<p>Public opinion tools are used to look at voter motivations to engage in clientelistic practices and their variation across structures of competition.</p> / Dissertation

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Over the last four decades, many developing countries transitioned to democracy with populations aspiring to break from authoritarian tradition for more representative government. While this wave of democratization was encouraging initially, observers came to realize that the break from tradition was anything but complete. The traditional clientelistic relations that pervaded political systems during authoritarian periods have been eroded by democratization in some countries, while in other countries, clientelism is thriving and continuing to impact political participation, primarily through vote-buying between patrons and clients. Therefore, the extent to which democratization erodes clientelism as widely expected, could not be assumed. The questions of what are the causal effects of clientelism on political participation, how does the vote-buying process unfold, how effective are the efforts to combat vote-buying, and what is the debate over the ethics of vote-buying motivate this dissertation; I draw on the experiences of Thai provinces to answer them. The objective of this dissertation is to examine the impact of clientelism, measured by vote-buying, on political participation using a multi-method approach. Using new primary and secondary data sources, I make several important original contributions with this study. First, I answer the question regarding the causal effects of clientelism on political participation by testing the resource theory and the theory of clientelism. I find that the poor, who are most likely to be enmeshed in clientelistic networks, voted just as often as the rich in two of the three general elections and both the national and local level elections. People in the countryside, the poor, vote more than their urban counterparts in both the national and local level elections. The poor also participate in the other forms of politics just as much as the rich. I find those with less education vote just as much as those with more education in all three general elections and the national level election, however, those with higher education voted more in the local level election. Those with higher education also boycott, demonstrate, and sign petitions more than those with lower education. I find that clientelism is the reason lower socioeconomic status rural individuals participate in politics as without clientelism, they would not be expected to participate as much as their richer and more educated urban counterparts. Second, I answer the question regarding how the vote-buying process unfolds by exploring original primary interview data collected by the author of elite and mass views of vote-buyers, sellers, intermediaries, and the vote-buying process. I find that all the actors involved have their own reasons and motivations for participating in the vote-buying process: vote-sellers are predominantly poor and poverty drives their need for the compensation provided through vote-buying, while vote-buyers and their intermediaries are very much aware of the needs of potential vote-sellers and they intentionally exploit these needs. Even though the poor are driven to become vote-sellers, we cannot readily assume that vote-buying is successful for vote-buyers, or in other words, we cannot assume that vote-buying results in votes for the vote-buyer. Prior to my study, scholars have made such an assumption, whether directly stated or inferred, which may lead to erroneous conclusions about the effectiveness of vote-buying resulting in votes for the vote-buyer. To overcome this, I developed a model of the vote-buying process where vote-buying is divided into specific steps: the offer to buy votes, the acceptance of the offer, the compensation, the showing up at the polls, and the casting of a vote for the vote-buyer. By employing my model of the vote-buying process, we see that sometimes voters act in a manner that is consistent with the vote-buyer's demands and others times they do not at virtually all the steps of the vote-buying process for very specific reasons, including poverty. Third, I answer the question regarding the effectiveness of efforts to combat vote-buying by exploring elite and mass views of the effectiveness of institutional constraints and civic education in combating vote-buying. My findings suggest that institutional constraints, namely the Election Commission, have some impact on reducing vote-buying, though the Election Commission is plagued with far-reaching limitations. I find attempts at civic education, however, are not really measurable. Even if these attempts at civic education were measurable, I do not believe there is any reason to suspect they would be effective considering they do not address the poverty issue. Finally, I answer the question regarding the debate over the ethics of vote-buying by exploring elite and mass views of the justifications for vote-buying. I then analyze the impact of vote-buying on the legitimacy of the Thai political system. I find that some Thais perceive vote-buying as unethical because it is illegal and dishonest, while others do not necessarily perceive vote-buying as unethical because of poverty and vote-buying norms Thais use to justify selling their votes. Moreover, I find that poverty and vote-buying norms impact the legitimacy of the Thai political system, especially for the rural poor, to the point where I argue that vote-buying does not necessarily negatively impact legitimacy of the Thai political system. Overall, this dissertation has answered the important questions about clientelism and the vote-buying measure. This study is important because clientelism is one of the most important informal institutional obstacles to free and fair elections and the findings in this study offer clarity of the impact of clientelism, and the vote-buying measure, on political participation in the Thai context.

