Young councillors are currently under-represented in Sweden's municipalities. Young councillors are also stepping down in greater numbers than older members. This paper explores the reasons why young councillors choose to resign from their mission, so to identify possible remedies to the problematic trend of underrepresentation of younger people in local authorities in Sweden. This qualitative essay intends, through interviewing politically-active young people who has left their assignment, to study the reasons for resignations from elected posts. To see what could be the reason I have looked at previous studies and theories about opting out but also tried to remain open to identifying new and emerging trends previously undetected in existing surveys. The results showed that the political assignment proved to be too time-consuming, with young people choosing to spend their time on career and leisure. Those who resign from political life often express criticism towards the Municipal Council; they consider it tedious and many complain of having little influence. The increasing underrepresentation of younger people in political office and the fact that it is hard to recruit new active members shows that structural changes needs to be made to succeed in attracting new young members to political assignments.

Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

The study of electoral defence and its stated advantages are an integral part of American political science. Post-war, much academic literature has emerged in an attempt to identify and explain rising re-election rates of congressional incumbents and the political consequences of such a phenomenon (Mayhew 1974; Fiorina 1977; Cain, Ferejohn & Fiorina 1987; Gelman & King 1990; King 1991). Conversely, the study of political incumbency in Britain can be attributed to a handful of scholars who tend to consider the repercussions at parliamentary level (Williams 1967, King 1981, Cain, Ferejohn and Fiorina 1984, Norton 1990 & 1994, Norris, Valance & Lovenduski 1992). Consequently, incumbency advantage at the local level remains a relatively under-researched topic in England, confined to the sub-chapters of Rallings & Thrasher (1997). The aim of this thesis is to research and present evidence in support of incumbency effects in English local elections and the extent to which they influence their outcome, in that, incumbent candidates fare better than less experienced candidates, to different degrees across the three major parties. It will do so using survey and electoral data collected by The Elections Centre at Plymouth University, drawing on established methods from the literature and demonstrating via a variety of data and methods, that incumbency advantage is indeed a real phenomenon effecting the outcomes of local elections in England. The research provides substantial evidence for Sophomore Surge and Retirement Slump effects throughout the period examined (1974-2010). These methods of estimation feature alongside a number of others, which are constructed to uncover the significance of defending, rather than challenging for a council seat. A number of influences on the advantage that defending councillors maintain are also presented, including district magnitude, ward size and rural/urban classification. Results reveal a modest advantage for Conservative and Labour incumbent candidates, whilst the effects are shown to be stronger for the Liberal Democrats, a finding that is in step with the existing literature on electoral trends and the local campaign strategy of the party (Dorling et al, 1998; McAllister et al, 2002; Russell & Fieldhouse, 2005; Cutts 2006).

Le XIXème siècle marque les prémices de l'action sanitaire et sociale de la France. La capitale, Paris la voit se développer au travers de l'action de ces édiles, conseillers municipaux et maires. Peu étudiés dans l'historiographie française, ces hommes politiques locaux jouent un rôle fondamental dans l'apparition de cette politique publique micro-locale. Le conseil municipal comme les mairies sont composés majoritairement de membres de la bourgeoisie. Nombre d'entre eux exercent donc la philanthropie et la charité à l'instar de leurs prédécesseurs. Accompagnés dans cette pratique sociale par leurs parents, ils contribuent à développer des secours à l'ensemble des Parisiens. Ces actions se développent timidement à partir du Second Empire. L'Empereur, moteur de la politique sanitaire et sociale voit cette dernière être en proie à des réussites comme à des échecs. La Troisième République marque un tournant dans l'histoire de cette politique publique. A partir de 1871, fa défaite française conjuguées à l'influence des théories hygiénistes poussent les élus de la capitale à intervenir eux-mêmes dans le cadre de l'action sanitaire et sociale. Cela se traduit par la construction des premiers établissements sanitaires et sociaux municipaux, tandis que dans le même temps, ils participent aux débuts de l'éducation populaire. Les influences parisiennes ne viennent cependant pas uniquement de son corps médical. La capitale, s'inspire ainsi des expériences européennes au travers des expositions universelles et des congrès internationaux En 1914, Paris fait ainsi figure de pionnière sur ces questions, tout en conservant un retard relatif par rapport aux autres capitales européennes. / France's Sanitary and social action policies originate in the XIXth century. In its capital city Paris, these policies also develop through its municipal councillors and mayors. Few academic works focus on these elected officials, though they have a key part in creating these micro-local public policies. The urban bourgeoisie makes up for a large part of the town and district councils, so it's not surprising many of them and their close families providing the Parisians with some relief through philantropy and charity. The Emperor leads the first health and social policies through its Second Empire's few successes and many failures. From 1871, the rises of hygienist theories and 1870's defeat to Prussian armies heavily influence the young Third Republic. This urges the town's elected officials to get involved personally, and leads to the first municipal health and social services, while they do their part in popular education. The capital also gets inspiration from european experiments such as universal expositions and international hygiene conventions. At the dawn of the first World War, Paris is both France's example and leade, while being relatively late compared to other european capital cities.