The introduction of referendums and initiative in North America was deeply influenced by the popu... more The introduction of referendums and initiative in North America was deeply influenced by the populists in the late 19th Century and the Progressives in the early 20th Century who championed direct democracy as a means of controlling the moneyed elite. Today provisions for referendums exist in all but one of the US States and provisions for initiatives in roughly half of the United States. The number of referendums and initiative was modest until the 1970s, when it began to increase—often due to efforts by wealthy individuals. Overall, direct democracy has not been for sale and there is no evidence that special interest groups have been able to ‘buy’ the results. The chapter also presents an overview of the experiences with referendums in the Caribbean and Canada.
The entire political universe, from the heights of the Washington establishment to the depths of ... more The entire political universe, from the heights of the Washington establishment to the depths of the grassroots, agrees that our presidential nominating process needs to be reformed.1 Rob Richie, Executive Director of Fairvote ... Surprisingly, the Framers of the US ...
A post-election overview on what was \\u27normal\\u27 about the 2012 US election compared to prev... more A post-election overview on what was \\u27normal\\u27 about the 2012 US election compared to previous presidential elections,and an assessment of how 2012 was unlike other US elections. The discussion will also consider how Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are perceived overseas, and how Americans\\u27 attitudes about their elections compare to attitudes held by citizens in other democratic nations. About the Lecturer: Todd Donovan Professor of Political Science, Western Washington Universit
... The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking TENTH EDITION KENNETH HOOVER WesternWashington Uni... more ... The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking TENTH EDITION KENNETH HOOVER WesternWashington University TODD DONOVAN Western Washington University Australia• Brazil• Japan• Korea• Mexico• Singapore• Spain• United Kingdom• United States ✵ Copyright 2010 ...
ObjectivesNew York City is the largest U.S. jurisdiction to use ranked choice voting (RCV). We ex... more ObjectivesNew York City is the largest U.S. jurisdiction to use ranked choice voting (RCV). We examine New York and other U.S. cities using RCV to assess if there were different levels of understanding and utilization of RCV across demographic groups.MethodsWe placed items on a survey conducted during the 2021 New York City RCV election that had been included in two previous surveys of different U.S. cities using RCV.ResultsWe find higher levels of reported understanding and rates of ranking multiple candidates in NYC than in other jurisdictions. We find no systematic differences by race/ethnicity in terms of reported understanding of RCV in NYC or the other samples. We also find no systematic association between age and reported understanding of RCV. Respondents with more education were more likely to report understanding RCV in each sample. People of color were less likely to report ranking multiple mayoral candidates in NYC and California, and respondents with more education were more likely to report ranking in two samples.ConclusionsApart from these important differences in utilization, our search for race/ethnic differences largely produced null results, suggesting RCV may not produce bias in who engages with it.
We test how perceptions of feeling like a loser in American politics may condition support for ch... more We test how perceptions of feeling like a loser in American politics may condition support for changes to how elections are conducted. We report a survey experiment that sheds some light on why people may feel like an electoral loser, then use this measure of losing to predict support for a range of proposals to change elections. The experiment prompted people to consider if they were satisfied with how democracy works and to think about the design and structure of American government. Respondents were then asked if they felt like they were on the winning or losing ‘side’ of politics. The prompt was associated with higher rates of respondents reporting they felt like they were on the losing side. Non-experimental estimates of support for a range of proposed changes to elections find a substantial relationship between this form of feeling like a loser, and supporting changing how elections are conducted. This relationship holds with controls for partisanship and other factors. One implication of this is that the more that some Americans are prompted to think about their government and democracy, the more likely they support changing how it works.
In this project, we examine the effects of electoral competition on political corruption. Specifi... more In this project, we examine the effects of electoral competition on political corruption. Specifically, we propose that electoral competition may facilitate some types of corruption, while mitigating others. We argue pressures of competitive elections may increase incentives for candidates and their supporters to violate laws that regulate the conduct of elections. We will examine if “election crimes� (defined by the DOJ as voter fraud and campaign finance violations) are more likely in competitive electoral settings. To examine this relationship we rely on data culled from the Department of Justice, Federal Elections Commission, and the Census Bureau. Specifically, we use information compiled by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Public Integrity Section regarding federal prosecutions of elected officials, Federal Elections Commission data on electoral competition in the setting where the official broke the law, and census data regarding demographics of the setting. The project will advance extant scholarship by linking data on several years of federal prosecutions to the electoral context of the violation.
ABSTRACT Campaigns have been shown to increase public awareness of issues and candidates. Little ... more ABSTRACT Campaigns have been shown to increase public awareness of issues and candidates. Little is known about how ballot measure campaigns affect attitudes about the subjects of those campaigns. This paper makes use of ANES panel data to assess if attitudes about gays and lesbians changed in response to same-sex marriage referendum campaigns. Preliminary analysis suggests that respondents had lower feeling thermometer ratings of gays and lesbians after exposure to same sex marriage campaigns.
Several nations ban the release of pre-election poll results based on the assumption that voters ... more Several nations ban the release of pre-election poll results based on the assumption that voters will be adversely influenced by poll information. The AAPOR notes that there is no scientific evidence that voter decisions are influenced by media polls. This paper uses a list experiment and question wording experiment to assess if voters might be influenced by a candidate’s poll standing when voting. Results are consistent with a theory that proposes that voters with weaker political preferences (the less educated, younger, less politically engaged) may be significantly more likely to support candidates who are leading in media polls. Although the effects are substantial for some sub sets of voters, these voters may be least likely to become aware off media poll information in a real world setting. The effect poll information on candidate choices is minimal for the electorate overall.
