"This study is predicated on a strong belief that the gender make-up of African parliamnets must relfect the gender demographics of African states. It is only when that is achieved that the concepts of equality, non-discrimination and democracy can gain their true meaning. As a departure point, the study makes a case that statistically women are under-represented across the overwhelming majority of African parliaments. The study asserts that the under-representation is prevalent amid the existence of international, regional and domestic instruments, all providing for women's right to representation in decision-making processes. Thus, the study demonstrates that there is a gap between de jure and de facto representation. The study then argues that the convoluted ideology of patriarchy, sacrosanct cultures, inviolable religions, the constructed public/private dichotomy, low levels of education, and the negative impact of globalisation all act in concert to deny African women their rightful place in decision-making institutions, particluarly parliaments. In a bid to investigate how this can be reserved, the study explores the Rwandan and South African models for purposes of gaining insights on how they have contrived to reach and surpass the critical mass of women in their parliaments. These two models demonstrate that a combination of temporary special measures and gender mainstreaming are effective tools for emancipating women and ensuring their representation in parliaments. These have to be buttressed by strong legal and institutioanl frameworks, which operate in a conducive socio-political environment." -- Abstract. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Ben Twinomugisha at the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC), Makerere University, Faculty of Law, Kampala, Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Previous studies of identity and representation fail to fully recognise the complexity of identity and its inherent relevance to representation. In addition, they insufficiently acknowledge the institutional factors which mediate the performance of identity in representation. This thesis moves beyond this existing research by more critically analysing the relationship between identity and political representation through the lens of performative claim-making. Given that both representation and identity are concepts which have come to be understood as complex and multiply constructed, their interrelationship deserves a more critical and nuanced analysis. I argue that identity inherently shapes representative roles. Representation as a concept can be modelled as a series of claims to and understandings of representation. By applying Goffman’s interpretation of identity as performance, claims to representation are therefore a series of performative moves which evoke identity strategically and vary according to context and audience. Through the examples of the two case studies of New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the thesis explores the ways that MPs perform their identities in three distinct contexts: web biographies, maiden speeches and interviews. These allow for comparisons of contexts or ‘stages’ for performance of identity by MPs and shows how claim-making plays out in reality for MPs. I argue that performance of identity by MPs will vary depending on the method of selection of the MP, parliamentary norms and culture, and the audience. The potential for variation of performance due to contextual shifts requires an explicit consideration of the institutional factors which impact a representative’s performative role. Political space - its rules and regulations and its culture and norms – needs to be incorporated in more depth into studies of representation, claim-making and performance because these factors impact the extent to which MPs will engage with and perform identity within their representative roles. By investigating the ways in which MPs perform identity in different contexts and with different audiences, we can better understand the relationship between the two concepts of identity and political representation.

This thesis shows that citizens whose policy concerns are higher on political elites' agendas are more likely to be satisfied with democracy and to vote in elections. It develops a theoretical framework to explain the influence of the previously neglected variable priority congruence on democratic satisfaction and turnout and provides empirical evidence for it. The thesis thereby makes significant contributions to our knowledge about the ingredients of democratic legitimacy. Previous research shows that political representation, as measured by proximity between citizens' and elites' policy positions, is linked to democratic satisfaction. In this thesis, it is argued that congruence in priorities has a similar effect because citizens are likely to perceive elites who emphasise their concerns as responsive to societal needs and public opinion. The empirical analyses suggest that democratic satisfaction is indeed influenced by priority congruence, yet less so amongst more politically sophisticated individuals as well as in younger democracies and countries with lower levels of democracy and governance. These differences are probably due to variation in citizens' expectations towards elite behaviour and the democratic system. Elite attention to citizens' concerns moreover influences their decision to turn out in elections. If voters' issue priorities are salient in the campaign, they are likely to perceive the election to be more important. Moreover, they will find it easier to evaluate parties and make their vote choice. These mechanisms are shown to be less relevant amongst partisans, since party attachment mobilises voters and facilitates their vote choice. Again, previous policy-based explanations of turnout focus on positions, largely ignoring priorities. The hypotheses are tested through statistical analysis of data from voter and candidate surveys as well as media content analyses. The data come from all 27 European Union countries in 2009, whereby several hypotheses are only tested in Germany due to data availability.

