When groups of individuals make choices among several alternatives, the most compelling social outcome is the Condorcet winner, namely the alternative beating all others in a pair-wise contest. Obviously the Condorcet winner cannot be overturned if one sub-group proposes another alternative it happens to favor. However, in some cases, and especially with haphazard voting, there will be no clear unique winner, with the outcome consisting of a triple of pair-wise winners that each beat different subsets of the alternatives (i.e. a “top-cycle”.) We explore the sensitivity of Condorcet winners to various perturbations in the voting process that lead to top-cycles. Surprisingly, variations in the number of votes for each alternative is much less important than consistency in a voter’s view of how alternatives are related. As more and more voter’s preference orderings on alternatives depart from a shared model of the domain, then unique Condorcet outcomes become increasingly unlikely.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 17, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. John Petrocik. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis examines to what extent there are generational differences in gender gaps in political behaviour and attitudes, and what explains this generational variation. Generations differ considerably on factors such as women's role in the family and the workplace, gender inequality, and formative experiences, and I argue this leads to different gender gaps for different generations. I examine such generational variation in gender gaps in vote choice, left-right self-placement, attitudes towards spending and redistribution, and attitudes towards gender-egalitarianism. Broad cross-national trends in Europe and Canada are identified, as well as country-specific patterns using Britain and the US as case studies. This thesis finds that generally, in the countries studied, men are more left-wing than women in older birth cohorts, whilst women are more left-wing than men in younger birth cohorts. This 'gender-generation gap' is produced through processes of modernisation, especially secularisation. In addition to this broad trend, the political context or zeitgeist during a generation's formative years produces gender gaps in both vote choice and attitudes that differ between generations according to this socialisation experience. The influences of modernisation and such political socialisation interact to create complex patterns of generational variation in political gender gaps that differ across political contexts. For example, in the British case, women of younger cohorts are not more left-wing in their vote choice than men. These results suggest that we should focus on gender gaps at the level of generational subgroups in order to fully understand political differences between men and women. Furthermore, they predict that gradually, the gender gap where women are more left-wing than men will grow over time through generational replacement. However, they also indicate that this will not occur in all contexts, and that more work needs to be done to understand how the political context shapes gender gaps.

O papel das eleições tem crescido de importância na sociedade moderna. Se, por um lado, é necessário garantir a universalização do voto, por outro lado é fundamental garantir a qualidade e a lisura do processo eleitoral. Neste sentido, muitos trabalhos têm sido apresentados com o objetivo de usar recursos computacionais no processo eleitoral. Computadores podem facilitar o acesso dos eleitores aos sistemas e processos de votação, como também aceleram a apuração dos resultados. Entretanto, redes de computadores são alvos de ataques sistemáticos. Esses ataques podem afetar a disponibilidade do processo e, além disso, interferir nos resultados da eleição ou afetar seus fundamentos. Garantir que os princípios exigidos para uma eleição segura sejam respeitados é a finalidade dos sistemas baseados em protocolos criptográficos. Muitas propostas de sistemas têm sido feitas. Algumas utilizam certo grau de obscuridade de funcionamento como garantia contra ataques; outras utilizam técnicas amplamente conhecidas, embora com grau elevado de complexidade. O presente trabalho apresenta a proposta de um sistema completo para execução de uma votação digital segura. O sistema é baseado em um protocolo simples, porém completo, que utiliza técnicas criptográficas amplamente conhecidas. O protocolo é descrito gradativamente, e é provada a sua eficiência contra os ataques possíveis. O texto ainda apresenta alguns outros protocolos criados para esse mesmo propósito. Finalmente, é apresentado o protótipo de um sistema de software que emprega o protocolo considerado. / The role of the elections has grown of importance in the modern society. If it is necessary to guarantee the universalization of the vote, on the other hand it is basic to guarantee the quality and the correctness of the electoral process. In this direction, many works have been presented with the objective to use computational resources in the electoral process. Computers can facilitate to the access of the voters to the voting systems and processes, as also they speed up the verification of the results. However, computer networks are target of systematic attacks. These attacks can affect the availability of the process and, moreover, intervene with the results of the election or affect its fundamentals. To guarantee that the principles demanded for a safe election are respected is the purpose of the systems based on cryptographic protocols. Many proposals of systems have been made. Some use certain degree of functional obscurity as warranty against attacks; others use widely known techniques, even so with high degree of complexity. The present work presents the proposal of a complete system for execution of a secure digital voting. The system is based on a simple protocol, however complete, that uses widely known cryptographic techniques. The protocol is gradually described, and its efficiency against the possible attacksis proven. The text still presents some other protocols created for this same purpose. Finally, the prototype of a software system that uses the considered protocol is presented .

