Thesis advisor: Kathleen Bailey / This paper seeks to address the inclusion of Kuwaiti women as political actors. Kuwait held elections on May 16, 2009, and Moussoma al-Mubarak, Rola Dashti, Aseel al-Awadhi, and Salwa al-Jassar became the first women elected to the National Assembly. This victory occurred on the fourth anniversary of female enfranchisement in Kuwait. In an attempt to account for variations among the number of women in parliament in Kuwait by drawing on research from the field of descriptive representation, I found that the year of female suffrage, the religion of Islam, Kuwait’s cultural implications of gender-equality, the peculiarities of Kuwait’s electoral system, and timing and framing to be particularly important in the case of Kuwait. A consideration of substantive representation is also relevant to Kuwait, as early signs of involvement of the women members of Parliament indicate that women’s interests are on the political agenda in Kuwait. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: International Studies Honors Program. / Discipline: Political Science.

The Slovak political party system was shaken by new political parties, that emerged just recently and strongly influenced the political scene. The aim of the paper was to find out, what was the key of success of the the new political parties, which made it to the parliament in the parliamentary elections in June 2010 and in march 2012. In order to reach this goal I research the circumstances which lead to the establishment of these parties, their election program, the governmental period, the campaign and the role of the party leader. The paper is divided into four chapters, out of which the chapter one is dedicated to the teoretical background and definitions, the second chapter is putting light on the Slovak party and election system, the chapter three and four are the analytical core of the paper, in which I analyze the the political parties SaS, Most-Híd and OĽaNO in the above mentioned areas. I conclude the analytical part by the anlysis of the election results do the Slovak parliament in year 2010 and the preliminary election in the year 2012.

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

In December 2007, Kenya held what by all accounts were historic presidential, parliamentary and local elections which pitted the then President Mwai Kibaki and his Party of National Unity (PNU) against Mr. Raila Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Party (ODM), Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka, head of ODM-Kenya, and six other candidates. There was however, even before the elections were in progress, several indicators of conflict such as pervasive use of inflammatory campaign rhetoric. Within minutes of the Electoral Commission of Kenya’s declaration of President Kibaki's victory, tribe-based rioting and violence broke out across the country. The results announced showed both a rapid disintegration of Odinga’s previously large lead during the tallying of votes, and a 2.5% margin between the two leading candidates. As a result, suspicions of tampering were high, not least because the opposition had won 99 seats to PNU’s 43 at the parliamentary level. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2010. / 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. Paulo Comoane of the Faculty of Law, University of Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique. 2010. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

