualified plurality rule on existing electoral results of the Senate elections. There is also the theory of bicameralism presented as a part of the theoretical part in the thesis. Based on the analysis the thesis presents extensive conclusions. In the view of history there are historical and ideological circumstances and also political demands of participants in the case of proposing the institution of Senate. The main conclusion on the view of voter turnout is that since 2008 there has been a continual decrease, particularly in run-off. The thesis brings two groups of solution in order that the Senate elections voter turnout might increase. First, technical changes in the electoral act could be made, and second, the whole electoral system in terms of single-round option could be changed. Based on the simulation,...

Orientador: Maria Teresa Miceli Kerbauy / Resumo: Situada na costa ocidental da África, a Guiné-Bissau entra na onda democrática a partir de 1994, com a realização da primeira eleição livre e transparente após mais de 20 anos sob a governança de um partido único. Com a democracia em curso, a Guiné-Bissau conheceu vários períodos de instabilidade política governativa que impossibilitou o término dos mandatos ou legislaturas. De outro lado, a instabilidade inviabilizou a realização de objetivos de desenvolvimento e redução de pobreza. Nesse contexto político e social marcado por disputas políticas, a participação, seja em canais de decisão ou do ponto de vista de comparecimento às votações tendem a ser prejudicadas. É, nesse sentido, que o objetivo deste estudo é analisar o comportamento da participação eleitoral no período de 1994, com a realização da primeira eleição geral, a de 2014. De modo que o foco principal da análise está centrado nas eleições para o cargo de Presidente da República e para o Legislativo. Esse objetivo justifica-se pela importância do fenômeno da participação eleitoral, dentro da jovem democracia guineense, para a consolidação de um sistema representativo multipartidário. Para consecução do objetivo foram adotadas referências teóricas sobre democracia representativa e neoinstitucionalismo, sistemas partidários e eleitorais. Por ser importante o período da transição política guineense, o estudo enfatiza o contexto político e econômico que marcou essa transição e apresenta as tipologias do sistema eleito... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Located on the West African coast, Guinea-Bissau has entered the democratic wave since 1994 (20th century) with the first free and transparent election after more than 20 years under single-party governance. With underway democracy, Guinea-Bissau experienced several periods of governmental political instability that made impossible the end of several mandates or legislatures. On the other hand, instability made it impossible the achievement of the development goals and poverty reduction. In this political and social context marked by political dispute, the participation, whether in decision-making channels or in terms of attendance tends to be harmed. It is in this sense that the main goal of this study is to analyze the electoral participation behavior in the 1994 period with the first election in 2014. The main focus of the analysis centers in the elections for the office for the Presidency of the Republic and for the Legislative positions. This goal is due to: the importance of the electoral partition phenomenon within the young Guinean democracy in the consolidation of the multiparty representative system. In order to achieve the objective of the study, theoretical references on representative democracy and neo-institutionalism, party and electoral systems were adopted. Due to the importance of the period of the Guinean political transition, the study emphasizes the political and economic contexts that marked the transition and presents the typologies of the electoral sys... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

There was a record-breaking gain of seats that was based on preference votes in the 2010 election to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The aim of my diploma thesis is to determine whether the reason for the above was a more active and effective utilization of the voters' preference votes, or it was a result of the different rules for the preferential voting. The clarification of the reasons is based on the analyses of the quantity of used preference votes from the voters' side, their active participation, and the ability to accumulate votes for several selected candidates. The thesis compares the results of the last election and elections in 2002 and 2006 and explores the differences that had happened in the course of these three elections. The thesis is also focused on models of voting behavior. It monitors which characteristics represent the voters who give the preference votes, and on the contrary, which candidates' characteristics are important for these voters and which are irrelevant.