The purpose of the thesis is to understand and analyze the present situation of gender equality in politics in the Philippines, investigate women's opportunities to be politically active and to exercise political influence. Finally find out if there is a difference in horizontal and vertical positions between women's and men's representation in politics and investigate further possibilities and problems that might be associated with women's political representation in the Philippines. The empirical material for this thesis has been gathered through qualitative interviews with male and female politicians from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The theoretical framework is divided into different parts which are used to analyse various points from the empirical material. In this chapter, we included theories about differences between gender experiences and why women should be politically active. As well as the meaning of an overrepresentation of a certain group in politics and the possible reasons to women’s underrepresentation in politics as well as the arguments about women's presence in politics, and also the horizontal and vertical segregations. To analyse the empirics from a theoretical point of view, we have divided the results into three sub-categories which are the respondents' attitude to the present situation of gender equality in politics, women's opportunities to be politically active and to make political influence and the horizontal or vertical divisions between women and men's positions in politics.  The results from this thesis shows that women are as competent as men in the political field, and they have a lot of experiences to contribute with in politics that benefit all the citizens, but it is easier for women to come in politics if they are a part of a political clan. But these women, who replace their family members, usually pursue those members’ decision, but do not act according to their own will.

O trabalho proposto tem por objetivo a reconstrução dos debates relativos ao Código Eleitoral de 1932. Analisamos como as medidas introduzidas pelo Código fizeram parte da construção de uma nova concepção de representação política, a qual é produzida como verdadeira. A presença do conteúdo de verdade nos discursos de 1930 expõe a necessidade de uma substituição do falso pelo verdadeiro, opondo a representação presente na Primeira República, na qual a fraude eleitoral e a abstenção são apresentadas como entraves à democracia, a uma nova representação, que deveria se constituir a partir da lisura e da participação eleitorais. O regime introduzido pelo Governo Provisório, por ter se constituído sem a confirmação eleitoral, necessitava urgentemente de legitimação, a qual foi buscada por duas vias: o aumento da participação e a transparência das eleições. Entendemos que as medidas introduzidas pelo Código Eleitoral de 1932 caminham no sentido de uma inclusão política, tendo como base o pressuposto de que quanto maior o eleitorado, mais representativo o governo e, portanto, mais legítimo. No entanto, argumentamos que o controle eleitoral, que se dava no período anterior por meio das fraudes eleitorais e da dificuldade do alistamento, não se extingue, mas sofre transformações. Em outras palavras, o poder sobre as eleições é deslocado das mãos das oligarquias locais para o domínio da burocracia estatal. Assim, analisaremos como o conceito de representação verdadeira combina a expansão do eleitorado ao controle dos eleitores e elegíveis ao mesmo tempo em que busca estabelecer uma ligação legítima entre representantes e representados. / The purpose of the proposed work is to reconstruct the debates related to the Electoral Code of 1932. We analyze how the measures introduced by the Code were part of the construction of a new conception of political representation, which is produced as truthful. The presence of the content of truth in the speeches of 1930 exposes the need for a replacement of the untrue for the genuineness, opposing the type of representation that was present in the First Republic, in which electoral fraud and abstention are presented as obstacles to democracy, to a new representation that should be based on electoral integrity and real participation. Because it was constituted without electoral confirmation, the regime introduced by the Provisional Government urgently needed legitimacy, which was sought in two ways: increased participation and election transparency. We understand that the measures introduced by the 1932 Electoral Code are moving towards political inclusion, based on the assumption that the larger the electorate, the more representative the government and, therefore, the more legitimate it is. However, we argue that electoral control, which occurred in the previous period through electoral fraud, and the difficulty of enlistment, are not extinguished but undergo transformations. In other words, power over elections is shifted from the hands of local oligarchies into the domain of state bureaucracy. Thus, we will analyze how the concept of true representation associates with the expansion of the electorate onto the control of the eligibles and the voters, while at the same time seeking to establish a legitimate link between the representatives and the represented.