The introduction of referendums and initiative in North America was deeply influenced by the popu... more The introduction of referendums and initiative in North America was deeply influenced by the populists in the late 19th Century and the Progressives in the early 20th Century who championed direct democracy as a means of controlling the moneyed elite. Today provisions for referendums exist in all but one of the US States and provisions for initiatives in roughly half of the United States. The number of referendums and initiative was modest until the 1970s, when it began to increase—often due to efforts by wealthy individuals. Overall, direct democracy has not been for sale and there is no evidence that special interest groups have been able to ‘buy’ the results. The chapter also presents an overview of the experiences with referendums in the Caribbean and Canada.
The entire political universe, from the heights of the Washington establishment to the depths of ... more The entire political universe, from the heights of the Washington establishment to the depths of the grassroots, agrees that our presidential nominating process needs to be reformed.1 Rob Richie, Executive Director of Fairvote ... Surprisingly, the Framers of the US ...
A post-election overview on what was \\u27normal\\u27 about the 2012 US election compared to prev... more A post-election overview on what was \\u27normal\\u27 about the 2012 US election compared to previous presidential elections,and an assessment of how 2012 was unlike other US elections. The discussion will also consider how Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are perceived overseas, and how Americans\\u27 attitudes about their elections compare to attitudes held by citizens in other democratic nations. About the Lecturer: Todd Donovan Professor of Political Science, Western Washington Universit
... The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking TENTH EDITION KENNETH HOOVER WesternWashington Uni... more ... The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking TENTH EDITION KENNETH HOOVER WesternWashington University TODD DONOVAN Western Washington University Australia• Brazil• Japan• Korea• Mexico• Singapore• Spain• United Kingdom• United States ✵ Copyright 2010 ...
ObjectivesNew York City is the largest U.S. jurisdiction to use ranked choice voting (RCV). We ex... more ObjectivesNew York City is the largest U.S. jurisdiction to use ranked choice voting (RCV). We examine New York and other U.S. cities using RCV to assess if there were different levels of understanding and utilization of RCV across demographic groups.MethodsWe placed items on a survey conducted during the 2021 New York City RCV election that had been included in two previous surveys of different U.S. cities using RCV.ResultsWe find higher levels of reported understanding and rates of ranking multiple candidates in NYC than in other jurisdictions. We find no systematic differences by race/ethnicity in terms of reported understanding of RCV in NYC or the other samples. We also find no systematic association between age and reported understanding of RCV. Respondents with more education were more likely to report understanding RCV in each sample. People of color were less likely to report ranking multiple mayoral candidates in NYC and California, and respondents with more education were more likely to report ranking in two samples.ConclusionsApart from these important differences in utilization, our search for race/ethnic differences largely produced null results, suggesting RCV may not produce bias in who engages with it.
We test how perceptions of feeling like a loser in American politics may condition support for ch... more We test how perceptions of feeling like a loser in American politics may condition support for changes to how elections are conducted. We report a survey experiment that sheds some light on why people may feel like an electoral loser, then use this measure of losing to predict support for a range of proposals to change elections. The experiment prompted people to consider if they were satisfied with how democracy works and to think about the design and structure of American government. Respondents were then asked if they felt like they were on the winning or losing ‘side’ of politics. The prompt was associated with higher rates of respondents reporting they felt like they were on the losing side. Non-experimental estimates of support for a range of proposed changes to elections find a substantial relationship between this form of feeling like a loser, and supporting changing how elections are conducted. This relationship holds with controls for partisanship and other factors. One implication of this is that the more that some Americans are prompted to think about their government and democracy, the more likely they support changing how it works.
In this project, we examine the effects of electoral competition on political corruption. Specifi... more In this project, we examine the effects of electoral competition on political corruption. Specifically, we propose that electoral competition may facilitate some types of corruption, while mitigating others. We argue pressures of competitive elections may increase incentives for candidates and their supporters to violate laws that regulate the conduct of elections. We will examine if “election crimes� (defined by the DOJ as voter fraud and campaign finance violations) are more likely in competitive electoral settings. To examine this relationship we rely on data culled from the Department of Justice, Federal Elections Commission, and the Census Bureau. Specifically, we use information compiled by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Public Integrity Section regarding federal prosecutions of elected officials, Federal Elections Commission data on electoral competition in the setting where the official broke the law, and census data regarding demographics of the setting. The project will advance extant scholarship by linking data on several years of federal prosecutions to the electoral context of the violation.
ABSTRACT Campaigns have been shown to increase public awareness of issues and candidates. Little ... more ABSTRACT Campaigns have been shown to increase public awareness of issues and candidates. Little is known about how ballot measure campaigns affect attitudes about the subjects of those campaigns. This paper makes use of ANES panel data to assess if attitudes about gays and lesbians changed in response to same-sex marriage referendum campaigns. Preliminary analysis suggests that respondents had lower feeling thermometer ratings of gays and lesbians after exposure to same sex marriage campaigns.
Several nations ban the release of pre-election poll results based on the assumption that voters ... more Several nations ban the release of pre-election poll results based on the assumption that voters will be adversely influenced by poll information. The AAPOR notes that there is no scientific evidence that voter decisions are influenced by media polls. This paper uses a list experiment and question wording experiment to assess if voters might be influenced by a candidate’s poll standing when voting. Results are consistent with a theory that proposes that voters with weaker political preferences (the less educated, younger, less politically engaged) may be significantly more likely to support candidates who are leading in media polls. Although the effects are substantial for some sub sets of voters, these voters may be least likely to become aware off media poll information in a real world setting. The effect poll information on candidate choices is minimal for the electorate overall.
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