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In this thesis we extend the study of strategic voting to two frameworks that are novel to the literature. First, by analysing a four-party competition with purely instrumentally motivated voters (Part I); second, by focusing on a three-party competition where voters have instrumental and expressive motivations (Part II). We aim to explore an existing gap in the literature and, in particular, to investigate the possibility of a voting equilibrium with partial strategic voting and its stability. The three sub-models studied in Part I (including essay 1) and the model in Part II (including essays 2, 3 and 4) focus on the case of large electorates and include public uncertainty. This distinguishes them from Cox (1997), where no real uncertainty exists as the electorate gets large, and Myatt (2006), which includes both public and private information. Essays 2 and 3 present and explore the theoretical framework and implications for the model chosen for Part II and essay 4 applies it to the 1997 UK General Election. From essay 1 we obtain the result that in a single-ballot simple-plurality election there is a tendency towards the Duvergerian equilibrium in a four-party model. Also, an equilibrium with partial strategic voting is never stable. From essays 2 and 3 three main results arise: a Duvergerian equilibrium is never possible; a stable equilibrium always exists; and more information leads to less strategic voting – contrary to Myatt (2006). Both the impossibility of any Duvergerian equilibrium and the possibility of a stable interior equilibrium in multiple cases are central to our theory of voting that includes an expressiveness component. The simulations in essay 4 suggest that a very low level of expressiveness is needed to obtain a level of strategic voting compatible with the findings in Fisher (2004). The theory predicts the impossibility of some constituency results that are in fact frequently observed in British elections. Cox (1997), Making Votes Count. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Fisher (2004), ), Definition and Measurement of Tactical Voting: the Role of Rational Choice, British Journal of Political Science, 34(1), 152-66. Myatt (2006), On the Theory of Strategic Voting, Review of Economics Studies, Blackwell Publishing vol. 74(1), pages 255-281.

The following paper assesses a statistical relationship between Economic Inequality and Voting Participation among a sizable amount of nations across the world representing all continents. With an deductive approach, three theoretical standpoints of interest are presented: one that describes a negative, another inconclusive, and one with a positive relationship between the variables of interest. Through panel data analysis the study finds support in favour of a negative relationship in that as economic inequality rises, voting participation in parliamentary elections decreases.

The basic aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse how �the woman voter� was constructed within Labor discourse during the Hawke/Keating years. My domain of investigation is electoral politics, in particular the federal election campaigns of 1983 and 1993. These elections flank the beginning and the end of the Labor decade, a period of great significance to both the development of Labor politics specifically and Australian politics in general. The elections of 1983 and 1993 were campaigns in which the Party made a concerted effort to attract women�s votes. Through a reading of the various texts associated with these two campaigns, I explore the construction of �the woman voter� as a �new� political subject position within Labor discourse. The dominant influences on the construction of �the woman voter� as a new subject position were Labor discourse and feminism, or more precisely Labor discourse affected by the incursion of feminism from the 1970s onwards. This thesis describes and analyses how this subject position has been produced and reproduced within Labor discourse. The gender gap research developed for the 1983 federal election constitutes one of the more important technologies that work to construct �the woman voter� within Labor discourse. A reading of the texts associated with the 1983 campaign reveals the character of �the woman voter� as a caring figure. However, as the Labor decade progressed, �the woman voter� is articulated in Labor discourse as a more complex figure, focused on her responsibilities both in the home and at paid work. A reading of various texts associated with the 1993 election campaign shows that �the woman voter� is constructed as a carer-worker; this subject position is broadly consonant with the objectives liberal, economic government. Certain modifications within this basic subject position can be observed in Labor�s anti-GST campaign materials, which made an appeal to the woman voter as consumer.

This is a study of the ways in which citizens construct sense in the voting booth while voting. The experimental design is a pretest posttest control group. The driving theory is that citizens want to convince themselves that they have made sense of the information presented to them. This is their singular value. The reason why this is upheld as the singular value is because without the capacity to construct sense in the voting process, voters would otherwise feel disenfranchised (i.e. deprived of the right to vote) and subsequently feel alienated (i.e. deprived of the rewards that can come from voting). Citizens will be given an opportunity to present bills; they will evoke certain keywords and phrases. The citizen will later evoke varied terminology when confronted with voting patterns from "Senators". The test for the citizen in this experiment will be to remove those Senators who are voting at random and provide reasons for either reelection to or removal from office. There are two anticipated results: 1) Senators voting in random patterns will be removed from office in an equal or lesser proportion than remaining Senators, and 2) responses to non-random voting patterns will evoke lesser variation in terminology employed.

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Thesis (M.A.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Dec. 14, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. [42]-48).

Thesis (M.A.)--Kutztown State College, 1976. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2922. Title on spine and title of the abstract varies. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as [3] preliminary leaves. Includes bibliographical references (leaf [55]).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Feb. 08, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-75).

Low voter turnout among America’s youngest voters has been a subject of concern and research. Research has shown that education is closely related to participation, making college campuses are a great place to engage America’s youth in the democratic process. This report outlines best practices of Getting Out the Vote on university campuses, as well as addressing the additional challenges of community colleges. / text