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Voter participation among Saskatchewans citizens has decreased in both federal and provincial elections, especially in the past decade or so, and especially among 18-24 year olds. Provincially, turnout has fallen almost 20 percentage points over a four-year period. Saskatchewan voter turnout in federal elections has fallen almost 15 percentage points in a similar time period. The purpose of this thesis is to uncover potential factors that might help to explain why turnout has decreased so markedly. Though a number of factors exist to explain why fewer citizens are participating on election day, this thesis has worked to seek out the explanation in two forms. First, taking into account the civic literacy theory of Henry Milner, this thesis has examined Saskatchewans junior and senior high school curricula in an effort to find changes in the way civics has been taught. Marked changes have iv been found, and differences in the prescribed teaching of civics throughout the years point to the possibility that the way in which civics is taught to students may have an effect on whether they feel a duty or obligation to vote. Second, this thesis has, following the social capital theory of Robert Putnam, concluded through a brief survey of membership numbers in a small number of community and volunteer organizations as well as church attendance and volunteer levels that community involvement may also be a factor in deciding whether to vote. This thesis has concluded that more, duty-oriented civic education is needed in Saskatchewans junior and senior high schools in order to ensure that students leaving the education system feel an obligation to participate on election day and in the community more than they are presently.

Voter participation among Saskatchewans citizens has decreased in both federal and provincial elections, especially in the past decade or so, and especially among 18-24 year olds. Provincially, turnout has fallen almost 20 percentage points over a four-year period. Saskatchewan voter turnout in federal elections has fallen almost 15 percentage points in a similar time period. The purpose of this thesis is to uncover potential factors that might help to explain why turnout has decreased so markedly. Though a number of factors exist to explain why fewer citizens are participating on election day, this thesis has worked to seek out the explanation in two forms. First, taking into account the civic literacy theory of Henry Milner, this thesis has examined Saskatchewans junior and senior high school curricula in an effort to find changes in the way civics has been taught. Marked changes have iv been found, and differences in the prescribed teaching of civics throughout the years point to the possibility that the way in which civics is taught to students may have an effect on whether they feel a duty or obligation to vote. Second, this thesis has, following the social capital theory of Robert Putnam, concluded through a brief survey of membership numbers in a small number of community and volunteer organizations as well as church attendance and volunteer levels that community involvement may also be a factor in deciding whether to vote. This thesis has concluded that more, duty-oriented civic education is needed in Saskatchewans junior and senior high schools in order to ensure that students leaving the education system feel an obligation to participate on election day and in the community more than they are presently.

The matter of a gender gap in electoral participation is a fact in many parts of the world but has mostly been investigated by, and studied within, the Global North. In spite of this, scholars have not reached an undisputed conclusion for why this is. Scholars have argued for the importance of studying the institutions and systems composing voting in order to explain electoral participation, especially since the form and degree of direct influence of voters are differing within different electoral systems. Relying on the rational voter hypothesis in combination with feminist theory this thesis suggests that women have different experiences of civic duty and influence, and therefore participate in elections to a lesser extent than men. The main results suggest that presidentialism, to an extent which is neither statistically nor practically significant, decrease women’s electoral participation while majoritarian electoral rules seem to have an even smaller, but similar, effect. Testing electoral systems’ effect on the gender gap, statistically significant results points to the fact that presidentialism increases the gender gap in electoral participation. Majoritarian electoral rules do too increase the gender gap, but to a more restricted extent. This thesis concludes that electoral systems do have a gendered effect on electoral participation and that these effects need to be further investigated by future research.

The purpose of the study is to investigate 8th grade Turkish students&rsquo / perceptions towards civic concepts and issues like good citizenship, government responsibilities and women&rsquo / s political and social rights and to determine the factors affecting their intentions to participate in electoral, political and civic activities. In order to achieve this aim, a nation-wide survey was conducted with a sample of 2497 students from 60 schools in 21 provinces. The questionnaire developed by International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) on civic education was adapted and used as the data collection instrument. The data obtained from the sample were analyzed through both descriptive (mean, frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics (ANOVA, Hierarchical Multiple Regression). The results revealed that students value both conventional and social movement citizenship activities to be a good citizen. However, although they plan to participate in electoral and civic activities, more than half of them do not plan to participate in political activities such as joining a party, being a candidate for a local office. Moreover, it was found that the variances in students&rsquo / intentions to participate in electoral, political and civic activities were explained by students&rsquo / background characteristics, their media consumption habits, their discussion practices and discussion environment in classrooms, curricular and extracurricular experiences and finally by their perceptions of good citizenship and participation in school. Findings were discussed around relevant literature both in Turkey and abroad.

