tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/electoral-system-16848/articlesElectoral system – The Conversation2022-05-17T07:06:07Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1777372022-05-17T07:06:07Z2022-05-17T07:06:07ZHow does Australia’s voting system work?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454049/original/file-20220324-25-t51gxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5586%2C3721&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As you head to your local polling place this Saturday, or cast your ballot in an early vote, it’s worth pondering: how does Australia’s voting system really work, anyway?</p>
<p>The fundamentals of our electoral system have been shaped by democratic values enshrined in Australia’s Constitution and pragmatic decisions made by federal politicians since 1901.</p>
<p>I’ve been studying elections and electoral systems for some 65 years.</p>
<p>Here’s what you need to know to understand how the vote you cast this election fits into the bigger picture.</p>
<h2>How long are politicians’ terms?</h2>
<p>For members of the House of Representatives – three years.</p>
<p>Section 28 of the Constitution says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Every House of Representatives shall continue for three years from the first meeting of the House, and no longer, but may be sooner dissolved by the Governor-General.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since the prime minister advises the governor general, it means he or she makes the exact choice of date. Many people object to that, but I don’t. That power hasn’t been abused.</p>
<p>The now dissolved term (the 46th Parliament) was elected in May 2019, so it has run a full term.</p>
<h2>Why do we have more seats in the House than the Senate?</h2>
<p>The Constitution says there must be approximately double the number of seats in the House compared to the Senate.</p>
<p>Section 24 says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The House of Representatives shall be composed of members directly chosen by the people of the Commonwealth, and the number of such members shall be, as nearly as practicable, twice the number of the senators.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The September 1946 election saw 74 members of the House of Representatives elected to the 18th Parliament (1946-49). There were 36 senators then, six from each of the six states.</p>
<p>Since 1984 there have been 76 senators, 12 from each state and two from each territory.</p>
<p>There are currently 151 seats in the House, which therefore meets the requirement “as nearly as practicable twice the number” of senators.</p>
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<h2>How are electoral boundaries drawn?</h2>
<p>Electoral boundaries are drawn so there are similar numbers of voters in each seat.</p>
<p>Section 24 of the Constitution reads:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The number of members chosen in the several States shall be in proportion to the respective numbers of their people…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The number of 151 electorates was determined mid-way during the 45th Parliament (2016-19). In August 2017 the electoral commissioner, Tom Rogers, issued the latest population statistics and determined there should be 47 members from New South Wales, 38 Victoria, 30 Queensland, 16 Western Australia, 10 South Australia, five Tasmania, three ACT and two for the Northern Territory.</p>
<p>Where necessary, electoral boundaries are re-drawn according to the principle of “one vote, one value” or, as I prefer to say, equal representation for equal numbers of people.</p>
<p>In July 2020, Rogers acknowledged population growth was above average in Victoria and below average in Western Australia.</p>
<p>That is why the forthcoming election will see 39 members elected in Victoria (up one) and 15 in WA (down one). New boundaries will apply in those two states and the redistributions have been done fairly and with maximum transparency, as always. </p>
<p>Elsewhere the boundaries will be the same as in May 2019.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-do-seat-redistributions-work-53488">Explainer: how do seat redistributions work?</a>
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<h2>How are Senators elected?</h2>
<p>Since 1949 the system has been one of proportional representation.</p>
<p>That means within each state six Senate seats are roughly distributed according to a party’s share of the vote. So a party getting about 12% of the vote would win one seat, about 26% two seats, about 40% three seats and so on.</p>
<p>This is why the Greens do so well at Senate elections compared to the House of Representatives. With about 10% of the vote for both houses, they presently have nine senators but only one member of the House of Representatives.</p>
<p>This differs from preferential voting for the House of Representatives, introduced in 1918, where voters number candidates in the order of their preferences – first choice, second choice and so on.</p>
<h2>How long are senators’ terms?</h2>
<p>Senators from the states serve six year terms, and those from the territories serve three year terms.</p>
<p>However, a system of rotation means half the senators’ terms end every three years. So in most elections, half the Senate spots are contested.</p>
<p>But there’s an exception to this rule. Every so often there’s a “double dissolution”, where the entire Senate is elected. That happened most recently in 2016. This parliament was dissolved early because there was a dispute between the two houses, so the entire parliament faced the people.</p>
<p>In a double dissolution, half the senators from the states get three year terms instead of six. This is based on the number of votes.</p>
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<p>One Nation’s Pauline Hanson and Larissa Waters of the Greens are good examples of how it works.</p>