O cooperativismo brasileiro vive atualmente uma polarização ideológica entre duas vertentes. A partir da década de 1990, começa a se configurar uma nova vertente – a da Economia Solidária - que traz no seu bojo a reivindicação da urgente democratização das relações de trabalho. Com esse postulado, contrapõe-se ao sistema da Organização das Cooperativas Brasileiras (OCB), fundado em 1970, que defende uma concepção de cooperativismo focada na eficiência econômica. O embate encontra também sua tradução no plano associativo no qual o monopólio de representação da OCB é contestado de facto pelo surgimento de entidades de representação de cooperativas solidárias. O presente trabalho parte desse contexto para analisar os mecanismos institucionais que a nova vertente constrói no que se refere à representação política das cooperativas. Como objeto de análise foram selecionadas duas entidades dos campos que se opõem: a Organização das Cooperativas do Estado de São Paulo (OCESP), que faz parte do sistema OCB, e a União e Solidariedade das Cooperativas e Empreendimentos de Economia Social do Brasil (UNISOL/Brasil), da Economia Solidária. A análise comparativa dos mecanismos internos de representação apontou para uma diferença pouco expressiva entre as entidades. / Brazilian co-operativism is currently facing a polarization among two ideological trends. Early in the 90’s a new trend begun to take shape, i.e., the Solidary Economy, that brought along a demand for mandatory democratization of the work relations. This postulate is in opposition to the ‘system of Brazilian Organization of Co-operatives’ (OCB) which has been established in 1970 and defends a concept of co-operativism aiming at economic efficiency. The clash is also meant by association when the OCB’s monopoly for representation is contested de facto, because of the fact, that entities representing solidary co-operatives are appearing. The present work takes this context to query what kind of institutional and innovative mechanisms the new trend is up to build, regarding the political representation of the co-operatives. Two entities from opposite sides have been chosen to serve as object for analysis: the Organization of Co-operatives in São Paulo State (OCESP) which is integrated with the system OCB and the Union and Solidarity of Co-operatives and Enterprising of Social Economy in Brazil (UNISOL/Brasil), from the Solidary Economy trend. A comparative analysis of its internal mechanisms of representation pointed out to a less substantial differentiation between them.

No description available.

L'année 2009 marque le trentième anniversaire de l'accession au pouvoir de la première femme Premier ministre du Royaume-Uni, Margaret Thatcher, et ainsi le début d'une période dont la politique est marquée par son idéologie, celle du parti conservateur sous sa direction. Certains avancent même que la politique entreprise par le parti travailliste par la suite, et ce depuis son élection en 1997, est une poursuite du travail entrepris par les conservateurs sous la direction de Margaret Thatcher. Or, la période des trente années précédentes a aussi vu une évolution spectaculaire des statuts des composantes de l'Union britannique. En effet, 1979 est l'année du premier référendum sur la question constitutionnelle. Si ce référendum, par sa nature même, était voué à l'échec, il ne mit pas pour autant fin à un travail acharné des partisans de l'autonomie écossaise. Sous l'influence de courants nationalistes, les nations de l'Union britannique acquirent davantage d'indépendance dans le processus nommé dévolution. La fin des années soixante-dix est aussi une période de mobilisation quant à la question de la représentation des femmes dans la société écossaise, et plus particulièrement dans la sphère politique. Ainsi, ces deux problématiques (d'une part la question constitutionnelle et d'autre part la place des femmes en politique) semblent intimement liées dans la période 1979-2009, puisque la population écossaise ainsi que des groupes de réflexion constitués de femmes ont travaillé ardemment afin d'obtenir une meilleure représentation dans le monde politique, et de manière générale, dans la société. Ce travail de recherche s’interroge quant à l’incidence qu’a pu avoir cette période de changements sur le statut des femmes en Écosse – y a-t-il eu une amélioration de leur représentation ? Et si c'était le cas, ce changement serait-il imputable au nouveau système politique mis en place ? Les dix premières années de travail du nouveau Parlement écossais (1999-2009) sont analysées à travers du prisme de la question de la représentation des femmes et du particularisme (ou non) de la politique menée par une instance plus féminisée. / In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the United Kingdom’s first female Prime Minister and 2009 was thus the 30th anniversary of that historical landmark. Those three decades are sometimes considered as having been largely influenced by her policy, even during the Labour rule (1997-2010) which followed her Premiership (1979-1990, followed by John Major’s). The same period became the scene of much debate on the constitutional question, as 1979 was the year of the failed referendum on devolution. However, it did not prevent those who believed in Scotland’s autonomy from further considering their options. At the same time, the Women’s Movement fought for gender equality, in the political area as well as other domains. Both causes collided in the call for better representation, which culminated in the 1990s. The research led on those particular times of change questions the links between both movements (the one in favour of autonomy and the one for gender equality) and whether they were able to work together towards a better representation of women in Scotland. The first ten years of the Scottish Parliament (1999-2009) are looked at through the scope of that notion of female representation: was a better one achieved? And if so, has it had a major impact on the way matters are handled in the newly established Scottish Parliament?