The Exercise of the Voting Right in a Join-Stock Company Abstract The submitted thesis analyses the voting right of a shareholder and the exercise of the voting right in a joint-stock company. In the last few years, a tendency to encourage the engagement of shareholders and to broaden the scope of decision rights of shareholders can be seen. Nevertheless, some authors underestimate the importance of the shareholders' right to vote and conclude that real decision-making power lies with the management or administrative board. The main hypothesis to be proven or rebutted is that the shareholder's voting right is not insignificant and vesting decision-making power in shareholders can have a positive influence on the effectiveness of the management of the company notwithstanding the broad liberty of the shareholder to both freely exercise and dispose of the voting right (the shares) and notwithstanding the existence of deviations from the principle of proportionality. The thesis aims to examine the voting right in its complexity, in contrast to the prevailing approach of contemporary Czech jurisprudence, and to contribute to academic knowledge with original arguments and conclusions. This goal is achieved by extensive use of foreign legal sources, mainly French and Belgian literature and case law, since the...

presente pesquisa objetiva analisar as motivações estratégicas inerentes às denúncias de compra de votos na dinâmica eleitoral brasileira, a partir da análise das denúncias apresentadas à Justiça Eleitoral nas eleições municipais de 2012 em São Paulo. Para tanto, a dissertação se divide em quatro partes, a saber: (1) discussão sobre o contexto histórico da criação da Lei Contra a corrupção eleitoral (Lei nº 9.840/1999); (2) breve revisão bibliográfica do conceito de compra de votos e análise da literatura sobre o tema no Brasil; (3) análise das características das denúncias de compra de votos apresentadas à Justiça Eleitoral nas eleições municipais paulistas de 2012, com ênfase na caracterização dos atores candidatos e partidos, da prática tipo de benesses oferecidas, outros crimes eleitorais praticados e dos resultados dos processos judiciais; (4) análise das motivações estratégicas inerentes às denúncias de compra de votos, a partir da análise de dados de competição eleitoral local e características socioeconômicas dos municípios. Pretende-se demonstrar na presente pesquisa que a incidência de denúncias de compra de votos na realidade política brasileira está vinculada fortemente à dinâmica da competição eleitoral local, e não necessariamente na real incidência da prática ilícita, se configurando, portanto, como uma ferramenta na disputa eleitoral. / This research aims to analyze the strategic motivations for vote-buying allegations in the Brazilian electoral competition, based on the analysis of denunciations made to the Electoral Court in the 2012 municipal elections of São Paulo, Brazil. Therefore, the dissertation is divided into four parts, namely: (1) discussion of the historical context of the creation of the law \"Against electoral corruption\" (Law nº 9.840/1999); (2) literature review of the concept of vote-buying and analysis of the literature on the subject in Brazil; (3) analysis of the characteristics of vote-buying complaints to the Electoral Court in the São Paulo municipal elections of 2012, with emphasis on characterization of the actors - candidates and parties, practice - kind of handouts offered, other electoral crimes - and results of court proceedings; (4) analysis of the strategic motivations for vote-buying allegations, from the data of local electoral competition and socioeconomic characteristics of the municipalities. The intent is to demonstrate that the incidence of vote-buying allegations in the Brazilian political reality is strongly linked to the dynamics of the local electoral competition, configured so as a tool in the electoral running, and not necessarily linked with the real occurrence of the illicit practice.

La thèse consiste en un réexamen des traits saillants des systèmes politique et partisan du Japon d’avant-guerre (1890-1937). L’analyse de données quantitatives et qualitatives sur l’achat de voix et les pratiques d’ingérence des gouvernements dans le déroulement des campagnes électorales démontre que la première pratique était massive et généralisée et les secondes systématiques. L’achat de voix massif et généralisé et les pratiques d’ingérence étaient liés par une relation de complémentarité fonctionnelle, l’ingérence consistant le plus communément en la répression partiale des fraudes électorales. Le système partisan s’ordonnait autour de ce binôme d’expédients. Les acteurs collectifs de ce système furent des spécimens du type « parti-cartel, stratarchique, clientélistes et attrape-tout », des partis qui n’activaient pas de clivage sociologique ou idéologique. Le binôme d’expédients structurants eut de nombreuses conséquences systémiques et constitua la plus puissante des modalités de la politisation des rapports sociaux. En conclusion, les résultats de l’examen de la pratique de l’achat de voix dans le Japon d’avant-guerre sont confrontés à ceux que proposent des études de cette pratique en d’autres sociétés, les États-Unis d’Amérique et le Royaume-Uni au XIXe siècle ou, au XXe siècle, des pays d’Amérique Latine et Taiwan. / This thesis is a reappraisal of salient features of the political and party systems in prewar Japan (1890-1937). Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data on vote buying and governmental interference in electoral campaigns demonstrate that the first practice was massive and generalized; and that the second was systematic. These two practices were tied by a functional relationship since the most common form of governmental interference consisted in a partisan bias in the repression of electoral frauds. The core of electoral politics was a functional set of expedients. The collective actors of this system are characterized as specimens of the “cartel party stratarchic, clientelistic, catch-all” type, many political parties that did not activate any sociological or ideological cleavage. The two electoral expedients bore many systemic consequences and were the most powerful ways of the politicization of social relationships in this society. The concluding chapter is a comparative examination of the characteristics and properties of vote buying in prewar Japan to those of the same practice in other societies, the 19th century United States of America and Britain, or 20th century Latin America and Taiwan.

presente pesquisa objetiva analisar as motivações estratégicas inerentes às denúncias de compra de votos na dinâmica eleitoral brasileira, a partir da análise das denúncias apresentadas à Justiça Eleitoral nas eleições municipais de 2012 em São Paulo. Para tanto, a dissertação se divide em quatro partes, a saber: (1) discussão sobre o contexto histórico da criação da Lei Contra a corrupção eleitoral (Lei nº 9.840/1999); (2) breve revisão bibliográfica do conceito de compra de votos e análise da literatura sobre o tema no Brasil; (3) análise das características das denúncias de compra de votos apresentadas à Justiça Eleitoral nas eleições municipais paulistas de 2012, com ênfase na caracterização dos atores candidatos e partidos, da prática tipo de benesses oferecidas, outros crimes eleitorais praticados e dos resultados dos processos judiciais; (4) análise das motivações estratégicas inerentes às denúncias de compra de votos, a partir da análise de dados de competição eleitoral local e características socioeconômicas dos municípios. Pretende-se demonstrar na presente pesquisa que a incidência de denúncias de compra de votos na realidade política brasileira está vinculada fortemente à dinâmica da competição eleitoral local, e não necessariamente na real incidência da prática ilícita, se configurando, portanto, como uma ferramenta na disputa eleitoral. / This research aims to analyze the strategic motivations for vote-buying allegations in the Brazilian electoral competition, based on the analysis of denunciations made to the Electoral Court in the 2012 municipal elections of São Paulo, Brazil. Therefore, the dissertation is divided into four parts, namely: (1) discussion of the historical context of the creation of the law \"Against electoral corruption\" (Law nº 9.840/1999); (2) literature review of the concept of vote-buying and analysis of the literature on the subject in Brazil; (3) analysis of the characteristics of vote-buying complaints to the Electoral Court in the São Paulo municipal elections of 2012, with emphasis on characterization of the actors - candidates and parties, practice - kind of handouts offered, other electoral crimes - and results of court proceedings; (4) analysis of the strategic motivations for vote-buying allegations, from the data of local electoral competition and socioeconomic characteristics of the municipalities. The intent is to demonstrate that the incidence of vote-buying allegations in the Brazilian political reality is strongly linked to the dynamics of the local electoral competition, configured so as a tool in the electoral running, and not necessarily linked with the real occurrence of the illicit practice.

Vote-selling in Nigeria pervades and permeates the electoral space, where it has become the primary instrument of electoral fraud. Previous research has indicated a strong correlation between vote-buying and underinvestment and poor delivery of public services. There remains, however, a significant gap in the current literature regarding the nature of the relationship between vote-selling and the delivery of public services. The purpose of this study was to uncover voters' behaviors by investigating their common and lived experiences with respect to the provision of infrastructure, delivery of public services, and voting during elections. Using Bandura's theory of reciprocal determinism, the research explored the connection between environment and vote-selling. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 10 individuals who participated in the most recent elections in Akoko North West Local Government, Ondo State, Nigeria. The data were analyzed using Moustakas's transcendental phenomenological process. Key findings suggest a reciprocal relationship between vote-selling, and infrastructure and public services. The study findings also revealed that vote-sellers' feel justified because vote-selling is perceived as a product of disappointment, lack of trust and voters' apathy, willingness to accept their own share of 'national cake,' and poverty. These findings are consistent with Bandura's proposition that people create the society and equally react to environmental factors. This study contributes to the existing literature and may enhance social change initiatives by improving the understanding of the connection between the provision of infrastructure and the delivery of public services and vote-selling.

O alinhamento de voto no sistema internacional tem sido objeto de estudo desde o estabelecimento de Organizações Internacionais, principalmente após a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Parte da literatura trata da formação de grupos de votação em troca da alocação de ajuda externa por países desenvolvidos, que se verifica como uma estratégia de política externa a qual perdura a relação desigual de dependência econômica e barganha de voto no sistema internacional. Assim, a fundação da ONU e de outras Organizações que a sucederam destacou a crescente relevância em estudar os determinantes do comportamento dos Estados em votações multilaterais, tendo em vista seus posicionamentos de política externa. Já a cooperação brasileira se diferencia do formato tradicional de ajuda externa e enfoca na relação de parceria e redução de discrepâncias entre países em desenvolvimento. Buscou-se analisar a relação entre a ajuda externa brasileira, no formato de cooperação técnica bilateral, e o comportamento de voto de seus receptores na Assembleia Geral da ONU (AGNU), sendo que a alocação seria um meio para influenciar o comportamento de voto a favor de seus interesses de política externa no sistema internacional. Entretanto, os dados observados não apontam claramente para a barganha de votos nesse escopo, de forma que as análises sobre alocação da cooperação técnica brasileira, fluxo de comércio e investimentos levaram à escolha de Angola para o desenvolvimento de um estudo de caso. Logo, este estudo se aprofunda no alinhamento político entre Brasil e Angola, em cooperação técnica, fluxos bilaterais de comércio e investimentos e discursos diplomáticos. Verificou-se que o Brasil utiliza, em Angola, o modelo de cooperação pela transferência de conhecimentos, enquanto busca fortalecer as relações bilaterais, ampliar o prestígio brasileiro e alinhar votos na AGNU, de acordo com o interesse em se tornar uma liderança no cone Sul e em promover a reforma da AGNU e do Conselho de Segurança. Além disso, as entrevistas realizadas mostraram que as relações comerciais e de investimento de multinacionais brasileiras em Angola também contribuíram para a aproximação política entre os países, envolvendo o âmbito público e privado. Conclui-se que o alinhamento entre Brasil e Angola na AGNU não é um comportamento constante, de forma que não se verifica uma coalizão de voto. Por fim, esse alinhamento decorre dos interesses de países em desenvolvimento, quanto a representação do Brasil na esfera de membros permanentes do Conselho de Segurança. / Voting alingment in the international system has been a study object since the formation of International Organizations, mainly after the II World War. Part of the literature on this matter leans on voting groups formation in exchange for foreign aid allocation from developed countries, which is verified as a foreign policy strategy that endures the unequal relation of economic dependence and vote buying in the international system. Thus, UN foundation, among other organizations which succedded it, highlights the growing relevance of compreheding the determinants of State behaviour in multilateral votings, considering their foreign policy interests. Brazilian Cooperation, on the other hand, differs from traditional foreign aid format and focuses on the partnership relation and reduction of discrepancies among developing countries. We sought to analyze the correlation between Brazilian foreign aid, as Bilateral Technical Cooperation, and voting behaviour of its recepients in the UN General Assembly. Thus, the allocation would be used as a tool to influence voting behaviour towards Brazilian Foreign Policy objectives in the international system. However, the data observed do not clearly point out vote buying in this domain, so that further analysis about Brazilian technical cooperation, trade and investment flows led to the choice of Angola for a case-study. This study is about the political alignment between Brazil and Angola, related to technical cooperation, bilateral trade, investment flows and diplomatic discourses. It showed that Brazilian Foreign Aid model in Angola focuses on expertise transfer, while it aims to strengthen bilateral relations, increase Brazilian prestige and promote vote alignments in UNGA. Thus, Brazilian motivation is according with the interest in becoming a leader in the South cone and supporting the political reform in the General Assembly and the Security Council. Besides, the interviews showed that comercial relations and investments of Brazilian multinationals in Angola also contribute to the political approximation among both countries, involving the public and private sphere. It\'s possible to conclude that the voting alignment between Brazil and Angola in the General Assembly is not a constant behavior, since no vote coalition was identified. Therefore, this alingment is due to developing countries interests, in regards to Brazil\'s representation among the permanent members of the Security Council.

O alinhamento de voto no sistema internacional tem sido objeto de estudo desde o estabelecimento de Organizações Internacionais, principalmente após a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Parte da literatura trata da formação de grupos de votação em troca da alocação de ajuda externa por países desenvolvidos, que se verifica como uma estratégia de política externa a qual perdura a relação desigual de dependência econômica e barganha de voto no sistema internacional. Assim, a fundação da ONU e de outras Organizações que a sucederam destacou a crescente relevância em estudar os determinantes do comportamento dos Estados em votações multilaterais, tendo em vista seus posicionamentos de política externa. Já a cooperação brasileira se diferencia do formato tradicional de ajuda externa e enfoca na relação de parceria e redução de discrepâncias entre países em desenvolvimento. Buscou-se analisar a relação entre a ajuda externa brasileira, no formato de cooperação técnica bilateral, e o comportamento de voto de seus receptores na Assembleia Geral da ONU (AGNU), sendo que a alocação seria um meio para influenciar o comportamento de voto a favor de seus interesses de política externa no sistema internacional. Entretanto, os dados observados não apontam claramente para a barganha de votos nesse escopo, de forma que as análises sobre alocação da cooperação técnica brasileira, fluxo de comércio e investimentos levaram à escolha de Angola para o desenvolvimento de um estudo de caso. Logo, este estudo se aprofunda no alinhamento político entre Brasil e Angola, em cooperação técnica, fluxos bilaterais de comércio e investimentos e discursos diplomáticos. Verificou-se que o Brasil utiliza, em Angola, o modelo de cooperação pela transferência de conhecimentos, enquanto busca fortalecer as relações bilaterais, ampliar o prestígio brasileiro e alinhar votos na AGNU, de acordo com o interesse em se tornar uma liderança no cone Sul e em promover a reforma da AGNU e do Conselho de Segurança. Além disso, as entrevistas realizadas mostraram que as relações comerciais e de investimento de multinacionais brasileiras em Angola também contribuíram para a aproximação política entre os países, envolvendo o âmbito público e privado. Conclui-se que o alinhamento entre Brasil e Angola na AGNU não é um comportamento constante, de forma que não se verifica uma coalizão de voto. Por fim, esse alinhamento decorre dos interesses de países em desenvolvimento, quanto a representação do Brasil na esfera de membros permanentes do Conselho de Segurança. / Voting alingment in the international system has been a study object since the formation of International Organizations, mainly after the II World War. Part of the literature on this matter leans on voting groups formation in exchange for foreign aid allocation from developed countries, which is verified as a foreign policy strategy that endures the unequal relation of economic dependence and vote buying in the international system. Thus, UN foundation, among other organizations which succedded it, highlights the growing relevance of compreheding the determinants of State behaviour in multilateral votings, considering their foreign policy interests. Brazilian Cooperation, on the other hand, differs from traditional foreign aid format and focuses on the partnership relation and reduction of discrepancies among developing countries. We sought to analyze the correlation between Brazilian foreign aid, as Bilateral Technical Cooperation, and voting behaviour of its recepients in the UN General Assembly. Thus, the allocation would be used as a tool to influence voting behaviour towards Brazilian Foreign Policy objectives in the international system. However, the data observed do not clearly point out vote buying in this domain, so that further analysis about Brazilian technical cooperation, trade and investment flows led to the choice of Angola for a case-study. This study is about the political alignment between Brazil and Angola, related to technical cooperation, bilateral trade, investment flows and diplomatic discourses. It showed that Brazilian Foreign Aid model in Angola focuses on expertise transfer, while it aims to strengthen bilateral relations, increase Brazilian prestige and promote vote alignments in UNGA. Thus, Brazilian motivation is according with the interest in becoming a leader in the South cone and supporting the political reform in the General Assembly and the Security Council. Besides, the interviews showed that comercial relations and investments of Brazilian multinationals in Angola also contribute to the political approximation among both countries, involving the public and private sphere. It\'s possible to conclude that the voting alignment between Brazil and Angola in the General Assembly is not a constant behavior, since no vote coalition was identified. Therefore, this alingment is due to developing countries interests, in regards to Brazil\'s representation among the permanent members of the Security Council.