<p>Both were elected among the 12 Queenslanders at the 2016 election. However, Hanson was one of the six more popular vote winners, and Waters one of the six less popular vote winners. So, Hanson got a six-year term and Waters a three-year term.</p>
<p>Waters won a higher proportion of votes in the 2019 election, so was elected to a six-year term, expiring on June 30 2025. </p>
<p>Hanson is up for re-election this year, and I predict she will be elected to a six-year term, and therefore her term would expire on 30 June 2028.</p>
<h2>Issues with our voting system</h2>
<p>About 16.5 million votes will be cast for each house of parliament.</p>
<p>Based on the last two federal elections, I estimate the informal vote will be roughly 800,000 for the House of Representatives (4.9%) and 650,000 for the Senate (3.9%).</p>
<p>By world standards that’s a high number of informal votes, which is thought by many to be a blot on our democracy.</p>
<p>Two reasons for this are because we have compulsory voting, and because ballot papers are unnecessarily complex and voter unfriendly, particularly for the Senate.</p>
<p>The United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand have voluntary voting and simple one-house ballot papers, and the rate of informal voting is negligible. Some argue we should copy them.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-australians-sick-of-the-election-this-is-why-voting-is-not-a-waste-of-your-time-182661">To Australians sick of the election: this is why voting is not a waste of your time</a>
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<p>There’s also a lack of rules around campaign finance – the stand-out case being the <a href="https://theconversation.com/clive-palmer-his-money-and-his-billboards-are-back-what-does-this-mean-for-the-2022-federal-election-182123">obscene spending</a> by Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.</p>
<p>I argue there’s no need to reform the Constitution and the democratic values it upholds. But there should be legislative changes to improve the system. I expect some democratic reforms during the next term, 2022-25, the 47th Parliament.</p>
<p>These changes wouldn’t require a referendum, just negotiation to ensure passage through both houses. By contrast, changes to the Constitution require a referendum. For that reason reforms by referendum are rare.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Malcolm Mackerras does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An election expert breaks down the big questions.Malcolm Mackerras, Distinguished Fellow, PM Glynn Institute, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1808682022-05-09T01:59:11Z2022-05-09T01:59:11ZIs our electoral system truly democratic? How Australia stacks up on 4 key measures<p>In Australia, we choose our political representatives and governments through a democratic electoral system. </p>
<p>Generally, these systems should have four main aims. These are to:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>secure easy access to voting for everyone of voting age</p></li>
<li><p>ensure the party whose candidates attract the most votes wins a majority in parliament</p></li>
<li><p>establish a parliament that, as much as possible, represents the opinions of all voters</p></li>
<li><p>uphold the equal value of each individual vote.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>With a federal election fast approaching, let’s assess Australia’s own electoral system.</p>
<p>Overall, Australia rates well on access to voting and on ensuring the most popular party wins government.</p>
<p>But there’s still room for improvement to ensure the largest possible number of people have a member of parliament they feel represents them, and to reduce the number of wasted votes.</p>
<h2>1. Access to voting</h2>
<p>Australia is good at encouraging people to vote, made easier by the fact it’s compulsory.</p>
<p>The Australian Electoral Commission runs campaigns to get voters enrolled, and has achieved <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-records-biggest-single-day-of-enrolment-in-history-as-voters-gear-up-for-federal-election/y2cyjelx8">some success</a> in the lead-up to the May 21 election.</p>
<p>But the cut-off date for this election was April 18 – a full 33 days before election day. This early closing date is to ensure the electoral roll is complete before candidate nominations close. But this means some people will miss out on voting, which isn’t ideal.</p>
<p>In some countries, people can claim enrolment even on election day. Introducing this in Australia may improve our electoral system.</p>
<p>Australia is also great at giving voters multiple choices for how and when they can vote. </p>
<p>Elections are held on a Saturday when more people, particularly working professionals, have ample time to attend a polling booth. </p>
<p>But if you can’t, there’s postal voting and early voting at pre-poll centres. And if you’re not in your own area, you can still vote.</p>
<p>So on access to voting, I score Australia 4.5 stars out of 5. </p>
<h2>2. Government by majority</h2>
<p>We usually elect one of two major parties preferred by a majority of voters. </p>
<p>However, the growing number of political parties has made this process more complex. </p>
<p>In 1974, Labor won <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1617/FederalElectionResults">49% of the first preferences</a> and the Coalition 46%, which translated into a narrow Labor majority. Back then, almost everyone voted for candidates from major parties. </p>
<p>A year later, in 1975, Coalition candidates won <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1617/FederalElectionResults">53% of the votes</a>, which led to a large Liberal majority. This was the last time any party won a majority of first preference votes at a federal election (Bob Hawke came close in <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1617/FederalElectionResults">1983</a> with 49% for Labor).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/you-dont-understand-me-is-local-politics-truly-representative-of-the-people-13870">You don't understand me: is local politics truly representative of the people?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>So how can we be sure the party we want is winning government? </p>
