Ao lado da liberdade de expressão, a Constituição de 1824 garantiu o direito da sociedade se fazer ouvir pelas autoridades: o Artigo 179, parágrafo 30 estabelece que todo o cidadão poderá apresentar por escrito ao Poder Legislativo e ao Executivo reclamações, queixas, ou petições. A presente dissertação tem por objetivo compreender como este direito constitucional foi utilizado pelos cidadãos brasileiros durante o período em que a ordem monárquica constitucional se consolidava no Brasil. Durante os primeiros anos do Segundo Reinado, diversos grupos comerciantes, médicos, advogados, manufatureiros, autoridades locais, padres, proprietários de terra, votantes, eleitores etc. estabeleceram uma relação direta com a elite política que moldava as instituições do Império. A análise das petições que chegaram à Câmara dos Deputados na década de 1840 e do debate parlamentar que nela se desenvolveu indica que importantes mudanças políticas do período como a reforma eleitoral, a aprovação do Código Comercial, a reforma judiciária foram influenciadas por setores da sociedade brasileira que se organizaram para exercer o direito de petição. Por intermédio da atividade peticionária, governantes e governados se integraram em um diálogo que permeou a resolução de alguns dos mais relevantes assuntos concernentes à realidade brasileira. Este diálogo fez do ideal do regime representativo algo tangível para diversos setores que compunham o pacto político nacional. / Together with the freedom of thought and speech, the Constitution of 1824 provided Brazilian society with the right to be heard by authorities: Article 179, Paragraph 30 states that all citizens will be able to present to the Legislative or the Executive Power written grievances, complaints, or petitions. This dissertation attempts to explore how this constitutional right was used by Brazilian citizens during the time that monarchical order was being consolidated. During the reign of D. Pedro 2nd, many groups, including businessmen, manufacturers, doctors, lawyers, local authorities, priests, landowners, voters, electors, and others, established a direct relation with the political elite responsible for molding the new institutions. The analysis of the petitions sent to the Chamber of Deputies by the 1840s and the parliamentary debate ensued provide an indication that important political changes of that period (i.e., electoral reform, approval of the Commercial Code, judicial reform) were influenced by the participation of certain sections of Brazilian society that were able to organize themselves and successfully use their right of petition. Mediated by such petitionary activity, governors and governed took part in a dialogue that led to the resolution of some of the most important issues concerning Brazilian reality. That dialogue made the ideal of representative government tangible to many groups that formed the prevailing national political landscape.

Abstract The topic of this thesis is electoral systems and electoral reform in Zambia. In Africa, democratization is on its way in many countries. However, the democratic upswing in the early 1990s was in most countries followed by a standstill. In recent years the tendency has been a renewal of democratization which makes it possible to reach new heights. As a part of this recent democratic progress questions regarding constitutional reform and electoral reform have been raised. It is within that context that this thesis has its setting. In search for the incentives behind electoral reform the purpose of this thesis revolves around what the consequences are of the current electoral system in Zambia. A complimentary purpose is how an electoral reform can take place and what it might result in. A qualitative literature study with a hermeneutic approach has been used in this thesis. A theoretical framework has been created which focuses on different types of electoral systems and their respective consequences on the political system. Important key points of electoral reform have been discussed to give an understanding and foundation for the analysis. The result of the study is that there are several negative consequences with the current electoral system in Zambia. The negative effects range from minority and gender marginalization, lacking representation, weak governments with lacking legitimacy and wasted votes. Some surprising positive traits include the absence of ethnic politization, from time to time a strong opposition and possibilities of coherent policing. It is also believed that there is a profound support for an electoral reform with in many levels of the country and there are. / Sammanfattning Denna uppsats tar sin start i valsystem och valreform i Zambia. Demokratisering är ett vanligt tema i Afrika och många länder är i full gång med att befästa sin nyvunna mark. Det demokratiska uppsving som kunde ses i början av 1900-talet följdes i många länder utav ett stillestånd i utvecklingen. På senare år har en tydlig tendens kunnat ses där demokratiseringen på nytt har tagit fart. Som en konsekvens av denna nytända demokratisering i Afrika har frågor kring valsystem, valreform och dess effekter på det politiska systemet börjat att cirkulera. Det är i det sammanhanget som uppsatsen finner sig. På uppdrag att finna vad som driver valreform, cirkulerar syftet med denna uppsats kring vilka konsekvenser det nutida valsystemet har i Zambia. Ett kompletterande syfte, eller frågeställning, för analysen vidare mot valreform och vilka utsikter som finns. En kvalitativ literaturstudie med en hermeneutisk ansats har använts i denna uppsatsen. Ett teoretiskt ramverk har skapats som fokuserar kring olika valsystem och deras respektive konsekvenser för det politiska systemet. Teorier kring valreform har också beskrivits och diskuterats fär att ge en förståelse och bakgrund till analysen. Slutsatsen för uppsatsen är att det finns många negativa kopplingar till valsystemet I Zambia. De tydligaste effekterna är att minoriteter och kvinnor blockeras från att delta i parlamentet, att svaga regeringar har funnits trots ett pluralistiskt valsystem som i sig självt har resulterat i en legitimitetsbrist och bortfallna röster. En del positiva inslag kunde även hittas, däribland en saknad av etniska konflikter, en stundom stark opposition och en möjlighet till sammanhängande politik. Som en del av resultatet verkar det också som att det finns ett stöd för en valreform på många olika nivår i Zambia. Detta anses vara nödvändigt om Zambia vill fortsätta att utveckla sin demokrati.

