La presente investigación proviene del interés de un comunicador que busca especializarse en el corto plazo en comunicación política, luego de haberlo hecho en la construcción de identidad y manejo de marcas en redes sociales. Por ello, el análisis de uno de los nuevos medios con mayor movimiento y en el que se centra mucha atención sobre su dinámica y efectividad por parte de publicistas y politólogos, es sumamente relevante para el desarrollo de futuras estrategias de comunicación en campañas electorales y de gobierno.

A partir des trajectoires Béninoises et Tchadiennes, cette thèse vise à faire la démonstration qu’il existe une volonté des acteurs politiques pour consolider la démocratie à travers l’existence du contentieux électoral. Cette volonté s’est traduite par l’érection des mécanismes normatifs et institutionnels en charge de gérer les conflits électoraux issus des élections plurielles, libres et acceptables tenues jusque-Là. Mais la mise en œuvre du contentieux électoral a révélé des limites. Au titre normatif, les limites visent les lacunes contenues dans les lois électorales (imprécision des lois, inflation législative, l’inexistence de fichier électoral crédible, méconnaissance de la loi électorale, etc). Au niveau institutionnel, elles pointent les dysfonctionnements des institutions en charges du contentieux électoral (articulation des compétences, la forte politisation, installation tardive, déficit d’autonomie fonctionnelle et financière).Par ailleurs, la thèse pointe la nécessite qu’il y a pour le Bénin et le Tchad de disposer d’un système de fichier électoral fiable et sécuriser, de constitutionnaliser les commissions électorales, d’œuvre pour l’éducation citoyenne afin de rendre plus dynamique l’apport du contentieux électoral dans la consolidation démocratique. / From Benin and Chad trajectories, this thesis aims to demonstrate that there is a willingness of politicians to consolidate democracy through the existence of electoral disputes. This commitment has resulted in the erection of the normative and institutional mechanisms loads manage electoral disputes arising pluralistic, free and acceptable elections held so far. But the implementation of electoral disputes revealed limitations.Under normative, limits are designed for the gaps contained in the electoral laws (imprecise laws, legislative inflation, lack of credible electoral register, ignorance of the electoral law, etc). Institutionally, they point dysfunctional institutions in charge of electoral disputes (coordination skills, high political involvement, late starting, and lack of functional and financial autonomy). Moreover, the thesis points out the need for Benin and Chad to have a reliable and secure voter registration system, to constitutionalize the electoral boards and contractors for civic education in order to make it more dynamic the contribution of electoral disputes in democratic consolidation.