This diploma thesis opens a new deep insight into the issue of electoral systems in Czech and Central European political science. The mid-point of this research is the electoral bias in the electoral system to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The electoral bias is researched on all general elections from 1996 until 2013. To find out the electoral bias I apply mathematical method created and used by professor Galina Borisyuk from University of Plymouth. This method is based on several mathematical methods used by the American and the British political scientists for decades. However, the new method created by Galina Borisyuk is the most convenient for many reasons. Mainly this method isn't necessarily connected with plurality majority system, which was essential variable so far. Second key attribute of this method is the possibility to apply it on the three party systems, which is important variable for our political system in the Czech Republic as well. In analytical part of this research I apply the new mathematical method in all elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Ascertained results are analysed in the conclusion together that I have set the feasible ways to develop a new path the research of bias in the future.

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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This final thesis deals with electoral system to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Its genesis, evolution and future are presented in 3 chapters and in the Conclusion. Work is designed as a case-study and it employs two methods - from general to particular, and from earlier to later. These methods are used in whole work as well as in particular chapters and subchapters. The first chapter introduces readers to the issue of electoral system in general. There are described two main voting systems - proportional and majority vote. Stress is put to the proportional system which has used for elections to the Chamber of Deputies. Also the question "which electoral system is the best" is mentioned. Following chapter surveys history of the electoral system and evolution from its establishment to the present. Main part of this chapter deals with a reform introduced in the year 2000 which was declared by the Constitutional Court as unconstitutional. New law, instead of blank spaces after the decision of the Constitutional Court, was adopted in the year 2002 and since that it has been valid till the present. The third chapter presents proposals of electoral reform from the year 2008 prepared by a group of experts on the basis of political assignment of contemporary Government....

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-08-02T16:13:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Andre Santos Silva.pdf: 554822 bytes, checksum: 7e717dbaace7941bd33726b166f2171e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T16:13:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andre Santos Silva.pdf: 554822 bytes, checksum: 7e717dbaace7941bd33726b166f2171e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-21 / This thesis aims, firstly, to identify in which way the elections rules, especially those linked to party coalitions, are related with the essential and constitutionally established rules that founded the Democracy, starting from a required theoretical study in order to conclude for the unconstitutionality of any provisions contrary to Constitutional Democracy outlined by the 1988 Constitution. It is well-known that the concept of a Democratic State varies according to the greater and effective participation of the people not only in elections but also in a number of decisions by the political power, through a mechanism of "rules of the game" previously established in the Constitution prevailing the will of the majority represented over the losing minority. Although others constitutional mechanisms of popular participation in political decisions deserve proper scholarly attention, this work seeks to analyze, precisely, the context and the rules of elections, in order to verify the constitutionality of organizational procedures of those who intend, through political parties, to exercise, representatively, the power of the people in decision-making. Nevertheless, taking into account that all power emanates from the people, the analysis of the rules governing the political and legislative process has the role to gather legal arguments which allows to state whether the rules of the game modified by the political power established by Constitutional Amendment n.º 52/2006 - which expressly allowed the formation of asymmetric party coalitions at the federal and state level - are compatible or not with the Constitution and with the idea of Constitutional Democracy based on the theory of unconstitutionality of constitutional amendments / Esta dissertação tem por objetivo, primeiramente, identificar de que modo se relacionam as normas regradoras das eleições, mormente aquelas relativas às coligações, com as normas essenciais e constitucionalmente estabelecidas fundantes da Democracia, a partir de necessário estudo teórico, para que se possa concluir pela inconstitucionalidade de eventuais dispositivos contrários à Democracia Constitucional delineada pela Constituição de 1988. Sabe-se que a conceituação do Estado Democrático varia de acordo com a maior e efetiva participação do povo não apenas em eleições, mas também nas diversas decisões do poder político, através de um mecanismo de “regras do jogo” previamente estabelecidas na Constituição, em que prevalecerá a vontade da maioria representada em detrimento da minoria vencida. Embora os demais mecanismos constitucionais de participação popular nas decisões políticas mereçam a devida atenção acadêmica, o presente trabalho busca analisar, especificamente, o contexto e regramento normativo das eleições, de maneira a verificar a constitucionalidade dos procedimentos organizacionais daqueles que pretendem, por meio de partidos políticos, exercerem, representativamente, o poder do povo na tomada das decisões. Ora, tendo em conta que todo o poder emana do povo, a análise das normas que regem o processo político-legislativo tem a função de nos munir de fundamentos jurídicos para permitir afirmar se as regras do jogo alteradas pelo poder político constituído através da Emenda Constitucional n.º 52/2006 - que possibilitou expressamente a formação de coligações assimétricas no plano federal e estadual - são compatíveis ou não com a Constituição e com a ideia de Democracia Constitucional, com base na teoria da inconstitucionalidade das emendas constitucionais.