<p>In Australia, we have preferential voting. This means we’re required to mark preferences one, two, three, and beyond. It means we can calculate a “two-party-preferred vote” – whether you ultimately prefer Labor over the Coalition or vice-versa. </p>
<p>In Australian elections, the party with the majority of two-party-preferred votes has generally won. </p>
<p>But not always. In 1998, Labor won <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Australian_federal_election">51% after preferences</a>, but still lost the election. This happens when parties have a lot of safe seats, but narrowly lose the more marginal seats.</p>
<p>So on government by majority, I score Australia 4 stars.</p>
<h2>3. Ensuring everyone is represented</h2>
<p>In the Senate, there are Labor, Coalition, and Greens members in every state. In some states, there are others from the Centre Alliance, Jacqui Lambie Network, and One Nation parties, as well as independents such as Rex Patrick. </p>
<p>So at least in the Senate, a large majority of voters have a senator representing a party they voted for.</p>
<p>However, that isn’t the case in the House of Representatives. </p>
<p>In seats where no candidates gained 50% of first preferences, the winner received less than 40% of the first preferences. As a result, these candidates were only elected narrowly by transfer of preferences.</p>
<p>In the electorate of Macquarie in 2019, for example, Labor MP Susan Templeman won <a href="https://results.aec.gov.au/24310/Website/HouseDivisionPage-24310-133.htm">just 38% of the votes</a> but narrowly scraped through with 50.2% after preferences.</p>
<p>She was the candidate ultimately preferred by most voters, but the 49.8% who preferred someone else aren’t represented by a candidate they wanted.</p>
<p>A proportional system <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/elections/tas/2006/guide/hareclark.htm">like the one for state elections in Tasmania</a> would more fairly represent the majority of voters, with more than <a href="https://www.aec.gov.au/voting/counting/senate_count.htm">85%</a> of people voting for candidates from parties that were elected to represent them.</p>
<p>On making sure everyone is represented, I’d give us 3.5 stars, because there are too many people who don’t feel represented.</p>
<h2>4. Equal (and not wasted) votes</h2>
<p>Equality of votes is less straightforward. </p>
<p>Since Federation, 12 senators have been appointed to the Senate from each state, regardless of their respective populations.</p>
<p>As a result, in 2019, it took <a href="https://results.aec.gov.au/24310/Website/SenateStatePage-24310-TAS.htm">50,285 votes</a> to win a Senate spot in Tasmania but <a href="https://results.aec.gov.au/24310/Website/SenateStatePage-24310-NSW.htm">670,761 votes</a> in New South Wales. </p>
<p>In the House of Representatives, each electorate has more or less the same number of voters. It’s effectively a “one person, one vote” system.</p>
<p>In reality, however, there are many wasted votes due to “safe seats” – those that almost never change party. </p>
<p>This is why ABC election analyst Antony Green <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/key-seats">lists only 49 seats</a> as “key seats” despite there being 151 seats in the House of Representatives. In other words, over two-thirds are essentially safe seats.</p>
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<p>Some would argue voters in these 104 safe seats don’t contribute to the election result. But in actual fact they do, because a seat only becomes safe if supported by the majority of voters.</p>
<p>In proportional systems like Tasmania and the ACT, there are no truly safe seats, because names on the ballot paper are rotated and the voters choose which candidates from which party are elected.</p>
<p>Proportional systems also reduce the number of “wasted votes”. In our preferential system, most MPs in the House of Representatives win with between 50.1% and 60% of the votes after preferences. That means between 49.9% and 40% are voting for defeated candidates. These votes are “wasted” in the sense that they don’t lead to the election of a candidate. But in the Senate, which uses proportional voting, at least <a href="https://www.aec.gov.au/voting/counting/senate_count.htm">85% of votes</a> count to the elected candidates. </p>
<p>Since the House of Representatives is the main game, and there are too many people whose votes don’t elect anyone in that house, I can only give 3 stars for us on this.</p>
<p>Australia has a good electoral system, and the rules of the election are conducted very fairly by the independent Australian Electoral Commission. But there are aspects that could be improved. So let’s give ourselves a mark of 15/20 and work to make it even better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180868/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Morey is the National Secretary of the Proportional Representation Society of Australia (prsa.org.au). He is also a life member of the Australian Labor Party but does not hold any position within that organisation. </span></em></p>An expert on preferential voting rates the Australian voting system on 4 key measures.Stephen Morey, Senior Lecturer, Department of Languages and Linguistics, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1635282021-07-05T16:47:43Z2021-07-05T16:47:43ZAngola’s peculiar electoral system needs reforms. How it could be done<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409458/original/file-20210702-19-1om5u4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) supporters at a campaign rally. The party has run the country since independence in 1975.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Osvaldo Silva / AFP) via Getty Images.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Angola has a unique electoral system. Its main <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2017/08/23/angola-electoral-system-how-parliamentary-seats-determines-the-president//">peculiarity</a> is that it involves voters electing the president, deputy president and members of parliament simultaneously with a single mark on a single ballot paper. </p>