[pt] O presente estudo abordará as teorias da representação política como expostas por Bernard Manin, Nadia Urbinati e Pierre Rosanvallon, sob a perspectiva de que a relação entre democracia e representação política é marcada por uma tensão inerente, como retomada por Bernard Manin. A retórica que acompanha a escalada do sufrágio universal como solução da tensão entre representação política e democracia faz com que a forma de entendimento da institucionalidade representativa esteja cercada de superstições quanto à eficácia e pujança de seus métodos. Interpelar a representação política enquanto um processo mediador destas tensões entre a esfera social e política é um movimento que aproximaria os três autores estudados. A questão é que para os dois primeiros, o processo de representação seria pré-estabelecido e, portanto, fechado e não permeável às mudanças, onde o mundo da política é claramente delimitado. Enquanto que para o terceiro, por uma postura diferenciada no que concerne à relação entre o social e o político, parece haver uma perspectiva singular de processo em aberto a ser considerada, traduzida em uma concepção de política expandida e contraditória, ou seja, do social e do político em intersecção. / [en] The research herein deals with the theories of political representation as they are exposed by Bernard Manin, Pierre Rosanvallon and Nadia Urbina ti, considering the perspective of a tense existing relationship between democracy and political representation, as it was recovered by Bernard Manin. There is a rhetoric that follows the universal suffrage adoption in which it is seen as a solution to the tense relationship among political representation and democracy, what has led general understanding of representative institutionality to be surrounded by superstitions regarding its mechanisms effectiveness and responsiveness. It is possible to approximate the three studied theorists if political representation is inquired as a process that mediates these tensions between political and social spheres. The question is that for both former authors, the political representation process is pre-established and, thus, closed and not permeable to changes, where the world of politics is clearly delimitated. While to the later, a different attitude towards the relationship between the social and the political seems to assure a singular perspective of open process to be considered, traduced in an expansive and contradictory conception of politics, in others words, of social and political intersection.

O presente trabalho pretende estudar o instituto do voto direto no direito político constitucional brasileiro. A dimensão dos direitos políticos no Brasil nem sempre esteve relacionada à crescente participação política no processo eleitoral. Essa importância decorre do próprio processo histórico, da extensão desses direitos e do modo como ocorreu essa movimentação. O poder conferido à autoridade, para agir em nome de alguém em uma democracia representativa, se dá através de eleições, isto é, o mecanismo eleitoral é compreendido como meio de ratificar uma ação. Nesse diapasão, tal meio de renovação ocorre em períodos determinados, tendo aprovação limitada a esse ínterim. Assim, por intermédio de eleições o escolhido através do voto popular poderá agir em nome dos eleitores e sua representação será legitimada. Daí a imperiosidade de compreender a extensão da história do voto no Brasil, seu contexto histórico e social, pois através dela buscaremos entender o aperfeiçoamento da representação política e a amplificação da acepção da democracia. / The present work intends to study the institute of direct voting in Brazilian constitutional political law. The dimension of non-Brazil's political rights is not always related to growing political participation in the electoral process. This important is a process of distributing historical documents, an extension of rights and the way in which this movement occurred. The power conferred on the authority to act on behalf of someone in a representative democracy is through elections, that is, the electoral mechanism is understood as a means of ratifying an action. In this tuning fork, such a means of renewal in case of non-compliance. Thus, through elections the one chosen through popular vote, acting on behalf of the voters and their representation will be legitimized. Hence the imperiousness of an extension of the history of voting in Brazil, its historical and social context, through which we will seek to understand the improvement of political representation and the amplification of the acceptance of democracy.