Electoral Reforms

Le vote, sous le règne du suffrage universel, est le principal mode de légitimation des régimes de démocratie représentative. Cette pratique générale – s’exprimer à échéance régulière pourl ’élection de ses représentants – recouvre un grand nombre de diversités. Diversité dans la nature des régimes : régimes parlementaire, semi-présidentiel ou présidentiel. Diversité dans les espaces-temps qui séparent les scrutins. Diversité surtout dans les modalités de l’élection.Le mode de scrutin est une des contraintes juridico-politiques qui entourent l’expression du suffrage. Depuis plusieurs années, la nature et les modalités des systèmes électoraux sont au centre de débats politiques et scientifiques. Certains Etats ont changé leur législation électorale récemment (Italie, Japon, Nouvelle-Zélande). En Belgique, la problématique d’un éventuel passage au scrutin majoritaire a été évoquée à plusieurs reprises. L’ouvrage fait le point sur l’état des principaux modes de scrutin à l’ceuvre en Europe. Une question centrale traverse le livre: dans quelle mesure le mode de scrutin « fait-il » l’élection ? Cette problématique est au cceur des différentes contributions à travers l’évocation de situations en Europe occidentale et centrale ou dans une dimension internationale – les élections pour le Parlement européen.Dans la deuxième partie du livre, la controverse est centrée sur la Belgique, à travers des interrogations clés : quelles raisons ont justifié le passage d’un mode de scrutin majoritaire au scrutin proportionnel en 1899 ? Quelles sont les modalités juridiques d’un éventuel changement de mode de scrutin ? Quels pourraient, enfin, être les effets d’un passage du mode de scrutin proportionnel à un scrutin majoritaire ?

" ABSTRACT “An election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for the blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.” - George Bernard Shaw One of the many flaws of our democracy is that the voters have limited options to exercise. The candidates are selected by their respective political parties on the basis of so-called “win ability” formula for representing respective legislative houses and then, the voters are asked to elect one of them. Therefore, sometimes the voters may not have a choice but to vote to candidate having selected by the party to represent that constituency despite of the candidate having criminal antecedents. That this being sole reason on the basis of win ability formula that is why parties are some time select the candidates having criminal antecedents and this can be seen as now a days criminals and corrupt getting into the assemblies and Lok Sabha after every round of elections. That in view of the criminalization of electoral process, the government has to bring adequate reform in the electoral process by simply providing a “none of the above” option in the EVMs, the voters can be given a choice, a choice to reject all the candidates in fray . If such negative votes out-number those in favour of the leading candidate, then the election would be countermanded and the candidates would be debarred from contesting elections in future. It is the citizen’s prerogative right not to vote / right to reject / negative voting / none of the above is a campaign for inclusion of 'None of the Above' button in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). It aims to provide all citizens, the right to reject all candidates so as to document their distrust against politicians. It is also a prerogative of the citizen’s to elect their representatives and at the same time to decide whether a non-performing elected representative should continue in office for a full term or not. An elected representative, who is not performing up to the expectation, can only be removed by democratic means, with due procedural laws. Therefore, along with right to elect comes the right to recall also. The 'right to recall' a representative / legislator is a democratic method of removing an elected representative on the ground of non-performance or even misuse of their position. The assumption is that once this right to reject is ex excised by the voter, the political parties will be forced rather have to take the voters’ preferences in to consideration while fielding candidates in legislative fray. "

In this article, I wrote about how electoral reforms became tools towards participatory democracy in india. How electoral reforms developed trust and thought for election system. And, how Indian voters believe that their vote can makes a difference.

La réforme des institutions en cours s’appuie sur une réforme électorale d’ampleur dont l’objectif est d’améliorer l’efficacité du Parlement et sa représentativité. Une mise en perspective montre, toutefois, qu’elle échouera à atteindre ses objectifs notamment car elle s’avère fondée sur des arguments empiriquement discutables et des postulats contestables. Ses conséquences n’en seront pas moins significatives pour la carte électorale, les députés et les partis politiques. Surtout, la réforme électorale apparaît comme la mesure essentielle de la réforme institutionnelle par ses effets indirects sur le Parlement.

That in view of the criminalization of electoral process, it is a high time that the government has to bring adequate reform in the electoral process by simply implementing Right to reject by providing a “none of the above” option in the EVMs, the voters can be given a choice, a choice to reject all the candidates in fray . If such negative votes outnumber those in favour of the leading candidate, then the election would be countermanded and the candidates would be debarred from contesting elections in future.

It is the citizen’s prerogative right not to vote / right to reject / negative voting / none of the above is a campaign for inclusion of 'None of the Above' button in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). It aims to provide all citizens, the right to reject all candidates so as to
document their distrust against politicians. Thus it is imperative on the part of the Government to bring adequate electoral reforms, even to the extent of extending or empowering its citizens with the Right to Recall the public representatives

NOTA or None of the Above option in the ballot is one of the most controversial topic in relation to the Electoral Reforms in India. Since the NOTA gives a considerable right to the voters, the voters feels themselves privileged and the opinion of each and every individual is being taken and thus it alienates the discontent among the voters to large extent. Originally thought of by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the year 2001, it took more than a decade to implement this option and that too was only done after the Hon’ble Supreme Court gave direction in the Writ Petition Case of People's Union for Civil Liberties and Anr. v. Union of India (UOI) and Anr. Further the political parties are uncertain about the probable outcome of this change and hence they did not welcome this move on a good note, except a few parties who are fighting for cleaning the system, to make it free from corruption. In this essay we have humbly tried to highlight the probable outcome of this move with reference to those countries which have already been practising this option for long and we have tried to analyse and solve the problems that may crop up in due course of time with appropriate suggestions.
         
Keywords: NOTA, ECI, Union of India, Corruption, Electoral Reforms

Reformas electorales . coord. por Jorge Poveda Quirós

Signatura:
324.2 C79r.
Autor:
Costa Rica. Asamblea Legislativa.
Pie de Imprenta:
San José : La Asamblea. 1994.
Descriptores:
Elecciones - C.R. Partidos políticos - C.R. Cuerpos legislativos - C.R. Elecciones - Legislación - C.R.
Resumen:
Refrendo. Financiación a los partidos políticos. Comunicación y propaganda.
Centro Propietario: ALEG-CR

Pakistani politics is full of political rhetoric. Attractive slogans are used by leaders of political parties to inspire and set the mood of public about a particular issue. Even parliament is neglected by politicians. This political immaturity led the nation towards street politics and polarization in the society. Due to elements of intolerance in politics, leadership could not find consensus and viable solutions. The paper analyzes political rhetoric; slogan politics and role of parliament in Pakistan especially focusing on the first one year of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz's (PML-N) current government. In this context, political parties and their leaders' popular statements particularly in print media containing rhetoric and slogans to resolve two important issues i.e. electoral reforms and energy crisis has been examined. Political parties' initiatives in the form of calling attention notices, questions, resolutions, bills, motions and point of orders in the parliament have also been assessed followed by recommendations. The paper highlights that politicians generally use rhetoric and slogan politics instead of using parliament to satisfy the public on various issues. The paper recommends that political parties should enhance intellectual depth of party members and leaders so that they can effectively use the forum of parliament for resolving issues.  Since its independence, Pakistan's politics have been shuttling between democracy and dictatorship like a pendulum where political rhetoric and slogan politics are mostly used to inspire and win public support. Pakistan's current politics mostly focus on various key issues namely panama leaks, electoral reforms, energy crisis and law and order situation in the country due to terrorism. Many other issues like corruption, unemployment, education, health, poverty, price hike and inflation etc. are, however, at low priority agenda of political parties at the moment. These issues are mostly highlighted by political leaders on streets through demonstrations and media coverage. In developed democracies, politicians mostly use parliament as a forum to discuss various political, security, social and economic issues in order to reach at solutions and frame legislations. Furthermore, in advanced states, parliament works to detached people from staging demonstrations in streets and helps them to send their representatives in the legislature (Waseem, 2016). However, it

L’article étudie la réduction du nombre de parlementaires en France, au Portugal et au Royaume-Uni. Il vise à en comprendre le sens grâce à une approche discursive et argumentative comparée, réalisée à partir de l’étude d’un large corpus documentaire. Après avoir constaté les limites des approches rationnelles et mathématiques, l’étude des arguments pour et contre la réforme permet de construire deux référentiels, « décisionniste » et « représentativiste », du rôle du Parlement. La question électorale initiale (du nombre) est transfigurée pour devenir une réforme institutionnelle (du Parlement) dont les enjeux en concurrence sont l’utilité et les fonctions. En démontrant que la question du nombre importe moins que les fonctions et les conséquences que les acteurs politiques attribuent à sa baisse, l’article apporte une contribution à la place des idées dans l’analyse des politiques publiques.