<p>This has a negative impact on the quality of the country’s representative democracy. It prevents voters from voting differently for the president and members of parliament. And it reduces the ability of voters to hold elected representatives to account besides keeping them in office, or voting them out every five years. </p>
<p>Hence, the need for reform. </p>
<p>An alternative electoral system would have the following components. It should provide for the direct election of the president. And it should allow for the representation of Angolan communities abroad. In addition, seats in the legislature should be allocated through direct election of representatives from constituencies combined with compensatory seats for political parties in proportion to their overall outcome.</p>
<h2>How does the system work?</h2>
<p>Angola uses a <a href="https://www.idea.int/answer/ans1303551852622304">closed-list</a> proportional representation electoral system. Voters cast ballots for lists of candidates drawn up by political parties. Parties are then allocated seats in the legislature in proportion to the share of votes that they receive at the polls. </p>
<p>This electoral system is used widely elsewhere. Examples include South Africa and Portugal. </p>
<p>The specific variant used in Angola is outlined in the <a href="https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/AO/constitution-of-the-republic-of-angola-2010/view">country’s current constitution</a>. It was approved in 2010 to replace the interim constitution, which had been in effect since 1992. </p>
<p>The constitution states that the individual occupying the top position on the list of the political party or coalition of parties that receives the majority vote is appointed president. The individual next on the same list becomes the deputy president.</p>
<p>The 220-member National Assembly is elected on a two-level constituency: 130 candidates from a single national constituency and 90 candidates from 18 provincial constituencies (five per province). The national assembly is unicameral.</p>
<h2>Advantages and weaknesses</h2>
<p>There are several <a href="https://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/es/esd/esd02/esd02b">advantages</a> to the closed-list proportional representation system.</p>
<p>One is its simplicity. The design of ballot papers allows even illiterate voters to make effective choices. It is also fair in that political parties get seats according to the proportion of votes that they receive at the polls. </p>
<p>It also promotes inclusiveness. It ensures that political, gender, ethnic and other minorities are not excluded from the legislature.</p>
<p>But, as a <a href="https://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/es/esd/esd02/esd02b">political scientist</a> and a student of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-covid-19-cant-be-blamed-for-angolas-failure-to-have-local-governance-144685">Angolan politics</a>, I am of the view that the current system undermines voters’ ability to elect political representatives effectively.</p>
<p>Firstly, fusing executive and legislative elections prevents voters from splitting their votes for the presidency and parliament. This forces them to choose a president and a deputy president from the party with the majority in the national assembly. </p>
<p>Secondly, the electoral system prevents voters from electing the president directly. Yet Angola has a presidential system of government with an all-powerful presidency that exercises executive powers without effective checks and balances.</p>
<p>Here Angola deviates from the norm. In countries that adopt presidential systems of government, the executive does not get its legitimacy from the legislature. That is why it is elected directly by the voters.</p>
<p>Thirdly, voters cast ballots for party lists rather than individual candidates. This arrangement privileges political parties rather than individuals in the political process. This means that, once elected, representatives are not personally accountable to the electorate because they aren’t directly linked to any territorial constituency. Rather they are beholden to party leaders who hold the power to compile the party list. </p>
<p>This results in a massive accountability deficit in the political system.</p>
<p>In addition, the use of party lists bars independent candidates from standing for political office unless they are included in a party list that has been cleared to run in the elections. But giving effect to this is extremely difficult. Realpolitik prevents parties from choosing independent candidates at the expense of party members in good standing.</p>
<p>There is also the practical use of the two-level constituency – provincial and national – instead of a single national constituency. </p>
<p>The adoption of the 18 provincial constituencies, which goes back to 1992, is premised on the idea that all provinces need to be represented at the national assembly. But this does not make sense, as Angola is a unitary state, with a unicameral parliament. </p>
<p>Among Lusophone countries, which inherited this system from Portugal, Angola is the only country that introduced the national and provincial level constituency system.</p>
<p>There are no provincial legislatures and no functional or formal distinction between parliamentarians elected at the provincial level and those elected at the national level. They all represent the whole nation, and should all be be elected from a single national constituency.</p>
<h2>An alternative system</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://aceproject.org/ero-en/topics/electoral-systems/E6ElectoralSystemsHorowitz.pdf">broad</a> <a href="https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/chapters/electoral-system-design/electoral-system-design-the-new-international-idea-handbook-summary.pdf">literature</a> on electoral systems acknowledges that there is <a href="http://metisportals.ca/elec/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/choosing-electoral-systems.pdf">no single best electoral system</a>. </p>