I Sverige förekommer diskussioner om valfusk på sociala medier. Vid valet 2018 låg Valmyndighetens hemsida nere efter en överbelastningsattack, och fyra år senare sprids fortfarande teorier om att Valmyndigheten själva stängt ner sin hemsida för att påverka valresultatet (SvD, 2022). Twitter är en plattform där diskussioner om valfusk sker och där svensk politik diskuteras, det råder en oerhörd polarisering på plattformen kring detta ämne. I denna uppsats har vi med hjälp av en explorativ kartläggning undersökt hur förtroendet till demokratin möjligtvis kan urholkas genom att titta på förekomsten av narrativ om valfusk på Twitter, vår forskningsfråga lyder "hur och i vilken omfattning pratar man om valfusk innan, under och efter det svenska valet 2022". Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys för att analysera data från Twitter som handlar om valfusk under tidsperioden 1/8-22 fram till och med den 9/10-22. Vi har delat upp datasetet i tre delar, en period innan valet, en period som sträcker sig under valveckan samt en period som är tiden efter valet fram till den 9/10-22. Vi har kombinerat den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen med en kvantitativ innehållsanalys. Där vi genom deskriptiv statistik visar på förekomsten av de olika kategorierna vi tagit fram i materialet för att på så sätt identifiera i vilken utsträckning olika narrativ om valfusk förekommer i diskussioner om svenska valet 2022 på Twitter. Vårt resultat visar att tweetsen kring valfusk skiljer sig åt beroende på vilken period under valet som undersökts. I perioden innan valet var tweets som relaterar till att valfusk sker 66,5 procent av av det analyserade materialet. Dessa siffror skiftade i perioden under valet där motstånd mot narrativ om valfusk växte och utgjorde nästan lika stor andel som de som ansåg att valfusk sker (31 respektive 40,6 procent). Efter valet identifierade vi en ny kategori av tweets som var den näst största under den perioden (30,5 procent), efter de som anser att valfusk sker i svenska val. Det var de som ansåg att tweets om valfusk hade ökat om oppositionen ej vunnit riksdagsvalet, och att det istället blivit väldigt tyst från de individer som tidigare varit högljudda om att valfusk sker i svenska val. Diskussionen om valfusk är polariserad, där det är två ytterligheter som tampas mot varandra. 50 procent av det totala antalet inlägg som analyserats handlar om att valfusk pågår eller förväntas ske i svenska val, bland dessa inlägg riktas misstro till den svenska demokratin och det svenska valsystemet. Det uttrycks ett stort missnöje och hat mot de s.k "uråldriga" statliga medieinstitutionerna som anklagas för att vara en propagandamaskin för vänsterblockets räkning. Socialdemokraterna är det parti som överlägset mest anklagas för valfusk i debatten, 94,5 procent av alla inlägg som är riktade mot ett parti är riktade mot Socialdemokraterna. De anklagas för långvarig korruption, valfusk i tidigare val, där argumentet om att Socialdemokraterna är det enda partiet som blivit dömda för valfusk i domstol är vanligt förekommande. Huruvida narrativet om valfusk förändras för de olika tidsperioderna så visar resultatet att det är en större andel inlägg som påstår att valfusk sker i Sverige innan valet jämfört med under och efter valet. I datasetet efter valet handlar istället mycket kring diskussionen om valfusk om hur valresultatet hade gått åt andra hållet så hade det varit ett gigantiskt rop om valfusk från främst Sverigedemokrater / In Sweden, there are discussions about election fraud. At the 2018 election, the Swedish Election Authority's website was down after an overload attack, and four years later, theories and discussions are still spreading that the Swedish Election Authority itself shut down its website in order to influence the election results (SvD, 2022). Twitter is a platform where discussions about election fraud take place and where Swedish politics is discussed, there is an enormous polarization on the platform around this topic. In this essay, with the help of an exploratory survey, we have investigated how trust in democracy can possibly be eroded by looking at the prevalence of the spread of narratives about election fraud on Twitter, our research question is "how and to what extent do you talk about election fraud before, during and after the Swedish election in 2022". We have used a qualitative content analysis to analyze data from Twitter dealing with election fraud during the time period 1/8-22 up to and including 9/10-22. We have divided the data set into three parts, a period before the election, a period that extends during the election week and a period that is the time after the election until 9/10-22. We have combined the content of the qualitative analysis with a quantitative content analysis. Where we use descriptive statistics to show the existence of the different categories we developed in the material in order to identify the extent to which different narratives about electoral fraud appear in discussions about the Swedish 2022 election on Twitter. Our results show that the tweets about electoral fraud differ depending on which period during the election was examined. In the period before the election, tweets relating to election fraud were 66.5 percent of the analyzed material. These numbers shifted in the period during the election where opposition to the narrative of electoral fraud grew and constituted almost as large a proportion as those who believed that electoral fraud was taking place (31 and 40.6 percent, respectively). After the election, we identified a new category of tweets that was the second largest during that period (30.5 percent), after those who believe that electoral fraud occurs in Swedish elections. They were the ones who believed that tweets about electoral fraud would have increased if the opposition had not won the parliamentary election, instead the individuals who had previously been vocal about electoral fraud went silent. The discussion about electoral fraud is polarized, where two extremes are pitted against each other. 50 percent of the total number of posts analyzed are about electoral fraud taking place or expected to take place in Swedish elections, among these posts, a huge amount of mistrust of Swedish democracy and the Swedish electoral system is identified. There is great dissatisfaction and hatred expressed towards the so-called "ancient" state media institutions which are accused of being a propaganda machine on behalf of the left side. The Social Democrats are by far the party most accused of electoral fraud in the debate, 94.5 percent of all posts directed at any party are directed at the Social Democrats. They are accused of long-term corruption, electoral fraud in previous elections, where the argument that the Social Democrats are the only party that has been convicted of electoral fraud in court is common. Whether the narrative about election fraud changes for the different time periods, the results show that there is a greater proportion of posts that claim that election fraud takes place in Sweden before the election compared to during and after the election. In the data set after the election, instead, much of the discussion about election fraud is about how the election results had gone the other way, so there would have been a gigantic outcry about election fraud from mainly the Sweden Democrats.