This thesis deals with the possibilities of changing the electoral system to Czech municipal councils. It is an analytical case study with elements of a policy paper, i.e., a set of recommendations intended especially for legislators. The thesis has two main goals: (1) to identify and summarize aspects of the electoral system that experts call controversial and (2) to suggest possible solutions that would mitigate or eliminate these controversial variables. The work comes with three alternative solutions for changing the electoral system: (A) minor modifications to the existing system, which will facilitate the possibility of election because of preferential votes, and at the same time prevent local governments from performing electoral engineering by purposeful modifications of constituencies; (B) a variably mixed fusion system identical for all municipalities and (C) combination of two systems: unlimited vote for municipalities with less than 2,000 inhabitants and an open PR system for larger municipalities.

The objective of the thesis is a detailed analysis of overhang seats, the peculiarity of the German electoral system. The theoretical part of this thesis focuses on research of the electoral systems and their political consequences. The second chapter devoted to the German electoral system explains his mechanical functioning and discuses his influence on the degree of proportionality and the party system. The analytical part tries to clear the phenomenon of overhang seats, his origins by means of testing presented variables using the electoral results data from 1990 - 2009. The current electoral reform is also discussed.

民主國家中選舉是獲得政治職位、聲望或權力的主要途徑之一，有許多因素會影響選舉結果，其中選舉制度是決定在位者與挑戰者去留的關鍵，決定如產生當選者，選舉制度往往會影響候選人的參選動機、競選方式、選民的投票行為，甚至會造成不同類型的政黨政治。本研究主要探究立委選舉從第七屆開始實行單一選區兩票制後，區域立委候選人的政治立場相較於過去在複數選區單記不可讓渡投票制下，是否有所不同或發生改變。本研究以兩岸議題為例，以第五屆及第七屆區域立法委員候選人為分析單位，並依其選舉公報採內容分析法為研究焦點。本研究有幾個研究發現：首先、選制改革有相當程度反映在屆別的差異上，對立委候選人兩岸立場造成影響；其次、雖然新選制下立委候選人提出更多的兩岸政見，但所提出的兩岸政見，新選制相較於舊選制，不但統獨立場趨中，且論述語氣略微和緩，此一發現支持中位選民定理，也就是說，在單一選區相對多數決制之下，立委候選人的兩岸議題不管在方向或是程度上，相較SNTV制度均有往中間靠攏的趨勢，意即新選制下的立委候選人在政見立場方向，是符合理論預期往意識形態光譜中間移動，傾向提出方向趨中且統獨維持現狀或中立的兩岸政見。 / In democratic country, election is the main approach for the politicians to receive position, reputation, and power. Many factors affect the result. Electoral system is one of the key causes to determine who-incumbent and challenger- will win the election. In addition, electoral systems also affect the process of producing winner, the candidates’ motive and campaign, the electorate’s voting behaviors. and even different types of party politics. This paper targets on the district legislators’ behaviors. Do their behaviors change after the electoral reform transiting from SNTV to Single-District Two-Votes System? To be more specific, I focus on the fifth and seventh terms of legislators as the analysis unit, and explore their attitudes or campaign platform on Cross-Strait issue, which are published on the campaign communique. I used the content analysis to analyze the campaign communique. There are several findings implied from this research. First, electoral system indeed affects legislators’ positions on Cross-Strait issues. There is significant difference between the fifth and seventh terms of legislators. Second, comparing with the fifth term, although the seventh term of legislators propose more Cross-Strait-related campaign platform, their attitudes are more moderate. This finding supports the median voter theorem. Under the Single-District System, comparing with SNTV, legislators will stand on moderate position on Cross-Strait issue, no matter on direction or intensity. In conclusion, the findings fit to my expectation that the seventh term of legislators stand on moderate position on the political spectrum. They are incline to propose more neutral campaign platform. They prefer maintaining the status quo to unification or independence.

This research is an enquiry to find an electoral formula that conforms to Canadian constitutional values. Three core values that are pertinent to the issue of electoral systems are identified: democracy, diversity, and efficiency. Each of these core values is divided into different aspects. These aspects will form the backbone of the evaluation of different electoral systems in this work. I will begin with an evaluation of the plurality model of elections, which is currently used in Canada. I will demonstrate that many of the attributes of the current system are not in tune with Canadian constitutional values, in particular with the progressive interpretation that the Supreme Court of Canada has given to the right to vote as enshrined in Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Although the interpretation of the right to vote will be the main thrust of the constitutional scrutiny in this work, attention will also be given to other pertinent rights such as equality rights, minority rights, and the freedom of expression. Next, I will examine provincial electoral reform initiatives that were initiated in five Canadian provinces. All of these initiatives - three of which were put to referenda and eventually defeated - proposed adopting a variant of proportional representation. Accordingly, I will evaluate proportional systems according to the intended values. I will conclude that these systems have problems of their own and they also cannot strike a fine balance between competing values. In the final stage, I will make a new proposal for elections to the Canadian Parliament. First, I will demonstrate that majority systems are better candidates to attain the envisioned values. Then I will introduce a new variant of the majority model, which I call a majority-preferential two-round variant. I will demonstrate that this new variant will outperform the other variants in the attainment of values if adopted for elections to the House of Commons. Finally, I will argue that the combination of a House of Commons elected through the majority-preferential formula and a proportionally elected Senate will result in a more balanced approach to the relevant constitutional values.