<p>There are several types of electoral systems and each has advantages as well as disadvantages. </p>
<p>A system that best serves democracy in one country might not work in another country. Hence, the best electoral system for a country must be informed by its particular history, social cleavages and political realities. </p>
<p>In the case of Angola, this means breaking with the past to end the persistence of adverse practices. These include the unchecked executive power, concentration of state resources in the hands of a small politically connected elite, <a href="https://www.icij.org/investigations/luanda-leaks/">widespread corruption</a>, a culture of impunity in which those in authority get away without being punished, and a government that is not responsive to the needs of the population.</p>
<p>In my view, the best way to address these issues is reforming the current system. This would require a return to the direct election of the president by voters and the reinstatement of a constituency for the representation of Angolan communities abroad. This was <a href="https://publicofficialsfinancialdisclosure.worldbank.org/sites/fdl/files/assets/law-library-files/Angola_Constitutional%20Law_1992_en.pdf">stipulated</a> in the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Angola, an interim document revoked in 2010.</p>
<p>In addition, the 18 provincial-level constituencies should be scrapped. There is no practical reason for their existence. A constituency element should be added to ensure the direct election of deputies and compensatory seats introduced for the representation of political parties in proportion to their share of the votes. </p>
<p>The resulting mixed electoral system would promote accountability through the direct election of representatives from constituencies. It would also ensure the proportional representation of political parties.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163528/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Albano Agostinho Troco receives funding from the National Research Foundation and the British Academy under the SA/UK Bilateral Chair in Political Theory.</span></em></p>Angola needs a mixed electoral system. This would promote accountability through the direct election of representatives from constituencies.Albano Agostinho Troco, NRF/British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow under the SA-UK Bilateral Chair in Political Theory, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1450082020-08-25T20:05:32Z2020-08-25T20:05:32ZLowering New Zealand’s voting age to 16 would be good for young people – and good for democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354499/original/file-20200825-14-1u4w6aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C8%2C2982%2C1917&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent decision to <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12357017">delay</a> the 2020 general election has given <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122471241/about-5000-young-people-now-eligible-to-vote-after-delay-to-2020-election">thousands</a> more New Zealand citizens the opportunity to vote for the first time.</p>
<p>But while it’s wonderful for those who turn 18 between the original election date and the new one, it does shine a spotlight on an ongoing source of inequality among New Zealand citizens: the <a href="https://vote.nz/enrolling/get-ready-to-enrol/are-you-eligible-to-enrol-and-vote/?">voting age</a> of 18 itself.</p>
<p>If these young people are capable of voting on October 17, they were probably capable of voting on September 19. Those four weeks are not going to be the difference between making reasoned or random choices when casting a vote.</p>
<p>The current system disadvantages an already vulnerable and powerless group – the young. Lowering the voting age would address this. And we could start by <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/424324/teens-ask-court-to-lower-voting-age-to-16">listening</a> to the young Kiwis who have taken their age discrimination campaign, <a href="https://makeit16.org.nz/">Make it 16</a>, to the High Court.</p>
<p>It’s important to recognise the voting age limit of 18 for what it is – a procedural decision: 18 is a convenient number that happens to coincide with some (but not all) other age limits for the granting of rights in our society.</p>
<p>Procedural decisions aren’t necessarily bad. It might, for example, make sense to limit the ability to gain a <a href="https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/factsheets/45/docs/45-learning-to-drive.pdf">driver’s licence</a> to those 16 years of age or older. </p>
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<p>This isn’t to claim that no-one under 16 could ever be capable of driving. Rather, the age limit of 16 is a reasonable imposition on an activity and can be justified by appeal to the development of certain capacities.</p>
<h2>Age limits are arbitrary</h2>
<p>But voting isn’t like driving. Political participation – of which voting is the prime example – is a human right, and protected as such. Driving is not. So the standard for justifying not letting someone vote is and should be higher than the standard of justification for not letting someone drive.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/populism-from-the-brexit-and-trump-playbooks-enters-the-new-zealand-election-campaign-but-its-a-risky-strategy-144855">Populism from the Brexit and Trump playbooks enters the New Zealand election campaign – but it's a risky strategy</a>
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<p>Why then don’t we let people vote until they are 18?</p>