The democratic deficit in the U.S. becomes strikingly evident as statistics show that only half of the population actually votes in elections. Seeing that many who do not participate in the electoral processes are also generally members of socially marginalized groups then this is an increasing social issue. The effects of this become deepening socio-economic inequalities, greater marginalization and a weakened democracy. This study argues that social workers can contribute to solve this democratic deficit by using social work to reach and include socially marginalized groups in the democratic process of electoral participation. Focusing specifically on San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, I have used qualitative method to interview representatives from non-profit organizations that provide different kind of social service and academic professors from the disciplines of Social Work and Political Science in order to investigate how social work can include marginalized non-voting groups in the electoral process. The result is analyzed together with a theoretical framework built from research on democracy, welfare research, empowerment theory and theories on community practice. The findings show that social work has an important role in creating belonging among these marginalized groups and to bring them into the political process by using social mobilizing and advocacy social work with an empowerment perspective.

Le travail de thèse s’articule autour de trois chapitres.Le premier chapitre « Electoral Institutions and Political Polarization: An Experiment on Approval Voting in Benin » s’intéresse au rôle des institutions politiques dans la division des sociétés africaines. L’idée principale étant que les institutions politiques pourraient influencer la formation des groupes à l’intérieur des sociétés. Certains systèmes de vote (pluralité, système majoritaire) par leur règle tendent à forcer les électeurs à choisir un camp et pourraient potentiellement conduire à des divisions sociales, ethniques ou religieuses. Les autres règles de vote qui permettent aux électeurs de voter plusieurs candidats à la fois, devraient en théorie éviter ces inconvénients, et ainsi aboutir à une moins grande polarisation politique. Ce chapitre fournit des preuves expérimentales de cette théorie. Nos données proviennent d'une expérience sur le vote d'approbation qui a eu lieu lors de l'élection présidentielle de 2011 au Bénin, un pays démocratique d’Afrique occidentale, multi-ethnique avec un paysage politique caractérisé par une forte fracture nord-sud au niveau sociale et politique. En parallèle au vote officiel (scrutin majoritaire), nous avons proposé le vote par approbation aux électeurs, dont règle leur permet de voter pour plusieurs candidats à la fois. Les résultats montrent que ce système de vote augmente le score de plusieurs candidats consensuels. Nous avons également trouvé que le vote ethnique ne disparait pas et pourrait même augmenter. Dans le chapitre 2 « L’impact du clientélisme électoral: Analyse d’une expérience de laboratoire », nous nous intéressons au clientélisme, son lien avec la modernisation et son impact sur les résultats des élections. Nous avons effectués des expériences de laboratoires dans deux endroits différents (France et Burkina Faso). Les résultats obtenus montrent un effet significatif des campagnes d’achat de vote et de promesses électorales sur le score des candidats dans les deux pays. Mais les campagnes clientélistes sont plus efficaces en Afrique car ils permettent l’élection du candidat clientéliste. Le troisième et dernier chapitre « Quels sont les facteurs qui influencent le consentement à l’impôt en Afrique du Sud Sahara : Une analyse empirique avec des données d’enquêtes d’opinion», fournit une analyse des facteurs déterminant le consentement à payer la taxe des citoyens en Afrique du sud Sahara. En utilisant les données de 29 pays, nous avons montré que la qualité des services publiques, le milieu de résidence, le niveau d’éducation, la confiance aux institutions, la transparence du système fiscal sont des facteurs important dans les décisions des citoyens de consentir à payer la taxe. Nous avions également montré que la présence de ressources naturelle dans un pays, ainsi que le nombre d’habitant dans un pays jouent un rôle dans le consentement à payer la taxes des citoyens. Aussi l’importance accordé aux facteurs déterminant est différent selon la particularité des pays (peuplé ou pas, possédant ou pas des ressources naturelles). / This work is organized in three (3) chapters. the first chapter, « Electoral Institutions and Political Polarization: An Experiment on Approval Voting in Benin » coauthored with J-F Laslier, K.Van Der Straten and L. Wantchekon, focus on the institutions ‘s goal in the division of societies. The main idea is that political institutions can shape political preferences and influence the formation of groups within societies. Some system such Simple plurality and runoff majoritarian voting systems tend to force voters to “choose sides,” potentially exacerbating political, social, ethnic, or religious divisions. Voting rules that allow voters to simultaneously select several candidates should, in theory, avoid these drawbacks, and might thus lead to less polarized political outcomes. This chapter provides experimental evidence in support of this insight. Our data originates from an experiment on Approval Voting that took place during the 2011 presidential election in Benin, a democratic, multi-ethnic country in western Africa, with a political landscape characterized by a strong social and political north-south divide. In contrast to the official runoff rule used in Benin for this presidential election, we proposed Approval Voting to voters, whereby they can vote simultaneously for several candidates. We find that this electoral institution leads to an increase in the overall support for more consensual candidates. We also find that, under Approval Voting, like under Proportional Representation systems, ethnic voting does not disappear, and might even increase. The second chapter continue in the logic of voting motivation by doing some laboratory experiment about electoral clientelism. We focus on the vote buying and electoral promises. We wanted to show the impact on electoral clientelism on the election outcome in one way and in the second way, see if there is a link between modernization and clientelism. We did experiment in two different places (Burkina Faso and France) show that the impact of electoral clientelism is more relevant in Africa countries than in developed countries. The third chapter investigates on tax compliance in Africa by using data from about 29 African countries. The goal is to analyze the citizens’s behaviors when they have to contribute to public funding by paying tax. We want to know which factors may motivate people have a compliance attitude with tax. The main contribution of this research is the effect of country population and the existence of natural resources. We found that citizens living in countries with natural resources are less willing to pay taxes than citizens living in countries without natural resources. Also, we showed that the population matters. Indeed, in the most populated countries, fraud is higher than less popular countries. We then establish for each group of countries the factors for which they should act to have a tax compliance of their citizens. This can help countries to have a great public finance and become more independent from foreign aid.