Vote buying has become a biggest problem in conducting free and fair elections in India. The threats they impose undermine the very nature of Indian democracy. What is the reason behind such immoral incidents in politics? The paper tries to understand these events through a case study of recently concluded RK Nagar by-poll, which saw the rise of TTV Dinakaran, the nephew of Sasikala Natarajan as a potent force in Tamilnadu politics. The paper tries to analyse the discourses of the people regarding 'money' and 'politics' dictated by their socio-political context and tries to understand the meaning they attach to 'money' and 'politics' and through that analysis, the paper tries to locate these corrupt practises in the lack of 'Social imagination' by its people.

This paper aims to rebuild the Italian electoral reform’s age started in 1993, whose beginning marked the end of the “First Republic”, from a rational-choice perspective, while supporting our argument according to which the electoral reforms’ “direction of motion” can be explained through the power holder’s preferences; in other words, changes in electoral systems mirror changes in the power holder’s perception of its position within the party system. In the first section
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we will provide a theoretical framework and two resulting hypothesis; in the second section, given the power holder’s provisions regarding the forthcoming round of elections and the resulting preferences, we will try to catch each single reform’s ratio in order to test our hypothesis; the third section is dedicated to the new MES’s hypothetical effects on the power holder’s future electoral performances; in the fourth section, conclusions will be drawn and our theoretical framework’s limitation will be highlighted.

The holdings of periodic free and fair elections have become a key step to consolidating democracies around the world. This calls for an effective means of addressing election-related issues and building strong election management bodies that have the ability to ensure the involvement of various stakeholders in the entire process. The acceptance or otherwise of election results, especially in developing countries where elections usually end in unnecessary conflicts, make electoral reforms very important.
The paper reviews some of the key issues that have characterized Ghanaian elections under the Fourth Republic and throws some light on some reforms that have been carried out by the country’s electoral commission to ensure that the country’s efforts at consolidating her democracy becomes a reality. The paper does so by examining policy documents and reports on the subject under consideration.
The paper found that while the EC plays a key role in electoral reform, its efforts may not yield the necessary results if it does not partner with the key stakeholders. The paper further shows that holding transparent and credible elections is a critical component of the democratization processwhich enhances the legitimacy of the government and also increases trust between the government and its people if the necessary reforms are undertaken in line with the aspirations of the people.

In 2004 UPA promised: to provide a government that is corruption-free, transparent and accountable at all times, to provide an administration that is responsible and responsive at all times. To fulfill the promise, the UPA initiated (1) Second Administrative Reforms Commission, (2) e-Governance, (3) RTI, (4) Lok Pal, (5) Clearing of backlog in court cases, (6) Legal aid services for marginalized sections, (7) Judicial reforms, and (8) Electoral reforms. The performance is, at best, slow, partial, half-hearted and reactive; and, at worst, contrary to the promises. During the second term UPA faced the most embarrassing expose of several scandals, involving a number of top political and corporate leaders and top officials, which resulted in glaring financial corruption/ revenue loss of several lakhs of crores of rupees. Most of these were unearthed by the Parliament's own CAG. The incidence of corruption has doubled since 2008 in urban slums from 34% to 67%. The incidence of bribe payment is the highest among the poorer sections. A vast majority of people are not able to take advantage of RTI due to ignorance and lack of confidence. RTI does not include redress mechanism. The reach of the judiciary remained low due to huge backlog and complicated processes. The grassroots people apparently are inclined to resolve their civil matters through alternative judicial means. The (delayed) justice delivery process has, apparently, emboldened criminals. As a result the political corruption, corrupt practices by the corporate sector, land mafias, atrocities against the weaker sections, rapes and molestations, etc are growing unabated. The UPA focused more on policing measures such as setting up of Lokpal, RTI, strengthening of the judiciary, etc to combat corruption. It may be noted that corruption is a manifestation of deep-rooted and larger structural flaws and deficiencies in our polity and institutions of governance. Without addressing the real causes of corruption, any amount of mere policing will not solve the problem.