This thesis is divided into three parts. The first one evaluates the institution of compulsory vote, providing new estimates for the effects of the obligation to vote on individuals. The identification strategy relies on the Brazilian dual voting system - voluntary and compulsory - the exposure being determined by the date of birth. Using RD and IV approaches and data from a self-collected survey, we find that the compulsory legislation leads to a significant increase in voter turnout. These changes are followed by a sizable increase in the probability that individuals will express preference for a political party, but not by an increase in political knowledge among the population. Moreover, we find that the first compulsory voting experience permanently affects individuals\' preferences. The second part of the thesis empirically analyses episodes of sovereign debt default. Some of the salient features of the theoretical literature on sovereign debt, including its prediction that almost all defaults should arise in \"Bad Times\", are at odds with the data: over 38% of defaults actually occur in \"Good Times\", as measured by an HP filter. We explore the specific characteristics of each type of default and present econometric evidence that failures to repay foreign debt in good times can, usually, be rationalized by three components: (i) changes in the political environment, (ii) hikes in global interest rates and (iii) instances in which good HP times actually take place under quite poor economic conditions. We also present some suggestive indications that the duration of the episodes does not vary substantially with the type of default that precedes them, but with the environment in which they occur, drawing some important implications for the understanding of economies\' post-default market access. The third part of the thesis looks at the issue of campaign contributions in exchange for political favors (the so called \"pay-to-play\" scheme). I proposes a simple game to model the incentives of political parties and firms from public-revenue-intensive sectors, and test the implications of this model using data on campaign contributions and public contracts from Brazil. The data confirms the pay-to-play hypothesis. / Esta tese se divide em três partes. A primeira parte avalia a instituição do voto compulsório, proporcionando novas estimativas para os efeitos da obrigação de votar sobre os indivíduos. A estratégia de identificação se baseia no sistema dual em vigor no Brasil - voluntário e compulsório - sendo a exposição determinada pela data de nascimento. Usando as metodologias de RD e VI, e dados de uma pesquisa coletada especificamente para este estudo, concluímos que esta legislação leva a um aumento significante na participação política através do voto. Este aumento é acompanhado por uma elevação considerável na probabilidade de os cidadãos expressarem preferência por um partido político, mas não no seu nível de conhecimento sobre política. Além disto, concluímos que a primeira experiência de voto afeta permanentemente as preferências dos indivíduos. A segunda parte da tese analisa empiricamente episódios de calote da dívida soberana. Alguns dos aspectos fundamentais da literatura teórica sobre o assunto, incluindo a previsão de que quase todos os calotes deveriam ocorrer em \"Períodos Ruins\", não são confirmados pelos dados: mais de 38% dos calotes ocorrem em \"Períodos Bons\", sob a definição do filtro HP. Exploramos as características de cada tipo de calote e apresentamos evidência econométrica de que calotes na dívida externa em períodos bons em geral podem ser explicados por três componentes: (i) mudanças no ambiente político, (ii) aumentos nas taxas de juros internacionais e (iii) instâncias em que o filtro HP classifica um período como bom ainda que a real situação econômica seja bastante negativa. Por fim, apresentamos alguns resultados que sugerem que a duração do episódio de calote não depende substancialmente do tipo de calote em questão, mas sim do ambiente em que o calote ocorre. Tal resultado abre caminho para novas pesquisas sobre o acesso a mercados internacionais de crédito após calotes. A terceira parte da tese trata da questão de contribuições de campanha em troca de favores políticos (esquema conhecido como \"pay-to-play\"). Eu proponho um jogo simples para modelar os incentivos de partidos políticos e firmas de setores intensos em receitas públicas, e testo as implicações deste modelo usando dados de doações de campanhas e contratos públicos do Brasil. Os dados confirmam a hipótese de pay-to-play.