The Republic of South Africa entered into a new constitutional dispensation in 1994. As part of this new constitutional dispensation, a new electoral system, i.e. the closed-list proportional representative electoral system, was adopted. This electoral system was accepted for elections on a national level of representatives for the National Assembly and has certain advantages and disadvantages. Some political scientists, political parties and opinion formers are of the opinion that this electoral system brings about poor contact between the representatives in the National Assembly (Parliament) and the voters. Critics are also of the opinion that party leaders obtain too much power within this electoral system, in that the parties appoint candidates to the candidate lists. In elections, voters vote for specific political parties and therefore do not have a choice with regard to who their representatives are. The result is that South Africa adheres to the representative aspect of democracy, but is lacking with regard to the accounting of representatives to voters. The legitimacy of Parliament is impaired by this defect. The aim of this study is to provide a critical analysis and investigate alternative frameworks of the South African electoral system and its functioning on a national level. In the analysis it is determined to what extent the South African electoral system meets the criteria set for an electoral system to ensure the legitimacy of Parliament, a sustainable representative democracy and an accountable government in the long term in the country. This analysis and evaluation was used to determine whether the existing closed-list proportional representative electoral system is the most suitable electoral system for South Africa and, if not, to identify and analyse an alternative electoral system for South Africa. The analysis entails a literature overview analysis of electoral systems. From the study it appears that modern democracies use a wide variety of different electoral systems. There is consensus that no single best electoral system exists which could be used by all countries, since every country has its distinctive circumstances and an electoral system’s functioning and outcomes are affected by it. In this study, twelve different electoral systems are identified with specific advantages and disadvantages. Criteria were set with which electoral systems had to comply in order to promote democracy and ensure the legitimacy of Parliament. These criteria require that electoral systems have to promote and ensure broad representation, accessible and meaningful elections, reconciliation, stable and effective government, accountability of government, accountability of representatives, promotion of political parties, opposition and oversight, sustainability of the electoral process, and international standards. The listed criteria were placed in order of priority according to those which are the most important in the current South African circumstances. In accordance with this, an evaluation model was drawn up which was quantified in order to calculate the extent to which every electoral system met the requirements and priority order. In determining the order of priority of the requirements in the criteria, the historical circumstances of South Africa, of discord, conflict, racial hatred, riots and suspicion between races, were taken into account. When applying the evaluation model to the twelve different electoral systems, it was found that the current closed-list proportional representative electoral system is the most suitable electoral system for South Africa and should be retained. In terms of the criticism of the current electoral system, the conclusion drawn is that electoral systems cannot ensure the measure of accountability of representatives. It is ensured by the internal rules and discipline of the political parties they represent. The contribution of electoral systems to the accountability of representatives is to ensure that voters have a choice between more than one candidate, or more than one political party at a following election. Furthermore, electoral systems also do not appoint candidates in an election; the respective political parties appoint them. In any appointment of candidates, the leadership and party bureaucracy will play a specific role, regardless of the type of electoral system. / Thesis (PhD (Political Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The Republic of South Africa entered into a new constitutional dispensation in 1994. As part of this new constitutional dispensation, a new electoral system, i.e. the closed-list proportional representative electoral system, was adopted. This electoral system was accepted for elections on a national level of representatives for the National Assembly and has certain advantages and disadvantages. Some political scientists, political parties and opinion formers are of the opinion that this electoral system brings about poor contact between the representatives in the National Assembly (Parliament) and the voters. Critics are also of the opinion that party leaders obtain too much power within this electoral system, in that the parties appoint candidates to the candidate lists. In elections, voters vote for specific political parties and therefore do not have a choice with regard to who their representatives are. The result is that South Africa adheres to the representative aspect of democracy, but is lacking with regard to the accounting of representatives to voters. The legitimacy of Parliament is impaired by this defect. The aim of this study is to provide a critical analysis and investigate alternative frameworks of the South African electoral system and its functioning on a national level. In the analysis it is determined to what extent the South African electoral system meets the criteria set for an electoral system to ensure the legitimacy of Parliament, a sustainable representative democracy and an accountable government in the long term in the country. This analysis and evaluation was used to determine whether the existing closed-list proportional representative electoral system is the most suitable electoral system for South Africa and, if not, to identify and analyse an alternative electoral system for South Africa. The analysis entails a literature overview analysis of electoral systems. From the study it appears that modern democracies use a wide variety of different electoral systems. There is consensus that no single best electoral system exists which could be used by all countries, since every country has its distinctive circumstances and an electoral system’s functioning and outcomes are affected by it. In this study, twelve different electoral systems are identified with specific advantages and disadvantages. Criteria were set with which electoral systems had to comply in order to promote democracy and ensure the legitimacy of Parliament. These criteria require that electoral systems have to promote and ensure broad representation, accessible and meaningful elections, reconciliation, stable and effective government, accountability of government, accountability of representatives, promotion of political parties, opposition and oversight, sustainability of the electoral process, and international standards. The listed criteria were placed in order of priority according to those which are the most important in the current South African circumstances. In accordance with this, an evaluation model was drawn up which was quantified in order to calculate the extent to which every electoral system met the requirements and priority order. In determining the order of priority of the requirements in the criteria, the historical circumstances of South Africa, of discord, conflict, racial hatred, riots and suspicion between races, were taken into account. When applying the evaluation model to the twelve different electoral systems, it was found that the current closed-list proportional representative electoral system is the most suitable electoral system for South Africa and should be retained. In terms of the criticism of the current electoral system, the conclusion drawn is that electoral systems cannot ensure the measure of accountability of representatives. It is ensured by the internal rules and discipline of the political parties they represent. The contribution of electoral systems to the accountability of representatives is to ensure that voters have a choice between more than one candidate, or more than one political party at a following election. Furthermore, electoral systems also do not appoint candidates in an election; the respective political parties appoint them. In any appointment of candidates, the leadership and party bureaucracy will play a specific role, regardless of the type of electoral system. / Thesis (PhD (Political Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Discussion of changes in the electoral system to the Senate of the Czech Republic The diploma thesis deals with the discussion of changes in the electoral system for the Senate. The work reflects draft laws to change the electoral system in the Senate from the past, interviews with representatives of political parties represented in both chambers of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Furthermore, interviews with experts in the field of constitutional law and political science. The various proposals were analyzed and their principle and effects explained. The last part formulates the overall outputs of political parties and movements, experts and the opinion of the author of the diploma thesis. Key words: Senate, electoral systems, political system, constitutional system, change of electoral system, majority electoral systems, Czech Republic, parliament.

This study investigated the perceptions of election stakeholders with regard to the management of the 2011 electoral processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The involvement of civil society organizations, electoral experts and academia, including party agents as domestic observers and stakeholders in Congolese electoral processes, is crucial as they help electoral and participatory democracy to take root in the DRC. This study was underpinned by political trust, political support and neopatrimonial theories. Furthermore, a mixed methods research design was used in order to understand the perceptions of stakeholders on the management of the 2011 electoral processes in the DRC. The findings of the study showed that stakeholders‟ perceptions on the management of the 2011 electoral processes in the DRC were driven by both internal and external factors pertaining to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that have the potential to affect the electoral processes as well as the level of trust in the INEC and other institutions involved in the electoral processes. / Political Sciences / M.A. (Politics)

Countries with proportional representation are increasingly introducing an electoral threshold to stop smaller parties from entering their parliaments. In this paper, I’m focusing on the  proportional electoral system and mainly why some countries choose to impose a barrier to their parliaments and others do not. First I did a survey to see which countries that are using it and after that I decided to do three case studies including: Sweden, The Netherlands and Turkey. I used Carles Boix theory on proportional electoral systems. The main variable in his theory is that the “threat” from the social democratic parties has an affect on the enforcement of a PRsystem. I wanted to examine whether it was possible to apply this theory on the implementation of thresholds. Finally, it is possible to conclude that Boix theory can be used even when studying the emergence of electoral barriers. Boix theory suggests that any "threat" from new parties makes the old, larger and established parties or other government organizations want to impose a threshold to secure their positions. This was the case in Sweden and in Turkey. In countries where this situation does not exist, it seems to be no need for an electoral barrier, as shown in the Netherlands.

This research both develops new methods and expands upon existing methodologies in order to improve our understanding of voting patterns and party competition in Britain. The thesis comprises five sections, each of which relates to a particular research focus. The first and principal section describes the process of determining a new method for decomposing electoral bias for three-party competition under simple plurality rules of voting. The study of electoral bias is important for voting systems that requires periodic boundary reviews intended to equalise electorate and to remove malapportionment. These papers describe both the process for developing the threeparty bias method and later its application to UK general elections from 1983 onwards. The second section uses aggregate data gathered for the elections to the Greater London Authority in order to understand the patterns of electoral support across the capital, particularly support for minor parties. A considerable amount of research effort has been expended upon providing reliable models for electoral forecasting both in the UK and elsewhere. The third section includes a paper that develops a forecast model that utilises aggregate local election data to estimate national vote shares for the three main parties in the UK. A fourth section brings together a series of papers that are linked by the themes of voter behaviour, either in terms of geographical or ballot context. A study of voter turnout in a London borough describes the relationship between proximity to polling station and electoral turnout at different types of election. A 8 number of papers included in this section also detail the effects of candidate ballot order on electoral support. The fifth and final section groups together two papers that using individual-level survey data to describe the pattern of candidate recruitment for local elections in Britain and, specifically, the under-recruitment of both women and Black, Asian and other minority ethnic candidates.

The Electoral College and Jacksonian Democracy are two subjects that have been studied extensively. Taken together, however, little has been written on how the method of choosing presidential electors during the Age of Jackson changed. Although many historians have written on the development of political parties and the increase in voter participation during this time, none have focused on how politicians sought to use the method of selecting electors to further party development in the country. Between 1824 and 1832 twelve states changed their methods of choosing electors. In almost every case, the reason for changing methods was largely political but was promoted in terms of advancing democracy. A careful study of the movement toward selecting electors on a general ticket shows that political considerations in terms of party and/or state power were much more important than promoting democratic ideals. Despite the presence of a few true reformers who consistently pushed for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing that all states used the same method, the conclusion must be that politics and party demanded a change. This study relies heavily on legislative records at both the state and national level and newspapers throughout t the country from the period. Beginning with a brief history of the office of the president and an overview of the presidential elections prior to 1824, the author then carefully analyzes the elections of 1824, 1828, and 1832, as well as the various efforts to amend the constitutional provisions dealing with the Electoral College. Particular emphasis is placed on political factions at the state level, the development of the Democratic and National Republican parties nationally, and how each party used and at time manipulated the electoral process to secure a favorable outcome for their candidates.

Party membership levels in the new democracies of central and east European were predicted to remain universally low, stymied by post-communist legacies, the availability of state funding and the prevalence of mass media communications (van Biezen, 2003; Kopecký, 2007). However, more than two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, membership levels vary considerably between countries, and also between individual parties within party systems. Using freshly gathered party membership data, elite surveys and interviews, this thesis explores a number of institutional hypotheses to test whether, as in western democracies, electoral institutions influence how parties organise and campaign. This thesis finds that national electoral systems, municipal electoral rules and business funding regulations have an observable impact on how parties use their members. In particular, 'decentralised' electoral systems encourage greater involvement of members in voter contacting and other small campaign tasks. This thesis concludes that, contrary to the dominant literature, the availability of state funding has little impact on party membership recruitment. Instead, central and east European parties' attitudes to members are shaped by a complex interaction of institutional, cultural, ideological and strategic factors.