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The issue of this thesis is to chart the motivations of non-voters for not attending the election to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. This election had the second lowest turnout in the history of the Czech Republic in this type of election which is considered by the citizens to be the most important type of election. A decreasing turnout can be a threat to a proper functioning of democracy. In the theoretical part of the paper, the theory of functioning democracy and the theory explaining the decreasing turnout are introduced. According to several studies, there is a difference between younger and older generation, so I decided to explore this difference. Therefore, fifteen semi-structured interviews with non-voters have been conducted to detect the cause of this situation. Collected sample contains nine younger non-voters and six older ones. The data were analyzed according to the rules of grounded theory. The product of this analysis is a typology of non-voters and their main motivations for non-voting and a scheme of participating factors. The result of the analysis suggests that there is a difference between younger and older generation. Keywords: Non-voters, election behavior, politics, motivations

<p>AbstractTitle: Electoral campaigns, social media and young voters – a studie of how Moderaterna andSocialdemokraterna are going to reach out to the young voters in the electoral campaign of2010. (Valkampanjer, sociala medier och unga väljare- en studie av hur Moderaterna ochSocialdemokraterna ska nå de unga väljarna i valet 2010).Number of pages: 45Author: Sara RothmanTutor: Göran SvenssonCourse: Media and communication studies CPeriod: Autumn semester 2009University: Division of Media and Communication, Departement of Information Science,Uppsala University.Purpose/ Aim: The aim of this essay is to research how the two largest parties in Sweden,Moderaterna and Socialdemokraterna, are going to reach out to the young voters in theelectoral campaign of 2010. I will also find out how the young voters are going to collecttheir information before the election. That information will be compared to the strategies ofthe parties, in that way I can tell if their strategies match the young voters plans ofinformation search.Material/Method: In my eximination I chose to use two informant interviewes and fourdifferent groups of discussion. The informant interviewes were directed to the two peoplewho are in charge of the communication in the two largest parties in Sweden, Moderaternaand Socialdemokraterna. Two of the groups of discussion contained young people who aregoing to vote for the first time in the election of 2010, and two of the groups contained peoplewho will be voting for the second time. They were four people in every group. The people incharge of the communication in the parties were contacted thru e-mail and I met them on theirworkplaces. The young voters were partly friends of mine who brought people they knew tothe groups. In that way some of them knew each other, but not everybody.Main results: One important thing that I realised after the discussion with the young voterswas that there is a big difference between those who are going to vote for the first time andthose who will vote their second time in the election of 2010. It is impossible to characteriseyoung people as one group because they are all so different from each other. I also found outthat the young people use different media, and so will the parties in their campaigns. It is hardto satisfy all youth but my study shows that many needs will be satisfied because bothtraditional media and new media will be used in the electoral campaigns.Keywords: Electoral campaign, social media, young voters, strategic commnunication,Moderaterna, Socialdemokraterna</p>

AbstractTitle: Electoral campaigns, social media and young voters – a studie of how Moderaterna andSocialdemokraterna are going to reach out to the young voters in the electoral campaign of2010. (Valkampanjer, sociala medier och unga väljare- en studie av hur Moderaterna ochSocialdemokraterna ska nå de unga väljarna i valet 2010).Number of pages: 45Author: Sara RothmanTutor: Göran SvenssonCourse: Media and communication studies CPeriod: Autumn semester 2009University: Division of Media and Communication, Departement of Information Science,Uppsala University.Purpose/ Aim: The aim of this essay is to research how the two largest parties in Sweden,Moderaterna and Socialdemokraterna, are going to reach out to the young voters in theelectoral campaign of 2010. I will also find out how the young voters are going to collecttheir information before the election. That information will be compared to the strategies ofthe parties, in that way I can tell if their strategies match the young voters plans ofinformation search.Material/Method: In my eximination I chose to use two informant interviewes and fourdifferent groups of discussion. The informant interviewes were directed to the two peoplewho are in charge of the communication in the two largest parties in Sweden, Moderaternaand Socialdemokraterna. Two of the groups of discussion contained young people who aregoing to vote for the first time in the election of 2010, and two of the groups contained peoplewho will be voting for the second time. They were four people in every group. The people incharge of the communication in the parties were contacted thru e-mail and I met them on theirworkplaces. The young voters were partly friends of mine who brought people they knew tothe groups. In that way some of them knew each other, but not everybody.Main results: One important thing that I realised after the discussion with the young voterswas that there is a big difference between those who are going to vote for the first time andthose who will vote their second time in the election of 2010. It is impossible to characteriseyoung people as one group because they are all so different from each other. I also found outthat the young people use different media, and so will the parties in their campaigns. It is hardto satisfy all youth but my study shows that many needs will be satisfied because bothtraditional media and new media will be used in the electoral campaigns.Keywords: Electoral campaign, social media, young voters, strategic commnunication,Moderaterna, Socialdemokraterna