Migration is not a new phenomenon, although last decades of migration and the reasons behind why people migrate might differ from previous years. This has brought a problem to light, a problem which might put the whole legitimacy aspect of representative democracy out of play. Studies have shown that immigrants in different places around have less activity in electoral participation compared to native citizens. Recently researchers and theorists with Ann Phillips being the front figure of politics of presence, have argued for descriptive representation to increase the electoral participation among immigrants. Thus, this study aims to examine the relation of electoral participation among immigrants and the descriptive representation of immigrants in municipal level by implementing a comparative case study. Furthermore, this study examines what existing literature presents as evidence which can explain the results found in the comparative case study. This study finds that although there is a correlation between descriptive representation and voter turnout among immigrants, it cannot alone explain the difference in the variation found. The results of the case study show a variety of answers that explains the variation of electoral participation. Ranging from politics, citizenship, and native country as an answer, to descriptive representation. In conclusion the results of the scoping study finds that substantial representation as an answer is rarely found in research papers, and that further studies need to take that factor in the calculation when examining which reasons might lie behind promoting immigrants’ electoral participation.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-05-16T17:49:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 alessandrasoaresmunizgomes.pdf: 2502292 bytes, checksum: 91e6ceb8456fb40c9a518e280c88d812 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-05-17T16:18:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 alessandrasoaresmunizgomes.pdf: 2502292 bytes, checksum: 91e6ceb8456fb40c9a518e280c88d812 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-17T16:18:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 alessandrasoaresmunizgomes.pdf: 2502292 bytes, checksum: 91e6ceb8456fb40c9a518e280c88d812 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-24 / A presente pesquisa procurou estudar, através de revisão bibliográfica e entrevistas com profissionais de comunicação e deputadas federais, de que forma as mulheres inseridas nos espaços da política partidária e eleitoral negociam com a representação feita delas nos meios de comunicação, ao reconhecerem os mesmos como importantes definidores de identidades. Levando em consideração a relevância crescente dos meios de comunicação para a visibilidade de candidatas e candidatos, a sub-representação da mulher na mídia e os estereótipos veiculados, foi possível observar que o conceito de “crise de identidade” parece não se aplicar a essa relação. / The present research has studied, through literature review, and interviews with media professionals, and congresswomen, how do the women inserted inside the political party and electoral policy, negotiate with their representation in the mass media, when they acknowledge them as important identities definition. Considering the increasing relevance of the media that gives candidates more visibility, the woman sub representation in the media and the sterotypes transmitted, it was possible to observe that the concept of "identity crisis" seems is not to apply to this relation.

"Elections form a key component of democratic governance. Democracy denotes a political system that, among other things, allows citizens to freely choose their government over time through credible, legitimate and acceptable elections; a system which accords them adequate participation in national affairs and a system in which the national affairs are run in a transparent and accountable manner. Democracy as a concept rests upon the consideration that a political leadership in a country must be chosen through an electon governed by fair rules under which social groups and political forces may compete on equal terms. Research has shown that HIV and AIDS may have adverse effects on democracy in Southern Africa. Electoral systems, voter participation, electoral management and administration and political institutions are among the areas of democratisation most affected by HIV/AIDS. ... Chapter one introduces the topic, the research questions to be answered by the research and the research methodology. It also contains a brief literature survey of the research on this topic so far. Chapter two sets out the legal framweork, it gives an analysis of states obligations to ensure political participation based on international and regional standards. The rights of HIV/AIDS infected and affected persons to participate in government and the meaning of [the] right to vote is discussed. The application of the international law obligations to promote and fulfill [uman rights] are discussed and the question 'Do governments have a duty to set up special mechanisms to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic within the electoral context?' is answered. Chapter three is an examination of the relationship between HIV/AIDS and political participation. A brief overview of current electoral statistics and statistics of the trend of the HIV/AIDS pandemic are given. The chapter examines the possible reasons for lack of participation by HIV/AIDS infected and affected persons. Chapter four is a critical analysis of some responses that can be adopted to address the situation. It focuses on mechanical and structural reforms to the electoral process: amending electoral laws and policies to include postal, proxy and other special voting mechanisms; providing for specific legal obligations, for example to have mobile registration and polling stations, to ensure that there is a polling station within a specific distance so that people do not have to walk far and stand in long queues in order to vote. The failure to meet such obligations must have specific legal consequences. Chapter five suggests a more controversial reform of lowering the voting age to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on democracy and children. Chapter six [includes the] conclusion and recommendations." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Naz K. Modirzadeh at the Department of Law, American University in Cairo, Egypt / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM