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The models will show how one’s weekly contacts, media outlets and willingness to accept information, formulate the population's vote on an issue. The voting population is separated into four groups: aged 20-39 and 40+, with and without a university degree. Scenarios illustrate the influence of outside information, varying initial opinions and effectiveness of accepting information when each group make up an equal portion of the population. The equations are expanded to an agent-based model with each person maintaining individual characteristics. Scenarios are observed with distributions amongst the groups, depicting how the make-up of a population influences if the issue passes with a majority vote. The models can be applied to test scenarios for the vote on a given issue; we show Finland's, Japan's and Australia’s stance on carbon tax implementation.

This thesis focuses on two interlinked issues. First, whether citizens evaluate economic information on the basis of what it means to their families or immediate acquaintances (pocketbook theory), or what it means to the country, irrespective of the impact on their own economic situation (sociotropic theory). And second, how far such a distinction is related to alternative channels of communication, especially the mass media. The study attempts to elaborate the thesis that we need to focus on short run influences if we are to understand the nature of political support. It is also contended that we need to go beyond class models of voting behaviour and explore the strengths and weaknesses of the variety of techniques used in assessing the impact of fluctuations in the economy. The emphasis is on a model incorporating economic fluctuations and their appreciation by the electorate; important political events; and the role of the mass media. The study begins with a critical review of some of the existing literature, with special reference to class and issue voting models. The substantive chapters derive from the position developed in this assessment: economic perceptions are significant even if the earlier models of economic voting are deficient. The initial thrust is comparative and tests an economic model of Government popularity against data from the regional domain. The results confirm the media dynamic behind popularity fluctuation. The thesis then develops the notion of the importance of general (or "sociotropic") perceptions in influencing Government popularity. Econometric techniques are employed to test and elaborate existing model constructions. The importance of general perception is confirmed, and the following analysis explores the structure of these perceptions using disaggregated public opinion poll data. The results specify more clearly the nature of the public's perceptual strata. We suggest that neither class groupings nor the unemployed have a distinctive set of economic perceptions. Furthermore, a group of media dependent individuals can be isolated. This dependency is unrelated to class, or to employment status, and the dependent group share a distinctive set of perceptions which are consonant with media influence. The last section of the thesis explores data generated from a panel study conducted in Lewisham, South London. We highlight the importance of sociotropic perception, and related attributional inferences. We look at volatility in economic perceptions and the relationship between personal, local and sociotropic attitudes. Subject to the necessary qualifications, in conclusion we submit that economic perceptions have important rather than a determinant impact on voter preference. This impact is part of an incremental process leading to glacial shifts in political popularity - a process in which the media have a significant place.

Previous studies of the first direct elections to the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) in 1991 were largely focused on the effect of the Tiananmen Incident on voters' choice, neglecting the domestic dimension of social conflict evolving within Hong Kong from the 1970s. Adopting the social cleavage approach, the present thesis argues that two electoral cleavages, centre-periphery and collective consumption, were important by 1991. It, therefore, explores the international, social and political contexts within which the 1991 LegCo direct elections took place in order to explain the political alignments and electoral cleavages during the period 1982-1991. First, the study examines the Sino-British attitudes towards political reforms in Hong Kong and the development of the centre-periphery cleavage in the 1980s as the two countries negotiated the transfer of sovereignty. Second, the expansion of the Hong Kong Government's activities and its privatisation programmes are analyzed in order to describe the increasingly intimate relations between government and society and to show that, as a result, conflicts evolved over issues of collective consumption. Third, the emerging competition at the time of the 1991 elections is discussed with reference to political mobilisation and alignments during the previous decade. Fourth, the electoral market of 1991 is examined to explain voters' choice. Finally, the election results are analyzed to demonstrate that two electoral cleavages, centre-periphery and collective consumption, played a significant role. The data used in this study were collected from: official documents, such as the Hong Kong Government Gazette, the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Census and By-census reports, the annual reports of various government departments; opinion polls and one exit poll of the 1991 LegCo direct elections; personal interviews with leading political leaders; campaign materials and election debates on television; and newspaper cuttings.

This thesis has studied black politics in the City of Muncie, Indiana, in light of Imamu Baraka's concept of developing black politics. Baraka says that, of necessity, black politics is moving from a system of nominal jobs and services via a "brokerage" system toward a strong black institution with the ability to exert a black influence on the local political scene.In order to determine where Muncie fits into this notion of black politics two hypotheses were developed. First, voting patterns in three black precincts were studied to establish whether bloc voting exists there. In order to discover whether the existence of bloc voting results in black voters having impact on local politics, impact was operationalized to mean the appointment of blacks to administrative positions within the city administration and the feelings of political leaders and black community leaders toward the impact of black citizens on Muncie politics.Voting results from the 1967, 1971 and 1975 mayoral primary and general elections were studied. The particular three precincts studied were chosen because their population is more than 70 percent black.

No description available.

Internetwahlen (e-Voting) sind zu einer realen Möglichkeit geworden,es müssen aber die allgemeinen Wahlrechtsgrundsätze eingehalten werden.Bei der Entwicklung eines e-Voting-Systems müssen insbesondere folgende Probleme gelöst werden: eindeutige Identifikation des Wahlberechtigten bei der Registration für die elektronische Wahl bei gleichzeitig vollkommen gesicherter Anonymität in der Stimmabgabe. Außerdem darf die Systemadministration der Wahlbetreiber keinerlei Möglichkeit haben (i) die Anonymität zu unterlaufen oder (ii) Stimmen zu manipulieren. Der vorliegende Prototyp basiert auf einem an der Abteilung Produktionsmanagement der WU Wien entwickelten Verfahren,das international publiziert und damit der öffentlichen Diskussion und Prüfung zugänglich ist (siehe dazu die Auswahl an Publikationen in diesem Bericht). / Series: Working Papers on Information Systems, Information Business and Operations

Design and implementation of e-voting represent a particular responsibility in regards to the voting principles. Due to the sensitivity of the application, e-voting can only be used after extensive tests and feedback from practical application. The election test described in this working paper describes such a test conducted in parallel to the Federal Presidential Election in 2004. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers on Information Systems, Information Business and Operations

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 111 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-85). Also available via the World Wide Web.