The use of electoral reforms as active instruments of democratisation has been common in many transitions to democracy. However, in Mexico, electoral laws and institutions played an unusually important role in ensuring a peaceful transition to democracy. The current study addresses the effects of the Electoral Reforms in the Transition to democracy in Mexico with special reference to the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE). It is primarily intended as a contribution to the field of electoral reforms and institutions in processes of political change. The main aim of the thesis is to assess whether electoral reform contributed to or acted to confirm the process of political transition in Mexico and to establish the extent to which the IFE’s role expanded beyond what was initially expected. The study focuses on the political circumstances between the late 1970s, and 2000, when most of the relevant legislation was implemented and the bodies for the supervision of elections were created. The study employs “elite interviews” and a broad range of local sources including law, official documents, party literature and secondary source analysis. The study begins by examining the context of electoral reform in Mexico, giving a description of the Mexican authoritarian regime. Then, based on interviews as well as secondary sources, the Mexican transition is analysed in a comparative perspective and its peculiarities are highlighted. It concludes that the model of transition followed by Mexico is characterised by a slow and gradual change through five stages based on negotiations centred on electoral issues that avoided ruptures and promoted dialogue to achieve amongst the players consensus about the rules of the game. The study continues with an historical overview of the electoral reforms between 1946 and 1986 establishing the cosmetic nature of the early reforms and the democratising character of the 1977 reform which, by introducing Proportional Representation in Congress, not only opened the party system but also established the ground for political change based on electoral issues. The study goes on to examine the creation of IFE in the 1989-90 reform and its further evolution through the 1990s culminating with its total independence from the government in 1996. This is evaluated in the context of other political and socio-economic changes that had an impact on political groups and generated political forces. It examines the attitudes of the various parties towards the reform and the institution and their methods of negotiation have been analysed using “elite interviewing”, the analysis of party documents and media sources. The analysis concludes that despite the IFE being an effect of a critical political conflict generated by the controversial 1988 elections and being perceived as just another government agency, in time, it accumulated functions and gained additional powers and prestige that allowed it to become a major player in generating consensus among political parties and the government and in ensuring more transparent and fair elections, and thus increasing the competence of political parties. The final part of the study focuses on the three main areas of activity of IFE including I) the management of the electoral system, II) the development of formulas for the allocation of funds and the regulation of broadcasting time on radio and TV and III) the efforts made to improve participation rates, including political and civic education for adults and children. It uses official IFE documents and interviews with former and present members of IFE to discuss IFE’s evolution and functioning, and the members’ experiences and expectations for the future in relation to the institution. It concludes that after being created, the IFE initially focused exclusively on solving electoral fraud. Once IFE had finished resolving problems related to the organisation of elections, it started focusing on other issues such as the regulation of party finances and media access, moving on from a focus on merely “free” elections to “fair” elections. The study shows that the issue of party finances and media access only became relevant once earlier issues related to the organisation of elections had been solved. In relation to the role of the electoral authority in this area, the research shows that IFE contributed to the national debate on party funding, media access, and monitoring. The monitoring of party expenditure and media coverage by IFE proved to be an important element in reducing corruption and also contributed to the credibility of IFE. Finally the work of the IFE in the area of civic education is analysed. This study was unable to prove that IFE had been successful in creating a fully democratic political culture that could extend far beyond the electoral arena. In conclusion, it can be seen that electoral reform both contributed to and acted to confirm the process of political transition and that the role of IFE developed beyond what was initially expected.

In 2002, the Scottish National Party (SNP) published a draft Constitution for Scotland. Aside from its potential practical importance in the event of Scotland becoming independent, this draft Constitution is also of academic interest as an example of a written Constitution that is derived from, but which critiques and seeks to reform, the ‘Westminster’ model of democracy. This thesis subjects the SNP’s draft Constitution, for the first time, to a thorough, independent and scholarly review. It addresses the central question of whether the draft Constitution, if adopted, would be a viable and acceptable foundation for the constitutional order of a democratic Scottish State. Using a historical institutionalist approach, the thesis identifies the criteria of a viable and acceptable Constitution by reference to Scotland’s historical trajectory, the evolving global norms of constitutional democracy, and the circumstantial conditions of Scotland today. It then conducts a detailed examination of the draft Constitution, to assess how well the text embodies these criteria. The thesis finds that the SNP’s draft Constitution is viable and acceptable in its overall structure and principles, but that it is diminished by poor constitutional design and by an avoidable lack of attention to procedural detail.