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-155).

Thesis--University of Michigan. / Photocopy (positive) made by University Microfilms. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 279-290).

This diploma thesis is primarily focused on the issue of voters' behaviour in the city of Ceske Budejovice. The main goal of the thesis is the synchronic and diachronic comparative analysis of the election preferences of political parties standing in an election in the municipality. Three types of the elections are compared: the elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, the elections to the regional councils in the Czech Republic and the municipal elections. The next primary goal is to analyse whether the breaking points in the parliamentary party system from the years 2010 and 2013 were reflected in the preferences of the electors in the city of Ceske Budejovice, and whether the local party system followed them as well. The secondary objective lies in the comparison of aggregated preferences at the state and regional level with the behaviour of residents of Ceske Budejovice. This comparison is done for the particular political parties in all analysed types of elections. The diploma thesis consists of two main parts, which are the theoretical part and the analytical part. The theoretical part is focused on the general principles of the electoral process as well as three mentioned types of elections. Furthermore, there is a description of the parliamentary, regional and local party system development in the Czech Republic. The last chapter of the theoretical part deals with the theory of the voting behaviour at large and the factors that might influence it as well. The analytical part of the thesis is split into chapters according to the sorts of the research elections. Each chapter contains the analysis of the results and polls as well as the relative deviation from the national and regional preferences. In the last chapter of the analytical part, the links between the voters' behaviour and the social-economic factors, which might influence it, are contemplated.

Freedom of expression can be viewed as the very heart of democracy, without it the democratic system falls apart. Political communication is a form of expression and perhaps the most important form as well. The intentions and methods of political communication are not always honest and nuanced though, which may jeopardize the legitimacy of the democratic system. This is because of the demos, the voters and citizens, who represent the core of democracy as a system. The demos often act as receivers of political messages, and very rarely as senders. Consequently, the demos are vulnerable in this aspect. On the other hand, the politicians do have the possibly to angle and manipulate information in order to favour their own intentions. Political propaganda is one kind of political communication that has been present during a long period of time in basically every corner of the world. According to various scientists, political parties often use propaganda in election campaigns to maximise votes. Further on, propaganda can be described as deceitful and manipulative, which are features that do not correspond well with democracy and its ideals. Does that mean that the voters are completely helpless in relation to the political propaganda? With the focus and aim of this study, which is to illuminate the various features and techniques of propaganda, we hope to give the voters further knowledge and understanding about the rhetoric strategies within political manifestos. Because if the voters are not aware of the issue, and does not have the tools to see past the propaganda, how are they supposed to form a well-founded perception and make a choice that they are fully comfortable with? With a certain analytical instrument that contains four dimensions of propaganda, some of the political manifestos that were presented during the election campaign in Sweden 2014 have been examined closely. Further on, regarding the results and conclusions of the study, it supports the assumption that propaganda exists in different ways within the chosen manifestos. All of the dimensions that exist within the analytical instrument can be perceived as found in the material. These dimensions/techniques are simplification, exaggeration, packaging the message and disguise.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the trends in Alabama voting which have occurred since V. O. Key's classic study of the problem in 1949; particular emphasis is placed upon the impact on Alabama politics of the growing Negro vote since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.