<p>Some might say younger citizens aren’t capable of voting well and so shouldn’t be entitled to. Maybe under-18s don’t pay enough attention to political news, or maybe they just can’t make political decisions.</p>
<p>This line of reasoning runs into multiple problems. If we really care about people being capable of voting well, then an age limit of 18 doesn’t provide sufficient guidance. Young people don’t receive powers of political reasoning as a magical 18th-birthday gift. In reality, they develop the skills over time and 18 is merely when we recognise them. </p>
<p>So, even if it’s true that some people can’t vote well and therefore shouldn’t vote at all, this line of reasoning begs the question about the voting age. It assumes, wrongly, that 18 is a good place to draw the line.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1297842735978700802"}"></div></p>
<p>That isn’t the only problem. We should and do allow those with severe cognitive disabilities to vote once they are 18, despite many of these people having demonstrably less capacity for political decision-making than teenagers. If capacity to vote matters, it matters for everyone, not just for young people.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-covid-19-crisis-tests-oppositions-as-well-as-governments-ahead-of-new-zealands-election-national-risks-failing-that-test-144415">The COVID-19 crisis tests oppositions as well as governments. Ahead of New Zealand's election, National risks failing that test</a>
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<h2>Voter turnout could improve</h2>
<p>Others may argue that turnout among young voters is low compared to voters in general. They are right – but so what? It isn’t clear to me that participation rates are the most important metric here. But even if we think they are, there is no reason to believe that letting younger citizens vote will cause overall rates to drop.</p>
<p>On the contrary, there is reason to think the opposite. <a href="http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_es/zonas_es/europa/ari88-2018-schmidt-edthofer-voting-16-austria-possible-model-eu">Evidence</a> from Austria, which lowered the voting age to 16 for its 2008 elections, suggests that enfranchising very young voters improves their participation rates.</p>
<p>Importantly for the long-term health of our democracy, once very young voters have voted, they are more likely to continue voting than those who couldn’t until they were 18.</p>
<p>Lowering the voting age may, in fact, benefit turnout. Voting is a habit which, once formed, is harder to break. If 16-year-olds have the desire but not the opportunity to vote, by the time they can, some percentage of them has become disengaged.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1297798746219020288"}"></div></p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/voting-is-an-essential-service-too-new-zealand-cant-be-afraid-to-go-to-the-polls-even-in-lockdown-144349">Voting is an essential service too. New Zealand can't be afraid to go to the polls, even in lockdown</a>
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<h2>Voting young builds the habit</h2>
<p>By contrast, if the development of the desire to vote coincides with the ability, they are more likely to act on that desire in the moment – and to continue voting in future.</p>
<p>This also helps dissolve a further objection, that young people aren’t interested in politics and so are less likely to make good choices. </p>
<p>A legitimate reason for young people not to care about politics is that they can’t participate in the first place. Being able to vote is an incentive for younger people to learn about politics in ways they otherwise might not.</p>
<p>So spare a thought for those who will turn 18 just after October 17, who miss out simply because of when the election falls. We can and should do better – by recognising this inequity and working to change the voting age for 2023.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145008/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Munn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Changing the voting age from 18 would allow more young citizens to make voting a habit before they lose interest in politics.Nick Munn, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1234392019-09-17T21:29:39Z2019-09-17T21:29:39ZStyle over substance: Another uninspiring Canadian election campaign<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292624/original/file-20190916-19059-1u1x9cv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3600%2C2565&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has his makeup applied during a commercial beak at recent the Maclean's/Citytv leaders debate. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canada’s federal election is now in full swing.</p>
<p>Over the past several months, the Liberals and the Conservatives have been running neck-and-neck in <a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/poll-tracker/canada/">public opinion polls</a> that show the two larger parties in a statistical tie, each with approximately 34 per cent of the vote.</p>
<p>Based on aggregated polling data, seat projections using these numbers suggest either a very narrow Liberal majority or possibly a minority government. </p>
<p>Negative campaigning is already gearing up, <a href="https://www.hilltimes.com/2019/09/09/choose-your-poison-ballot-question-for-canadians-in-oct-21-federal-election-says-pollster-nanos/213988">and surveys</a> show substantial public discontent with the political process. Big issues like climate change and the state of the economy are slowly emerging as the central focus of the campaign.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadians-in-every-riding-support-climate-action-new-research-shows-122918">Canadians in every riding support climate action, new research shows</a>
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<p>The party leaders are trying to showcase their strengths in dealing with these high-profile issues and to raise doubts about the capabilities of their opponents. </p>