O papel das eleições tem crescido de importância na sociedade moderna. Se, por um lado, é necessário garantir a universalização do voto, por outro lado é fundamental garantir a qualidade e a lisura do processo eleitoral. Neste sentido, muitos trabalhos têm sido apresentados com o objetivo de usar recursos computacionais no processo eleitoral. Computadores podem facilitar o acesso dos eleitores aos sistemas e processos de votação, como também aceleram a apuração dos resultados. Entretanto, redes de computadores são alvos de ataques sistemáticos. Esses ataques podem afetar a disponibilidade do processo e, além disso, interferir nos resultados da eleição ou afetar seus fundamentos. Garantir que os princípios exigidos para uma eleição segura sejam respeitados é a finalidade dos sistemas baseados em protocolos criptográficos. Muitas propostas de sistemas têm sido feitas. Algumas utilizam certo grau de obscuridade de funcionamento como garantia contra ataques; outras utilizam técnicas amplamente conhecidas, embora com grau elevado de complexidade. O presente trabalho apresenta a proposta de um sistema completo para execução de uma votação digital segura. O sistema é baseado em um protocolo simples, porém completo, que utiliza técnicas criptográficas amplamente conhecidas. O protocolo é descrito gradativamente, e é provada a sua eficiência contra os ataques possíveis. O texto ainda apresenta alguns outros protocolos criados para esse mesmo propósito. Finalmente, é apresentado o protótipo de um sistema de software que emprega o protocolo considerado. / The role of the elections has grown of importance in the modern society. If it is necessary to guarantee the universalization of the vote, on the other hand it is basic to guarantee the quality and the correctness of the electoral process. In this direction, many works have been presented with the objective to use computational resources in the electoral process. Computers can facilitate to the access of the voters to the voting systems and processes, as also they speed up the verification of the results. However, computer networks are target of systematic attacks. These attacks can affect the availability of the process and, moreover, intervene with the results of the election or affect its fundamentals. To guarantee that the principles demanded for a safe election are respected is the purpose of the systems based on cryptographic protocols. Many proposals of systems have been made. Some use certain degree of functional obscurity as warranty against attacks; others use widely known techniques, even so with high degree of complexity. The present work presents the proposal of a complete system for execution of a secure digital voting. The system is based on a simple protocol, however complete, that uses widely known cryptographic techniques. The protocol is gradually described, and its efficiency against the possible attacksis proven. The text still presents some other protocols created for this same purpose. Finally, the prototype of a software system that uses the considered protocol is presented .

O papel das eleições tem crescido de importância na sociedade moderna. Se, por um lado, é necessário garantir a universalização do voto, por outro lado é fundamental garantir a qualidade e a lisura do processo eleitoral. Neste sentido, muitos trabalhos têm sido apresentados com o objetivo de usar recursos computacionais no processo eleitoral. Computadores podem facilitar o acesso dos eleitores aos sistemas e processos de votação, como também aceleram a apuração dos resultados. Entretanto, redes de computadores são alvos de ataques sistemáticos. Esses ataques podem afetar a disponibilidade do processo e, além disso, interferir nos resultados da eleição ou afetar seus fundamentos. Garantir que os princípios exigidos para uma eleição segura sejam respeitados é a finalidade dos sistemas baseados em protocolos criptográficos. Muitas propostas de sistemas têm sido feitas. Algumas utilizam certo grau de obscuridade de funcionamento como garantia contra ataques; outras utilizam técnicas amplamente conhecidas, embora com grau elevado de complexidade. O presente trabalho apresenta a proposta de um sistema completo para execução de uma votação digital segura. O sistema é baseado em um protocolo simples, porém completo, que utiliza técnicas criptográficas amplamente conhecidas. O protocolo é descrito gradativamente, e é provada a sua eficiência contra os ataques possíveis. O texto ainda apresenta alguns outros protocolos criados para esse mesmo propósito. Finalmente, é apresentado o protótipo de um sistema de software que emprega o protocolo considerado. / The role of the elections has grown of importance in the modern society. If it is necessary to guarantee the universalization of the vote, on the other hand it is basic to guarantee the quality and the correctness of the electoral process. In this direction, many works have been presented with the objective to use computational resources in the electoral process. Computers can facilitate to the access of the voters to the voting systems and processes, as also they speed up the verification of the results. However, computer networks are target of systematic attacks. These attacks can affect the availability of the process and, moreover, intervene with the results of the election or affect its fundamentals. To guarantee that the principles demanded for a safe election are respected is the purpose of the systems based on cryptographic protocols. Many proposals of systems have been made. Some use certain degree of functional obscurity as warranty against attacks; others use widely known techniques, even so with high degree of complexity. The present work presents the proposal of a complete system for execution of a secure digital voting. The system is based on a simple protocol, however complete, that uses widely known cryptographic techniques. The protocol is gradually described, and its efficiency against the possible attacksis proven. The text still presents some other protocols created for this same purpose. Finally, the prototype of a software system that uses the considered protocol is presented .