The protracted war and the centrality of security in Israel raises the Lasswellian question, can parliamentary democracy and political pluralism prevail under such conditions, without turning Israel into a Garrison State? The prevailing understanding of political-military relations in Israel is that the IDF is an instrumentalist army, that it serves as the executive tool of the legitimate political authorities and is not involved with state politics. Furthermore, it is accepted that the greatest achievement of David Ben Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister and Defence Minister, and the architect of the defence establishment, was the de-politicization of the IDF and its disconnection from party politics. Both assumptions are challenged in this study. New evidence, and an analysis of existing material reveals the existence of a nominal control pattern, which has the formal appearance of an instrumentalist model, whereas the reality is otherwise. The IDF was not subordinate only to a state channel of political control, like other instrumentalist armies. In Israel there existed a unique pattern of political-military relations, a dual-control pattern. The political authorities exerted control through two channels, not only the state but also the party channel, that is of the dominant Labour Party. The state control was in fact weak and there was a lack of effective mediatory mechanisms between the military on the one hand and the Cabinet, Parliament and Defence Ministry on the other. As a result a pattern of civil-military partnership emerged in place of civil control. The boundaries between the military and the Labour Party were permeable. This allowed the rivalry between that party's two "sub-elites" to affect the military which enhanced the partnership between the military and political elites. The emergence of the military as one of the main mobility channels to the national leadership, evidenced by the increased influence of the generals-turned-politicians, has resulted in a developmental construct of Military Democracy.

The existing administrative and legal deficiencies on the neighborhood administration constitute an obstacle for these units to be more functional and effective. Since they are the most suitable administrative units which cover the terms of &ldquo / effective citizen participation&rdquo / , &ldquo / representativeness&rdquo / , &ldquo / community control&rdquo / etc, it is crucial to reorganize the neighborhood administration system and to redefine the purposes, functions and duties of these units within the perspective of historical or traditional features. The aim of the study is to emphasize the status of neighborhood administration in the Turkish Administrative System in terms of future possibilities and impasses. For this reason, a case study was conducted in Ankara within the boundaries of &Ccedil / ankaya district to enlighten the place of neighborhood administration system in the Turkish Administrative System. Questionnaires for the headmen and the residents were stated to find out the opinion, thoughts and proposals of both the headmen and citizens for reorganizing the neighborhood administration. According to the results of the study, headmen of the neighborhoods stated the importance of the neighborhood administration in the administration system and importance for the residents. On the other hand, the answers of the residents indicate that their knowledge on these administrative units is very limited. As a result, it may be concluded that reorganizing neighborhood system is essential because of this undefined or limited definitions and implementations of the neighborhood administration system in Turkey.

The setting for research is Abkhazia a small country south of the Caucasus Mountains and bordering Europe and the Near East. The Abkhaz hold onto custom – apswara – to make of state law an adjunct to custom as the state strives to strengthen its powers to ‘modernise’ along capitalist lines. This institution of a parallel-cum-interwoven and oppositional existence of practices and the laws questions the relationship of the two in a novel way. The bases of apswara are its concepts of communality and fairness. Profound transformations have followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the breakaway from and subsequent war with Georgia, none of which have brought the bright prospects that were hoped-for with independence. The element of hope in post-Soviet nostalgia provides pointers to what the Abkhaz seek to enact for their future, to decide the course of change that entertains the possibility of a non-capitalist modernisation route and a customary state. Apswara is founded on the direct participatory democracy of non-state regulation. It draws members of all ethnicities into the generation of nationalist self-awareness that transcends ethnicity and religions, and forms around sacred shrines and decisions taken by popular assemblies. It has topical significance for other societies where custom and law co-habit through contestation, and questions some widely accepted theories about the relationship of the two, as well as problematising anthropological concepts of ‘legal pluralism’ and post-Sovietics. The study suggests new topics for research.

The role of cultural diversity in various aspects of society has been theoretically and empirically investigated. Prevailing measures of cultural diversity mainly focus on diversity of ethnicity, religion and language. However, there has been little discussion about diversity in human values. We construct cultural diversity measures based on human values and seek to examine its role in economic development. This thesis demonstrates the significance our measure plays in estimating the impact of formal institutions (rule of law) and informal institutions (respect for others) on economic performance.

As the first study focusing on the implementation of the constitutions and quality of government (QoG) in Kurdistan from a practical point of view, this thesis examines the question why the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) fails to deliver the constitutions in a way that strengthens its democracy and produces a good QoG. From analyses of the data gleaned from 41 semi-structured interviews the thesis identifies the main factors that affect the implementation of the constitutions and QoG with particular reference to the 2005 Iraqi constitution and the Kurdistan draft constitution of 2009. The study also outlines the reform process in the Kurdistan Region and explains how a system of political checks and balances in a democratic society can improve QoG and democracy. This research considers the main obstacle to the establishment of a good and democratic government in the region to be political influence on all state institutions, including the executive, parliament, the judiciary, military forces, police and security services, and use of these institutions for political and personal benefits. Other obstacles identified are a reliance on oil products, a culture of corruption, poor administration, a low-quality legal system, Kurdish disputes with the central Iraqi government, the absence of a clear, enforceable regional constitution, the lack of experience with democracy and, more importantly, the absence of political will for reform by the ruling parties. In this light, the study recommends strengthening the state institutions, reducing political influence over them and establishing a process of political checks and balances – as exists in democratic states – as extremely important to improving QoG. However, it also argues that these aims will not be achieved without a genuine political will for reform. Thus, this thesis stands as the first detailed research in this field that qualitatively investigates the effect of the implementation of democratic constitutions in a region that has gone through conflict and violence; attempts to set out the factors that form obstacles to such implementation; and puts forward recommendations for the improvement of QoG in the light of the constitutions. This study therefore, can help the government and politicians to take action in terms of reforms to improve QoG in the region and develop the democratic process. This research will also contribute to future study on a similar theme.

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This thesis seeks to research patterns of economic growth and development from a number of perspectives often resonated in the growth literature. By addressing themes about history, geography, institutions and culture the thesis is able to bring to bear a wide range of inter-related literatures and methodologies within a single content. Additionally, by targeting different administrative levels in its research design and approach, this thesis is also able to provide a comprehensive treatment of the economic growth dilemma from both cross-national and sub-national perspectives. The three chapters herein discuss economic development from two broad dimensions. The first of these chapters takes on the economic growth inquiry by attempting to incorporate cultural geography within a cross-country formal spatial econometric growth framework. By introducing the global cultural dynamics of languages and ethnic groups as spatial network mechanisms, this chapter is able to distinguish economic growth effects accruing from own-country productive efforts from those accruing from interconnections within a global productive network chain. From this, discussions and deductions about the implications for both developed and developing countries are made as regards potentials for gains and losses from such types and levels of productive integration. The second and third chapters take a different spin to the economic development inquiry. They both focus on economic activity in Africa, tackling the relevant issues from a geo-intersected dimension involving historic regional tribal homelands and modern national and subnational administrative territories. The second chapter specifically focuses on attempting to adopt historical channels to investigate the connection between national institutional quality and economic development in demarcated tribal homelands at the fringes of national African borders. The third chapter on the other hand focuses on looking closer at the effects of demarcations on economic activity. It particularly probes how different kinds of demarcation warranted by two different but very relevant classes of politico-economic players have affected economic activity quite distinguishably within the resulting subnational regions in Africa.

Political parties are the cornerstone of modern democracies and the decisions they make can have important consequences for citizens' well-being. This dissertation studies two different types of party behaviour. The first is coalition building and how social-identity concerns can help predict which parties form alliances. The second is the decision of potential new parties to enter electoral competition. The effect of social-identity on coalition formation is tested using an experiment on the 'pure effect' of gender, race and political ideology on who is selected as a coalition partner. The findings showed that gender and race did not affect participants' decisions. By contrast, ideology had a strong effect. Substantively, the results provide evidence that a preference for similar coalition partners can help predict which coalitions form, even when there are no policy benefits from this alliance to be gained. Party entry behaviour is analysed through two incentive structures. The first paper measures the impact of public subsidies on new-party presidential candidates in Latin America. The results show that campaign subsidies can increase the relative costs of a campaign and create a barrier for new-party candidate entry. On the other hand, campaign funding for everyday party activities has the opposite effect. This study contributes to the understanding of the cost-benefit incentives for new party entry and the consequences of party finance regulations. The second paper on new parties addresses the dynamic process of party exit and entry into politics. The study argues that the collapse of a political party opens policy space that can lead to the successful entrance of new parties. The results provide robust evidence that the size of the collapsed party has a positive effect on the vote shares for new parties. However, this is moderated by the permissibility of the electoral formula.