<p>The leader debates, scheduled <a href="https://election.ctvnews.ca/trudeau-only-attending-commission-debates-eyeing-additional-french-debate-1.4580286">for Oct. 7 (English) and Oct. 10 (French)</a>, will reinforce this focus on the leaders. </p>
<p>Does this context suggest that Canadian electoral politics is on a new or unfamiliar path? Not really, as we discuss in our new book, <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/absent-mandate-2"><em>Absent Mandate: Strategies and Choices in Canadian Elections</em></a>. </p>
<p>Despite the political and economic changes that have taken place over the past two decades, there is considerable continuity with past federal elections. This includes a widespread feeling that political parties cannot be trusted to offer real choices among policy alternatives. </p>
<h2>Reliance on market forces</h2>
<p>Indeed, since the mid-1990s, all of the parties have accepted the broad outlines of a neoliberal policy agenda involving increasing reliance on market forces and retrenchment of the welfare state.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-exactly-is-neoliberalism-84755">What exactly is neoliberalism?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Parties frame policy discussions around issues that have broad agreement, and focus their campaigns on the party leaders, promising better performance rather than policy alternatives. The parties have learned that their electoral coalitions are fragile and require constant renewal.</p>
<p>In turn, voters have learned that elections are a convenient way to express their discontent, with few consequences for future policy directions. Election campaigns, building on digital technologies and social media, channel voters’ negative feelings, and attack ads are now a staple of electioneering strategies. </p>
<p>Issue agendas are limited to vague performance goals such as “growing the economy” or “protecting the environment.” These issues reflect widespread public consensus, and political debate focuses on “how to do the job” and, most importantly, “who is most capable” of doing it. </p>
<p>The strengths and weaknesses of the party leaders are put front and centre.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292625/original/file-20190916-19068-1ooxidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292625/original/file-20190916-19068-1ooxidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292625/original/file-20190916-19068-1ooxidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292625/original/file-20190916-19068-1ooxidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292625/original/file-20190916-19068-1ooxidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292625/original/file-20190916-19068-1ooxidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292625/original/file-20190916-19068-1ooxidx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Xavier Trudeau covers his eyes as his mother and father watch election results in October 2015 in Montreal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
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<p>Party advertising already suggests that campaign rhetoric will focus on the party leaders and performance issues in 2019. One of the earliest Conservative ads was a version of the unsuccessful “Just Not Ready” ad directed at Justin Trudeau in 2015. </p>
<p>A second Conservative ad presents Andrew Scheer promising to “lower the cost of living” and “<a href="https://www.conservative.ca/andrew-scheer-launches-campaign-to-help-you-get-ahead/">leave money</a> in your pocket.” A Liberal ad with the slogan “<a href="https://www.liberal.ca/choose-forward-liberals-launch-new-national-advertising-and-digital-engagement-campaign/">Choose Forward</a>” seems as vacuous as the infamous <a href="http://www.parli.ca/land-strong/">“The Land is Strong”</a> theme of Pierre Trudeau’s disastrous 1972 campaign.</p>
<h2>Flexible party loyalty</h2>
<p>Our analysis in <em>Absent Mandate</em> shows that federal elections can be highly unpredictable. Nonetheless, we can anticipate some things. </p>
<p>Many Canadians have flexible partisan attachments and move easily from one party to another. Coupled with widespread public discontent, this lack of durable ties to parties encourages voters to switch their vote or move into or out of the active electorate.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-encourage-the-occasional-voter-to-cast-a-ballot-120739">How to encourage the occasional voter to cast a ballot</a>
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<p>In each of the last two federal elections, there was considerable <a href="https://abacusdata.ca/tag/election-2015/">movement in the polls</a> over the last few weeks of the campaign. This is a distinct possibility again. We also expect to see parties concentrating on popular issues like the government’s economic performance and environmental protection. </p>
<p>And, as always, the parties will claim that their leader has “what it takes” to markedly improve the lives of Canadians, while trying to portray opposition leaders as not up to the job. </p>
<h2>Negativity turns off voters</h2>
<p>Negativity in the parties’ campaigns may depress turnout the way it has in federal and provincial elections for some time. Participation in federal elections has decreased over the past three decades, partly reflecting generational changes, as young people declined to vote in numbers comparable to their elders. </p>
<p>Although turnout rebounded in 2015, the demographic factors driving the decline in participation are likely to re-emerge in 2019. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/what-motivates-you-to-participate-in-this-year-s-federal-election-1.4973867/millennials-could-swing-the-2019-election-but-parties-need-to-engage-them-says-pollster-1.4976824">Millennials</a> in particular are likely to be a key voting group. </p>
<p>Given these entrenched characteristics of Canadian electoral politics, we can predict that the 2019 election is unlikely to deal in any meaningful way with concrete solutions to the important problems of our times. </p>