Why do some authoritarian states have competitive elections? This study shows that whenever there is a balance of power between candidates, competitiveness will ensue. Electoral fraud is often widespread in autocratic states, but if no single candidate or party is in a position to monopolize electoral support the result will be competitive. The contribution here is to analyze the relative strength of all the actors involved in a parliamentary election and to show that electoral returns reflect the district level balance of power, even in autocracies. Three main sources of candidate-level electoral power are identified: state, market, and society. State affiliated candidates in authoritarian states perform well due to favorable treatment by state institutions. Market actors perform well due to financial resources. These actors arise when market reforms create a class of entrepreneurs that defend their interests by running for public office, often challenging state sanctioned candidates. The strength of candidates using social cleavages, here mainly ‘clan’ and ethnic, is found to be exaggerated in the literature. The study also confirms that competitiveness did not result from an active civil society. Competitive  elections matter because they can severely destabilize the regime, as was the case in Kyrgyzstan in 2005. However, electoral competitiveness that is the result of an intra-elite balance of power should not be confused with democracy. This form of self-interested competitiveness where clientelism is pervasive and accountability mechanisms are weak is an affront to the democratic ideal. For those of us who advocate democracy and genuine political participation competitive authoritarian regimes can be used as an informative cautionary tale. Power matters, and especially so in authoritarian states. Understanding the logic behind competitive authoritarianism helps us revise strategies for lasting democratic reforms.

This thesis deals with the political situation in the Czech Republic since the parliamentary elections in October 2017 till the successful vote on the government's confidence in July 2018. It focuses specifically on the relations between the political parties, the reasons for refusing cooperation with the winner of the elections, and the motives for a participation on the executive coalition. Emphasis is placed on the parliamentary actors who have fundamentally influenced the emergence of the government. Furthermore, the work clarifies the social environment and important events during the period that was related to the coalition negotiations. At the same time, the text focuses on the role of the President in the formation of the government. Since he is the first directly elected president, the thesis tries to answer the question whether there are visible differences between the two previous indirectly elected presidents of the Czech Republic and current president Miloš Zeman. The thesis also examines the breadth of presidential powers over the government and seeks a possible overrun of powers. The main objective of the work is to verify whether the president extends his power beyond the constitution. For this purpose is uses the comparison of realities with the Constitution of the Czech Republic,...

This thesis deals with the position of small parties in the Czech parliamentary system after the elections to the Chamber of Deputies in autumn 201. The main focus is holding on the period from the official start of the election campaign on 2 May 2017 until the press release of selected parties after signing Coaliton on 10 July 2018. At the same time this paper focuses on the strategies of small political entities in the negotiations on the government in a situation where the election winner became the ANO movement and the only candidate for the prime minister is the prosecuted Andrej Babiš. Attention is paid to the strategy of the small political subjects, when they are faced with deciding whether to give priority to offices in the government and the opportunity to push through their political agenda or decide to keep the voters' promise and remain in opposition. The issue is examined from the perspective of the smallest political entities in the Chamber of Deputies - KDU-ČSL, TOP 09 and STAN. Emphasis is also placed on putting the issue into the context of the Czech party system and the ability of small parties to promote their program in the past. The aim of the thesis is to create a case study giving an explanation of the coalition strategy of small political parties and movements, which got...

The presented thesis 'Economic Policy in Parliament election context in 2017' is describing the media image of successful political parties prior to the elections to the Chamber of Deputies in Czech Republic in October 2017. Mass media act as an intermediator of contact between the political parties or politicians themselves and voters and they have a crucial impact on the party's public appearance and image that is being presented. Especially during the pre-election period are media concerned about the political actions, decisions and election programs. The analysis is focused on the media attention and media space dedicated to the electoral and political topics. Chosen newspapers are Hospodářské noviny and Lidové noviny that represent serious approach in reporting the news. The method of quantitative content analysis allows to show the media space given, describe the type, format and main focus of the texts published. The diploma thesis describes also the political communication according to the theory of the political business cycles. The method of quantitative content analysis benefits from using a large scale of data and showing relevant conclusions at the same time.

Diploma thesis "The Preferential voting of the Koalice voters in the elections for the Chamber of Deputies in 2002. Never more with the KDU-ČSL into the coalition" is concerned with the preferential voting of the Koalice voters in the elections in 2002 in selected electoral districts which are The Liberec Region, The Hradec Králové Region and The Zlín Region. The thesis focuses especially on the question in how big municipalities gained the KDU-ČSL and the US-DEU canditates the highest support from voters, wheter there was a connection between the distribution of preferential votes for the KDU-ČSL candidates and theUS-DEU voters of the Koalice in 2002 with distribution of preferential votes for these parties by the Čtyřkoalice voters in the regional elections in 2000; whether the structure of municipalities, in which the Koalice voters in 2002 and the KDU-ČSL and the US voters in 1998 in the elections for the PSP ČR bestowed the highest and the lowest percentage of preferential notes, was different; whether the proportion of preferential votes for the KDU-ČSL and the US-DEU candidates was connected with a local variability of the chosen sociodemografic variables and what was the distribution of regional electoral support of the best succesful candidates in 2002. The basic level of the almost whole...