This thesis provides a detailed account of the introduction, use, and repeal of the alternative vote (AV) in British Columbia in the 1950s. It argues that British Columbians, familiar with polarized, two-party politics, were dismissive of majority representation. Conversely, the public expressed a strong preference for local representation during discussions of redistribution. While the Liberal and Conservative Coalition parties introduced AV to keep the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from forming a government, party members were often stronger proponents of electoral reform than their leaders. Nevertheless, the system was debated in terms of democratic values. This was true of electoral reform debates across Canada, including federal debates on proportional representation. Contrary to histories that focus solely on the 1952 and 1953 AV elections and W.A.C. Bennett and Social Credit, this project traces the origins of the alternative vote in BC from the 1940s forward, including ongoing discussions of the single transferable vote (STV) and a points system. The history of BC’s provincial party system in the twentieth century is included in order to establish how polarized politics affected British Columbians’ attachment to the idea of local representation. This thesis contends that the public’s preference for plurality voting contributed to its dismissal of AV: even those who ranked multiple candidates did not necessarily endorse the system. This project also looks at the alternative vote debates in the 1970s and redistribution commissions in BC, particularly the 1978 Eckardt Commission, in order to better understand British Columbians’ attachment to local representation and first-past-the-post, and their dismissal of a preferential system that encouraged them to rank candidates. Social Credit favoured regional representation over representation by population during the redistribution process, and the theme of local representation has consistently framed discussions of electoral reform in British Columbia, including the 2004 BC Citizens’ Assembly’s STV proposal.

Inspired by critiques of controlled elections under “single-party rule,” this dissertation explores the performance, implications and potentials of China’s village elections. It first reviews the most important studies on the progress of China’s grassroots democracy and then analyzes the social-political background of village self-management which to date has been neglected in the academic literature. Based on empirical studies conducted in Sichuan, this dissertation investigates the roles and attitudes of various participatory groups in village elections and in the course of electoral reforms. It also discusses the failure of the existing law to set out fundamental rules for village elections and to effectively guide people’s behavior. Further, this dissertation offers detailed recommendations to improve the existing law in order to guarantee the accessibility, authenticity and competitiveness of village elections. / Graduate / 0398 / 0616 / aloeke@gmail.com

Electoral System Choice in the Context of the Democratic Transition and Consolidation Diploma thesis examines the influence of exogenous factors on motivation and preferences of electoral reform actors based on their power position and value-driven approach in Czechoslovakia. It deals with the relation among mode of transition, the electoral reform type and the electoral system type as outcome for the founding elections. It attempts to identify the difference of conditions for electoral system change during the democratic transition and the consolidation in Czechia; to compare their exogenous factors. It also examines which values were emphasized by electoral reform actors and which values were embodied by their preferred electoral systems. It classifies the type of electoral reform process. It also provides the overview of chosen electoral system parameters and evolution of its changes.

This research is an enquiry to find an electoral formula that conforms to Canadian constitutional values. Three core values that are pertinent to the issue of electoral systems are identified: democracy, diversity, and efficiency. Each of these core values is divided into different aspects. These aspects will form the backbone of the evaluation of different electoral systems in this work. I will begin with an evaluation of the plurality model of elections, which is currently used in Canada. I will demonstrate that many of the attributes of the current system are not in tune with Canadian constitutional values, in particular with the progressive interpretation that the Supreme Court of Canada has given to the right to vote as enshrined in Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Although the interpretation of the right to vote will be the main thrust of the constitutional scrutiny in this work, attention will also be given to other pertinent rights such as equality rights, minority rights, and the freedom of expression. Next, I will examine provincial electoral reform initiatives that were initiated in five Canadian provinces. All of these initiatives - three of which were put to referenda and eventually defeated - proposed adopting a variant of proportional representation. Accordingly, I will evaluate proportional systems according to the intended values. I will conclude that these systems have problems of their own and they also cannot strike a fine balance between competing values. In the final stage, I will make a new proposal for elections to the Canadian Parliament. First, I will demonstrate that majority systems are better candidates to attain the envisioned values. Then I will introduce a new variant of the majority model, which I call a majority-preferential two-round variant. I will demonstrate that this new variant will outperform the other variants in the attainment of values if adopted for elections to the House of Commons. Finally, I will argue that the combination of a House of Commons elected through the majority-preferential formula and a proportionally elected Senate will result in a more balanced approach to the relevant constitutional values.