In 1993, Sweden instituted the Sámi Parliament (Sámediggi) as a state agency with the main purpose of representing the indigenous Sámi people externally, as well as monitoring internal cultural affairs, governed by a popularly elected assembly. In the absence of official statistics on the Sámi population, or any formally recognized approaches to define who should count as Sámi, one of the challenging tasks was to create an accurate register of all those who would be eligible to take part in the elections. The idea was to design an electoral roll that would be normatively neutral and have no other functions beyond its core function of being a list of eligible voters, a concept that had already been put in use during the previous initiations of the Sámi Parliaments in Norway and Finland. Previous research from similar contexts, most prominently Norway, shows that electoral rolls of this sort might be attributed other functions by indigenous populations, especially in the absence of other formal devices that can be used to confirm their indigenous identity. It appears that the electoral roll might, under certain circumstances, assume an important and far-reaching role in indigenous institution building. In Sweden, however, similar research is missing. In this study, I examine perceptions within the indigenous Sámi community regarding the central functions of the electoral roll using a constructivist, discourse-theoretic approach. A systematic mapping out of the discourse surrounding the electoral roll, as reflected in public records from within the political sphere of the Sámi Parliament and relevant accounts in Sámi media, reveals that the electoral roll is attributed functions by the Sámi population that go far beyond its original, formalistic design. The act of formally defining a people, regardless of the limitations of the purpose, can seemingly cause unintended and far-reaching consequences, especially when the people itself does not control the definition. The analysis shows a fundamental conflict regarding the competing functions of the electoral roll as both an instrument of representation and a mechanism of identity validation. This influences the power structures between the Sámi people and the Swedish state as well as within the people itself, and affects the ability of the Sámi Parliament to gain legitimacy as an indigenous institution and instrument of self-determination.

The thesis examines a phenomenon of small political parties in the Czech Republic in the period since 1998 until now. It reveals their position in the Czech party system, their potential to survive in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and examines their chances of being a relevant coalition partner. The thesis is divided into 6 parts. An introduction opens the issue of small political parties. In the first chapter there is an identification of small political parties acting in the Czech political system. It focuses on their formation and development, their participation in elections, entering the Chamber of Deputies, prospective coalition cooperation and their current activity without any representation within the Parliament. In the next chapter the theses examines electoral systems and their key variables in regards to small political parties by using a concrete example of the election mechanism used for the Czech Chamber of Deputies. The question of election reform is raised together with revealing the key points of a relevant academic and public discussion. The last chapter examines the relationship among small political parties and media in regards to the key moments of election campaigns for the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament. The hypothesis stated in...

The purpose of this thesis is to explore whether the drop in voter turnout between the 2009 and 2014 European Parliament elections, as well as the general apathy toward the politics of the European Union, in the Czech Republic was contributed to by the mass media. Specifically, this thesis will examine the two most read daily newspapers of both 2009 and 2014, Blesk and Mladá Fronta Dnes, and analyze its articles with the use of search words in order to assess whether any change occurred in the way the European Union, its policies and institutions, were presented immediately prior to the 2009 and 2014 European Parliament elections. This will be achieved through the use of content analysis, both quantitative and qualitative, while evaluating the articles in comparative fashion. The thesis will argue that, given the essential role of the media as intermediary between the world of politics and the electorate, the portrayal, or lack thereof, of the European Union is a factor in explaining the electoral dynamics of the country. Key Words: voter turnout; European Parliament elections; mass media; electoral apathy Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The thesis "Proposals to amend the electoral and political system in contemporary Czech public debate" examines proposals presented by different types of entities who are trying to rectify the Czech policy. The current political scene is struggling with problems such as corruption, bribery and government instability. Such a situation leads to dissatisfaction with politicians and it may ultimately lead to their alienation. The starting point is to reform the policy and restore the confidence of citizens and their interest in public affairs. The aim of this paper is to describe what proposals dominate the current debate on the amendment of the Czech electoral system and in many cases can lead to a change of the political system. The thesis is divided into four thematic sections. The first, theoretical part briefly introduces the concept of democracy, individual elements of direct democracy and the typology of political systems. In addition, there are information about the Czech constitutional order and the development of the electoral system in the Czech Republic. Other three chapters deal with those proposals, which are divided according to the type of the entity that proposed them. This is a set of proposals by entities established by power and relevant political parties; smaller political...

Democratic representation is crucial in a representative democracy. To elect representatives there are several different electoral systems. In the United Kingdom a majority system, the First past the post system, is used. This study aims to investigate how the First past the post system affects the democratic representation in the British parliament. Specifically, its focus is on how the democratic representation of the British political parties is affected.  This research is carried out by conducting a case study with the British parliament and the First past the post system as the studied case. The study is done by using textual analysis as the chosen method, where various texts are used as material to be able to reach a result.  The results showed several aspects of the First past the post system that affected the democratic representation regarding political parties. It suggested that theories such as Duverger’s law are applicable to the party representation in the British parliament, indicating that the First past the post system favours a two-party system where the representation of the other parties is flawed resulting in negatively skewed democratic representation.

This study aims to explore ideological profiles in local parties’ electoral manifestos. Through qualitative content analysis, three profiles, redistributive, developmental, and political discontent-oriented are investigated in local parties’ electoral manifestos in the case of Norrbotten. One of the main findings shows that the political discontent-oriented profile occurs to a lesser extent in comparison with the other profiles. Instead, many of the manifestos convey concerns relating to their municipality’s persistence. Local parties in Norrbotten tend to endorse new establishments of companies and industries in their manifestos. When expressing political discontent, the electoral manifestos often focus on distancing themselves from ideology-oriented politics while claiming to be a pragmatic alternative. Some manifesto also expresses the need to prioritize vulnerable groups in the municipality, especially the Sami people, senior citizens, and rural communities within the municipality.

[pt] Projetos de infraestrutura pública, como estradas e escolas, são considerados propulsores do desenvolvimento. No entanto, democracias em desenvolvimento falham sistematicamente em fornecer esses investimentos, e projetos semi-acabados são um problema comum. Usando um novo banco de dados com mais de 75.000 pequenos projetos de desenvolvimento no Brasil, estimamos que mais de 40 por cento dos projetos iniciados nunca são concluídos. Empregando um design de regressão em descontinuidade em eleições acirradas de prefeituras brasileiras, descobrimos que a alternância partidária afeta negativamente a entrega de projetos herdados em uma fase de construção, enquanto causa respostas positivas na entrega de projetos mais recentes. Argumentamos que nossos resultados são consistentes com uma teoria que vincula a não conclusão de projetos a incentivos eleitorais, em que as ineficiências na entrega de projetos são motivadas por uma dinâmica de reivindicação de crédito que desestimula a conclusão de obras herdadas da oposição. Nossas resultados destacam a importância de isolar políticas públicas do processo eleitoral na política local. / [en] Public infrastructure projects like roads and schools have been regarded as drivers of development, yet developing democracies systematically fail to deliver such investments, and half-finished projects are a common issue. Using a novel database of over 75,000 small development projects in Brazil, we estimate that more than 40 per cent of projects that start are never completed. Employing a close races regression discontinuity design on Brazilian mayoral elections, we find that turnover negatively impacts the delivery of projects inherited in a construction stage, while causes positive responses on the delivery of more recent projects. We argue that our results are consistent with a theory linking project non-conclusion to electoral incentives, where inefficiencies on project procurement are driven by a credit-claim dynamics that disincentives the conclusion of works inherited from the opposition. Our findings highlight the importance of insulating policies from the electoral process in local politics.

El presente trabajo explora las atribuciones causales de éxito electoral en los integrantes del Frente Amplio (FA) durante las elecciones generales. Para esto se realizaron entrevistas a profundidad con 9 miembros de la coalición. Se identifican cuatro grandes grupos explicativos para el éxito: causas vinculadas a la organización política, a la candidata presidencial, a elementos en la coyuntura política y a la población. Estos bloques de sentido se analizaron y categorizaron de acuerdo al modelo tridimensional, el cual contempla la ubicación, el control y la estabilidad como dimensiones independientes y complementarias. La sistematización de la información recopilada permite afirmar que el enfoque teórico de Bernard Weiner ayuda a comprender los fenómenos políticos a nivel psicológico, puesto que brinda una aproximación cognitiva, emocional y volitiva del problema. / This paper explores the causal attributions of electoral success in FA members during the general elections of 2016. In-depth interviews were conducted with 9 coalition members. Four major groups are identified for success: causes linked to the political organization, the presidential candidacy, elements in the political situation and the population. These blocks of meaning were analyzed and categorized according to the three-dimensional model, which contemplates location, control and stability as independent and complementary dimensions. The systematization of the collected information allows affirming that the theoretical approach of Bernard Weiner helps to understand the political phenomena at the psychological level, since it provides a cognitive, emotional and volitive approach of the problem.

En este trabajo se busca reflexionar sobre el diseño del Jurado Nacional de Elecciones. En particular, nos concentramos en los casos de las apelaciones de las decisiones del Registro de Organizaciones Políticas, las cuales serán conocidas en últimas y definitiva instancia por el Pleno del Jurado Nacional de Elecciones. El estudio realizado nos ha permitido corroborar que no existe una adecuada identificación y distribución de las funciones encomendadas al Jurado Nacional de Elecciones. Así pues, muchas de sus funciones, dada su naturaleza administrativa, deberían ser asignadas a la Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales. En ese sentido, resulta necesario pensar en un rediseño de nuestro sistema electoral. Por otro lado, el análisis desarrollado nos permite afirmar que el contenido mínimo de la garantía a la pluralidad de instancias reconocido en el numeral 6 del art. 139 de la Constitución impone la exigencia de que todo proceso seguido ante la jurisdicción electoral prevea dos instancias. Sin embargo, ello no se cumple en el caso de las decisiones del Pleno del JNE sobre los cuestionamientos a las decisiones del ROP, pues solamente se encontraría prevista una única instancia que emite decisiones irrevisables. Siendo ello así, concluimos que el diseño del sistema de impugnaciones del Jurado Nacional de Elecciones vulnera abiertamente la garantía a la pluralidad de instancias que inspira todo ejercicio de la potestad jurisdiccional, por lo cual debe ser revisado.

Physical design for testability (PDFT) is a strategy to design circuits in a way to avoid or reduce realistic physical faults. The goal of this work is to define and establish a speci c methodology for PDFT. The proposed design methodology includes techniques to reduce potential bridging faults in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits. To compare faults, the design process utilizes a new parameter called the fault index. The fault index for a particular fault is the probability of occurrence of the fault divided by the testability of the fault. Faults with the highest fault indices are considered the worst faults and are targeted by the PDFT design process to eliminate them or reduce their probability of occurrence. An implementation of the PDFT design process is constructed using several new tools in addition to other "off-the-shelf" tools. The first tool developed in this work is a testability measure tool for bridging faults. Two other tools are developed to eliminate or reduce the probability of occurrence of bridging faults with high fault indices. The row enhancer targets faults inside the logic elements of the circuit, while the channel enhancer targets faults inside the routing part of the circuit. To demonstrate the capabilities and test the eff ectiveness of the PDFT design process, this work conducts an experiment which includes designing three CMOS circuits from the ISCAS 1985 benchmark circuits. Several layouts are generated for every circuit. Every layout, except the rst one, utilizes information from the previous layout to minimize the probability of occurrence for faults with high fault indices. Experimental results show that the PDFT design process successfully achieves two goals of PDFT, providing layouts with fewer faults and minimizing the probability of occurrence of hard-to-test faults. Improvement in the total fault index was about 40 percent in some cases, while improvement in total critical area was about 30 percent in some cases. However, virtually all the improvements came from using the row enhancer; the channel enhancer provided only marginal improvements. / Ph. D.