Magister Artium - MA / This research sought to understand the nature of election-related conflict and what needs to be done to arrest the eruption of such conflict in Lesotho. It sought the opinions of selectively respondents who have been involved in the conflicts in different ways. The interviews and documented literature revealed that what constitutes a background to election-related conflict involves issues that are many and varied. Among others such issues include the following: weak political institutions, use of vulgar language by political leadership, and the weak economy that intensifies neo-patrimonial tendencies. The research concluded that all the factors associated with the eruption of illegitimate conflicts during and after general elections in Lesotho are a result of the politicians' desire to retain or capture national resources to satisfy their selfish interests and those of their cronies. The conflicts could be minimised if the country's economy could be transformed to provide the politicians with alternatives of economic survival outside the structures of government. Furthermore, to minimise the conflict, the country should consider establishing electoral courts. These have the potential of speeding up the resolution of electoral grievances, in the process preventing them from graduating into serious conflicts. / South Africa

Unlike many western democracies, Canada has a party system which is not polarized in terms of class. Particularly since the early 1930's many writers have attacked "brokerage politics" on the grounds that it has enabled a small elite to control political debate, and in particular has prevented the party system from presenting meaningful alternatives for the social and economic development of the country. To people such as Frank Undorhill, Gad Horowitz and Charles Taylor, "the politics of polarization" is essential to an efficient democratic political system. Another writer, Robert R. Alford in Party and Society, has concluded that the trends in Canada towards industrialization, urbanization and secularization are bound to encourage an increase in class-oriented voting behaviour. The large numbers of people working in the cities, coupled with a decline in the salience of regional, religious and ethnic issues, will increase working class consciousness to the point where a change in the substance of political debate is feasible. The thesis examines the Canadian Institute of Public Opinion (Gallup) surveys for the 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1968 elections to see if Alford’s forecast is substantiated. There are many shortcomings in both the data, and the approach used, but the analysis would suggest that the overwhelming importance of religious and linguistic factors has not significantly declined, and as far as this thesis can detect, there has been little increase in class voting. A concluding chapter suggests other research approaches to the problem under investigation, which might well have produced different conclusions. However, a brief examination of the early political history of Canada would seem to indicate that the absorption of the working classes into the existing party system was done in such a way as to permanently restrict the extent to which a working class consciousness is likely to develop. While there are signs indicating that class-oriented voting will probably increase, it is unlikely that the polarization will ever occur to the extent possible in countries which have developed, politically and econonacally, along different lines. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

This study examines the impact of perceived personality traits of the political party leaders on voting decisions in the 2000 Canadian federal election, replicating Richard Johnston's research that is based on the 1997 election. Employing data from the 2000 Canadian Election Study (CES), the research uses Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis to estimate how evaluations of leader personality traits over two aggregated dimensions - competence and character - moved votes. The changes in the design of the 2000 CES from prior years created many difficulties in assessing voters' evaluations of the party leaders and limited the comparability of the results from the study. The key methodological differences are: (1) leaders were not evaluated individually; (2) it did not measure the degree of applicability of the trait labels; (3) it included significantly fewer leader personality questions, and (4) the "new ideas" variable does not fall squarely into either the competence and character domains and seems to favour the new Alliance Party leader. This study finds that leader effects are more critical to the parties struggling for their political survival. A counterfactual party leader-switching exercise suggests that the distance between the frontrunner parties and the others was too great for leader-switching effects to make a difference in determining which parties would form the government and the Official Opposition and whether the winning party would form a majority or minority government. Joe Clark improved his party's standing during the campaign and helped it to retain its official party status while evaluations of Stockwell Day declined. The relevance of judgements of Day and Clark on pre-election vote intentions moved in the same direction as voters' respective evaluations of the leaders over the campaign. This study confirms that campaigns can have an effect on voters. The study supports earlier research findings that suggests that Canadian elections are vulnerable to leader effects. Conventional wisdom that is driven by the media's focus on the personalities suggests that leaders are significant factors in Canadian federal elections, but the empirical research reported in this study and others before it suggest otherwise. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

LL.M. (Commercial Law) / In order to promote sound corporate conduct, it is essential that shareholders actively participate in the governance of the company. The primary mechanism to achieve this lies in the shareholder’s right to vote at meetings. However, an analysis of the nature of shares, and the history surrounding the introduction and development of uncertificated shares in particular, reveals a structure that often interposes multiple nominees between the issuing company and the underlying investor. Such a structure has the potential to dispossess the underlying investor of his rights, which may have concomitant negative effects on the corporate governance of the company. A comparative study of the legal framework for uncertificated shares in the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa reveals varying degrees of protection for the underlying investor. Unfortunately, none of these countries has resolved the problem completely, and it is suggested that a move to a direct, transparent holding model, where the underlying investor, rather than an intermediary, is recorded in a company’s share register, is a better solution.