Political reforms are often mentioned as a solution to weaknesses in Brazilian democracy. Despite being a recurrent agenda in the Legislative Branch, there is no consensus over which issues of the Brazilian political or electoral systems need to change. It is known that the lack of agreement between members of parliament about the political reforms is associated with protecting their own interests. However, other variables (such as the journalistic coverage) influence congressmen’s decisions. Considering that, the proposal is to investigate how Brazilian Journalism has been addressing the theme of political reforms after the 1988’s Constitution was enacted. The objective is to analyze if three of the main Brazilian newspapers (Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, and O Estado de S. Paulo) act as agents interested in the outcomes of the political reforms debated in Brazil since 1989 until 2017. We also evaluate how the coverage concerning this theme develops throughout this period. The main hypotheses are: 1) the newspapers behave as political actors, supporting some proposals of political reforms with no significant changes in their agenda through years; 2) The agendas and frames presented in news and editorial sections are similar within each newspaper. We applied a Content Analysis on the journalistic material about political reforms published by the three newspapers, aiming to understand which agendas they prioritize and how they approach discussions relating to diverse proposals. Such Content Analysis is part of a model designed to assess the political action of journalistic companies by comparing editorial and news sections. Besides investigating the coverage, the research explores if – and to what extent – the press is a political player. It also allows to empirically prove if the newspapers act as political agents, bringing forward their own set of proposals to the political reforms in Brazil. The results indicate some overlap between editorials and news sections, but not enough to argue that the news content is editorialized. It is not always that there is an association between the genres and themes and frames mobilized, pointing to a certain degree of separation between opinionated and informative sections. The themes more frequently discussed by FSP, OG, and OESP are campaign funding, electoral system, electoral rules, and coalitions, while the main problems are connected to party organization and electoral campaigns: party fragmentation and campaign funding. The main solutions supported are the electoral threshold and the ending of coalitions in proportional elections. There are also solutions defended individually by each newspaper, indicating they hold their own agenda. The results also show that the political acting of FSP, OG, and OESP is not aligned to political parties. It manifests itself, actually, as an adversarial behavior directed to the political sphere in general, suggesting that journalism is a field composed of independent institutions that pursue their own goals.

Resumo: Apesar de ter sido aventada, em diversos momentos após a redemocratização, como solução para diferentes déficits identificados na democracia brasileira, não há consenso sobre quais pontos do sistema político ou eleitoral deveriam ser alvo de uma reforma política. Por um lado, a falta de consenso do campo político acerca das propostas remete à defesa dos próprios interesses dos agentes. Por outro, fatores externos (a exemplo da cobertura jornalística) influenciam suas decisões e posicionamentos. Assim, a proposta da pesquisa é investigar como o Jornalismo brasileiro tem abordado a reforma política após a promulgação da Constituição de 1988. O objetivo, portanto, é analisar se, e em que medida, os jornais Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo e O Estado de S. Paulo se comportam como agentes interessados nas reformas políticas debatidas no Brasil desde 1989 até 2017 e avaliar como se desenrola a cobertura noticiosa e editorial sobre a temática ao longo do período. As principais hipóteses da pesquisa são: 1) Os periódicos comportam-se como agentes políticos, apoiando propostas específicas de reforma política, sem consideráveis alterações acerca da agenda defendida ao longo do período analisado; 2) As agendas e os enquadramentos mobilizados na seção noticiosa e em editoriais são semelhantes dentro do mesmo jornal, indicando que eles legitimam as propostas de reforma defendidas em todo o produto jornalístico. Para alcançar os objetivos da tese, foi realizada a Análise de Conteúdo do material jornalístico sobre reforma política publicado nos três jornais, buscando-se identificar e entender as pautas consideradas prioritárias pelas empresas e a forma pela qual discussões sobre as diferentes propostas de reforma são abordadas pelos periódicos. Tal Análise de Conteúdo compõe um modelo desenhado com a finalidade de aferir a atuação política da empresa jornalística (com a pretensão de ser replicável por outros estudos), comparando as seções noticiosa e editorial, mas também trazendo uma investigação comparativa entre os periódicos. Os resultados foram analisados por meio de estatística descritiva. A tese mostra sua originalidade em dois pontos principais: a) supre a lacuna de pesquisas acerca da cobertura jornalística sobre reforma política ou do papel do Jornalismo nas discussões sobre o assunto; b) procura comprovar empiricamente se a imprensa atua como agente político. Os resultados indicam certo grau de sobreposição entre os editoriais e a seção informativa, mas não o suficiente para afirmar que haja uma editorialização do conteúdo noticioso dos periódicos. Nem sempre há associação entre os dois gêneros e os temas e enquadramentos acionados, apontando algum grau de separação entre as duas seções. As temáticas mais abordadas pelos periódicos são financiamento de campanha, sistema eleitoral, regras eleitorais e coligações, enquanto os principais problemas elencados estão associados ao sistema partidário e às campanhas eleitorais: fragmentação partidária e financiamento de campanha. As soluções mais frequentemente defendidas nos editoriais são a adoção da cláusula de barreira e o fim das coligações em eleições proporcionais, evidenciando o foco em reformas atreladas à dimensão eleitoral, além de saídas defendidas individualmente pelos periódicos, compondo sua própria agenda de interesses. Os resultados apontam que a atuação política de FSP, OG e OESP não estão alinhadas a compromissos políticos partidários. Ela se manifesta, na realidade, como um comportamento adversário em relação ao campo político de maneira geral, indicando a constituição do campo jornalístico como instituições independentes e portadoras de objetivos próprios.

Good governance is a precursor for effective electoral reforms in any democratic country. While the practice of democracy is often expected to yield the much needed effective governance, credibility of electoral systems have militated against translating democracy into good governance. The subject of electoral reforms has received sporadic attention, with need for more attention especially in Kenya. With the analysis of primary data obtained from purposively sampled respondents (lawyers, journalists and trainers) with extensive knowledge of recent electoral reforms in the Kenyan democracy, the paper examined the effectiveness of electoral reforms in promoting good governance in Kenya. It identified the availability and extent to which electoral reforms promote peaceful coexistence and good governance. The paper concluded that for electoral reforms to achieve an the expected outcome of good governance there is need for full implementation of electoral reforms, strengthening of the co...

The period from 2013 to 2018 saw Parliament experiment with a number of different electoral systems, with several potential reforms being formally discussed and two of them being fully approved: the so-called Italicum in 2015 and the Rosatellum in 2017. These reforms were triggered by interventions of the Constitutional Court that have no precedent in established democracies. As these interventions resulted in (constrained) responses by the political elites, we argue that Italy has entered a cycle characterised by a new mode of electoral reform involving the interaction of political elites and judges. The article examines the processes that led to the adoption of the Italicum and the Rosatellum, analysing the interaction amongst the actors involved in a rather fluid political context, where the government/opposition divide was fuzzy, shifting and opaque. The article also highlights how the inadequacy both of the reasons given for these reforms, and of their content and the processes by which they were arrived at, prevented them from fully repairing the damage inflicted on electoral integrity by the pre-existing 2005 electoral law (the Porcellum), and concludes that the issue of the electoral system in Italy is far from being settled. However, we remain agnostic on whether the new political elite that emerged after the 2018 election will regain control of the process or whether the interaction between political elites and judges will continue with further judicial interventions.

In a democracy election provide the basis of people's choice and representation. They help provide to crystallize their interest and give expression to them. In the election it is decided who shall govern and who shall have the control over the government. These are, at the same time, also substantive processes of political mobilization and participation. It is through these processes that peripheral groups transcend their regional and caste identities, and acquire over time a certain commonality of economic interests and political identification which help establish a political framework of conflict and negotiation among divergent interest within the society. In India the demand for adult suffrage has become a sine qua non of independence movement. Few disputed its desirability. Direct election was to be the pillar of social revolution. The new Constitution armed the people with the power to change the content of political power through elections. This was guaranteed in Article 326 of the Constitution. This article reads, "The election to the House of the People and the Legislative Assembly of every state shall be on the basis of adult suffrage; that is to say, every person who is citizen of India and who is not less than eighteen years of age on such date as may be fixed in that behalf by or under law made by the appropriate legislature and is not otherwise disqualified under this Constitution. " This extension of political power to the common man of India, irrespective of caste and sex might surely be characterized as political justice.

As an essential feature of a healthy democracy, general elections have been conducted largely in India at regular interval since the first general election happened in May 13, 1952 after the adoption of the constitution. Political participation and various political processes are though the ongoing activities in a polity but undoubtedly the elections are the most notable and visible exercises in a democracy. The process of colonisation had in various ways exploited the Indianness inbuilt in several political-social conscience of the nation, but this also had become a medium to witness the comprehensive phenomenon of development at several layers in Europe. Democracy, equality, liberty, rights, liberal notion of citizenship, voting rights, etc had become the buzzword of the time and they also marked the great impact on intelligentia of India who were trying hard along with daily activism to respond colonialism through the intellectual exercise of postcolonialism.

Read the full article: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=YAvdDwAAQBAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA21

The paper 1919 Election in the Old Kingdom analyses the first election by universal male suffrage in Romania in terms of legal framework and electoral arithmetic. The discussion is thematically limited to the electoral system change for the lower house of the Romanian Parliament and geographically to the old Romania, which has experienced the most radical refom. It approaches the origins, the features and the effects of the new system, seen in a narrow sense, including only the ballot and the electoral formula. In the end, it briefly presents some quantitative aspects regarding the electoral participation and the electoral behavior of the voters, trying to bring some possible explanations for the practical failure of the suffrage extension and of the proportional representation. Cu toate că în istoriografia românească există o cvasiunanimitate în recunoaşterea importanţei problematicii electorale pentru perioada 1857-1938, aceasta e prezentată expeditiv, simplist şi, de foarte multe ori, eronat. Primează descriptivismul şi cantitativismul, dar şi acestea sunt minate de lacune şi erori. Pentru rigoare, precizez că în cele ce urmează mă voi referi doar la aspecte legate de: a. alegerile din 1919; b. Adunarea deputaţilor; c. Vechiul Regat (inclusiv Dobrogea); d. Sistemul electoral în sens restrâns (scrutin +

Se analiza la primera propuesta para la implementación de un sistema electoral de representación proporcional en México y sus principales repercusiones en la formulación de leyes electorales posteriores. Esta iniciativa fue presentada por el Partido Popular (pp) de Vicente Lombardo Toledano, en 1951, durante la xli Legislatura (1949-1952). Este hecho se correlaciona con la emergencia de la oposición política en la Cámara de Diputados, ya que a la par de la propuesta del pp, el Partido Acción Nacional (pan), el mismo año, propuso una iniciativa de reforma electoral. Ambas propuestas propiciaron un debate legislativo que identificaba la importancia de las elecciones como instrumentos de control político por parte del Estado y proponían su reformulación.

Kosovo has completed a decade of elections. From 2000 to 2010, Kosovo saw four elections for the National Assembly, four elections for municipal assemblies and two mayoral elections. Ten years is a short period of time to observe electoral processes, but Kosovo’s experience during this period was
tumultuous and saw numerous changes. Kosovo’s electoral democracy has not built solid ground yet, while the changes were introduced so frequently that it is difficult to discern and isolate their effects from other intervening factors.
The sequence of twelve elections (in seven election years) provides a basis for initial analysis. A careful look at trends may be useful to initiate a discussion that is well grounded on facts and figures. Trends can illustrate processes and outcomes that cannot be spotted with a naked eye. We hope this first attempt to analyze trends after 2010 will add to the quantity and quality of the public discourse on ongoing election reforms.
EC’s assessments of Kosovo’s election authority as having made ‘limited progress’ in the past three years are worrisome as are the numerous cases of violations. Other independent voices were even more critical, hence there is no doubt that the election management institutions must be much more attentive to repairing at least the weak spots that have been well documented.
Data provided by the CEC is often incomplete and presented in formats that make comparison difficult, expensive and time consuming. Few organizations can afford to type mountains of figures from unfriendly PDFs with missing data to quantitative databases hence the dearth of studies that help understand our electoral experience.
The trend analysis presented below takes into consideration changes over the years that have affected the electoral process most. The study starts by looking at the most fundamental aspects of the electoral process such as movements in electorate, voters’ list maintenance, and moves to analyze overall trends of invalid, spoiled, by-mail and conditional ballots. Overall party trends are analyzed next, followed by a review of their dependence on leaders, the effect of open lists and finally compares the rate of female MPs elected by merit versus the quota.
The data presented in this paper is only the beginning of a comprehensive study that needs to take place to inform political parties on the gaps and bottlenecks, as well as advantages and disadvantages of various electoral tools that Kosovo has tried in the past. Short of such a detailed reflection, election authorities and decision-makers will be inadequately equipped to avoid pitfalls that may be lurking ahead of future rounds of our democratic exercises.
D4D will continue to delve much deeper and present more findings in future publications. Trends that are presented here should instigate a more qualitative discussion on what reforms Kosovo needs in the future, for its electoral system as well as for the process.

La presente tesis estudia el proceso legislativo que se requirió para la aprobación del proyecto 14.268. Su objetivo radica en conocer los condicionantes políticos que intervienen para (des)incentivar la aprobación de proyectos de ley por parte de la Asamblea Legislativa; así se concentra en que factores internos y externos pueden afectar la labor de los diputados y las diputadas y, con ello, generar ambientes más o menos favorables para la aprobación de un proyecto de ley. Se parte del planteamiento que el Código Electoral aprobado en Costa Rica, en el 2009, es el resultado de tres procesos o fenómenos: 1) los cambios y acontecimientos ocurridos en el contexto político y electoral; 2) las acciones de los actores que intervienen en el proceso legislativo e institucional para la aprobación del proyecto 14.268 y, 3) la trayectoria histórica de la reforma electoral en el país. Estos procesos no son excluyentes entre sí, sino que actúan de manera conjunta para modelar el resultado final de la reforma electoral estudiada. En el primer capítulo se hace una reconstrucción de la trayectoria histórica de las reformas electorales realizadas en Costa Rica, entre 1953 y el 2002, con el propósito de identificar los factores coyunturales presentes que inciden en (des)incentivar la aprobación de proyectos de reforma al Código Electoral por parte de la Asamblea Legislativa. Utilizando Análisis Comparativo Cualitativo (QCA por sus siglas en inglés), se identifiquen que los factores que tienen más peso son: que el proyecto sea una iniciativa del Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), que haya una baja dispersión del poder en el Congreso, que exista una alta incertidumbre electoral, que haya existido problemas o dificultades en el proceso electoral anterior, y que no existan reclamos o acusaciones a la actuación del TSE por parte de los partidos políticos. Por su parte, el segundo y tercer capítulo presentan un análisis del proceso legislativo seguido por el proyecto 14.268 entre el 2002 y el 2009. Dicho análisis permite concluir que los cambios en el contexto electoral y en los intereses en el contenido de la reforma por parte de los partidos políticos, es lo que explica que estuviera en discusión durante casi 8 años en la corriente legislativa. Asimismo, se identifican dos periodos, el primero (2002-2006) en que existían las condiciones para realizar cambios importantes en el régimen electoral costarricense, pero no había un incentivo fuerte para los actores de aprobarlo, y el segundo (2006-2009) donde los partidos tenían fuertes incentivos para realizar un cambio en la normativa electoral, pero no había las condiciones necesarias para lograr modificaciones importantes en el status quo vigente. Lo anterior no solo explica el largo tiempo que se requirió para la aprobación del proyecto, sino también porque el contenido finalmente aprobado por la Asamblea Legislativa dista de manera importante de las reformas originalmente propuestas por el TSE en el texto original del proyecto.

This paper examines the influence of money in election and also the viability of state funding of elections as a remedial alternative. The study finds that During 2014 Lok Sabha election, huge amount of cash, liquor, narcotics, heroins etc. were seized. Also, money in crores have come through hawala operators. All those were to manipulate the electorate. 
Ethnicisation and regionalisation of political parties, abrasion of intra-party democracy & moral degradation of politicians are responsible for illegal use money in elections. Also, Explanation (1) to Sec.77 of the RP Act leaves ample scope for wrongs concerning election finance. 
Almost 80% of political donations in India are from unknown sources and our legal machinery lags far behind a number of other countries where political parties are legally bound to disclose their detailed financial positions.
Finally, Explanation (1) to Sec.77 of the RP Act needs to be replaced by new provision compelling parties to disclose their financial particulars including sources of funds. Moreover, State funding, which is successfully prevailing in more than 75 countries, also needs to be introduced in India to eliminate undue influence of money in elections and to ensure true electoral verdict.

The article analyzes the formal aspects and the political consequences of the electoral system in the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the reforms to the electoral system that have been made since World War II. The electoral system, and in particular the 5% threshold for exclusion, played an important role in the defragmentation of the German national party system in the first decades of the Republic. The 5% rule’s de-fragmenting effects, however, should not be overestimated. The remarkable stability of the German party system during the 1960s and 1970s was principally due to vote concentration on the three established parties of the time: the two large Christian-Democratic (CDU/CSU) and Social Democratic (SPD) parties and the smaller Liberal-Democratic Party (FDP). Subsequently, and in particular in the decade following the 1990 reunification, the German party system has shown higher vote fragmentation, which the electoral system has only partially contained in translating votes into seats. At the present political moment, it is doubtful that the electoral system alone can contain fragmentation on a durable basis. The article also analyzes the political consequences of features of the German electoral system that are less often studied in the international literature, such as the “alternative threshold” (the attainment of a plurality of votes in three single-member districts), and the phenomenon of “excess seats”, due to which the number of elected MPs may vary over time.

Resumen: La asociación Poder Ciudadano ¡Ya! presentó en 2016 un proyecto de ley (#20127) a la Asamblea Legislativa de Costa Rica para adoptar un sistema mixto proporcional de elección de diputados, con la convicción de que el sistema proporcional por lista cerrada partidaria no ofrece representatividad y, por ende, impide que la Asamblea Legislativa responda de manera oportuna y efectiva a los retos contemporáneos y a las demandas ciudadanas. La autora va más allá y expone la hipótesis de que el actual sistema proporcional con base provincial es también corresponsable del desarrollo desigual entre el centro urbano y las regiones periféricas del país. Desde un enfoque sistémico explora la posible correlación del modelo proporcional de elección con el retraso socioeconómico de las zonas rurales y costeras. La doctrina especializada y el derecho comparado le permiten concluir que la adopción del Sistema Mixto Proporcional tiene el potencial de ofrecer representatividad pareja para todo el electorado, de acercar los tomadores de decisiones a los receptores de la política pública, de generar un trabajo legislativo que produzca impacto equitativo en todo el territorio nacional, y de redistribuir el poder acorde con los tiempos y con lo que la ciudadanía demanda.

El objetivo de este artículo es explicar las reformas de las reglas de reelección que tuvieron lugar en 2015 en cuatro países latinoamericanos: República Dominicana, Honduras, Colombia y Brasil. Contrariamente a lo que sostiene la literatura comparada reciente, se argumenta que estas reformas se deben básicamente a motivaciones estratégicas y objetivos particularistas de las élites políticas que las promovieron. Tanto en el caso de las permisivas (República Dominicana y Honduras) como las restrictivas (Colombia y Brasil), las reformas responden a intereses electorales de corto plazo de los actores políticos y están ausentes las razones de eficiencia del sistema y consensos amplios para la aprobación de los cambios de los sistemas electorales. En términos más generales, el artículo argumenta que un marco analítico para el estudio de las reformas electorales debería abarcar tres dimensiones: las motivaciones y objetivos de la coalición reformista, los propios actores que promueven la reforma y la manera de como esta se aprobó.

Good governance is a precursor for effective electoral reforms in any democratic country. While the practice of democracy is often expected to yield the much needed effective governance, credibility of electoral systems have militated against translating democracy into good governance. The subject of electoral reforms has received sporadic attention, with need for more attention especially in Kenya. With the analysis of primary data obtained from purposively sampled respondents (lawyers, journalists and trainers) with extensive knowledge of recent electoral reforms in the Kenyan democracy, the paper examined the effectiveness of electoral reforms in promoting good governance in Kenya. It identified the availability and extent to which electoral reforms promote peaceful coexistence and good governance. The paper concluded that for electoral reforms to achieve an the expected outcome of good governance there is need for full implementation of electoral reforms, strengthening of the country’s democratic institutions and intensifying civic education on electoral  amongst the citizenry as a priority for good governance in Kenya.

The paper examines the concept of representative democracy and election as its foundational hallmark. It focuses on election in Nigeria and the role of information and communication Technology (ICT). Elections in Nigeria and the nature of the electoral process are usually fraught with sectarian conflicts between ethnic groups and the multivariate religions that exist thereby exposing the process to violence and fraud which consequently have led to perennial leadership failures. This paper therefore, aims to x-ray the role and relevance of ICT in affecting the outcomes of elections in Nigeria. In particular, it seeks to examine how the deployment of advanced technology in the form of introduction of card readers and permanent voters card (PVC) can enhance the electoral process and management. There is also the revolutionary impact of the social media on election and voters' awareness with more engaging and participatory conversations through various social platforms that have helped to shape public opinions and reposition elections not only in Nigeria but also in other climes. Communication and diffusionist theories are adopted as the theoretical framework. The findings reveal that innovation in the management of elections especially by introducing ICT will lead to minimal electoral fraud and more credible elections that will be acceptable to both the contestants, electorate and the international community. The paper recommends that government must play the leading role to ensure ICT is fully deployed in the conduct of elections in Nigeria. It further recommends that government should create the enabling environment to investors both local and foreign to engender competitive innovation in the area of software and IT development. The Nigerian youth are ICT savvy and if given the opportunity, will develop more suitable technology that could be used to solve the perennial electoral conundrum.

Varma proposes electoral and political reforms to reserve politics only to perfectionists who intend to dedicate their whole time and energy to serve the people of the country round the clock. It is imperative to consider these new political and electoral reforms for better, healthy and improved democracy to remove corruption, inequalities, unemployment and mis-governance.