<p>And that discontent with the next government will resume, whether the outcome is a majority or a minority. </p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123439/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lawrence LeDuc has received grant funding in the past from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He has no current funding.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harold D Clarke receives funding from the National Science Foundation (U.S.). In the past I have received funding from the Canada Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Council (Canada), the Economics and Social Research Council (U.K.).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Jenson receives no current funding. She was team member for the The SSHRC funded the Canadian Election Studies in the 1970s and 1980s.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon H. Pammett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Given entrenched characteristics of Canadian electoral politics, the 2019 election is unlikely to deal in any meaningful way with concrete solutions to the important problems of our times.Lawrence LeDuc, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of TorontoHarold D Clarke, Ashbel Smith Professor, University of Texas at DallasJane Jenson, Professeure émérite, political science, Université de MontréalJon H. Pammett, Distinguished Research Professor, Political Science, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/966592018-06-07T10:54:51Z2018-06-07T10:54:51ZGuernsey has no political parties – but a referendum could be about to change all that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221801/original/file-20180605-119850-1aiso9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C33%2C2496%2C1837&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine a community with no political party brands. No Conservatives, no Labour – no political leaders and elections with no party policies. Can you envision an electoral system with no party logos or slogans, no safe seats and no activists? A place where elected representatives vote on a matter of personal principle rather than being “whipped” in line with party politics.</p>
<p>Does this sound appealing or does it sound confusing and unworkable? Well, this community, “the States of Deliberation”, does exist. It’s alive and well in the British Crown Dependency of Guernsey – part of the Channel Islands.</p>
<p>However, this way of doing politics could be about to change. Guernsey is holding its first ever <a href="https://www.gov.gg/referendum">referendum</a> on the island’s electoral process on October 10 2018. </p>
<p>All of Guernsey’s 38 members of parliament, otherwise known as deputies, are independent figures. Deputies stand in elections as individuals rather than parties. They present a personally developed, concise manifesto, which outlines personal characteristics such as educational background, personality traits, professional and individual experiences. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221816/original/file-20180605-119856-1tafr3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221816/original/file-20180605-119856-1tafr3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221816/original/file-20180605-119856-1tafr3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221816/original/file-20180605-119856-1tafr3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221816/original/file-20180605-119856-1tafr3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221816/original/file-20180605-119856-1tafr3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221816/original/file-20180605-119856-1tafr3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Is Guernsey really ready for change?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Often, they set out the broad values that will guide them if elected. During the 2016 general election, one member of parliament proposed that if elected they would be “challenging, questioning, independent, defend the island’s heritage and eccentrically different”.</p>
<p>“I go to church, and I’ve studied law and I’ve worked in a recruitment agency,” said another. “I believe the island should have the best possible education system it can afford, improved health systems, support children’s services and family life and ensure we continue to have a balanced economy towards tourism and banking. Trust me and I’ll do my best for you.”</p>
<p>However, something is often missing from the manifestos and campaign material – and it’s not just the affiliation with a political party. Few candidates get into specifics about the actions they would actually take if elected. According to several parliamentarians, that only gets discussed after a general election – “often 18 months after polling day”. That’s how long it generally takes for government committees such as the Committee for Home Affairs or the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture to be formed and establish a policy agenda.</p>
<p>Deputies do often form informal transient alliances – collections of constantly changing coalitions that are sometimes seen as quasi-political parties. These groupings are based on prominent issues of the day such education reform, housing and transport links. However, these unofficial transient alliances currently have no “party” name, structure, ideology or identity. Nor are they generally publicised to the wider population, functioning largely behind closed doors. So the personalities and profiles of deputies take precedence over policy and party in Guernsey. </p>
<h2>The referendum</h2>
<p>In October, voters get to choose whether to switch from voting for a candidate in their local constituency to island-wide voting. Each citizen could be given the same number of votes as there are deputy seats and could elect the whole parliament from candidates across the island.</p>
<p>In a recent study, we found many members of the Guernsey government believe that if the public opt for island-wide voting, it could open the path for political parties to form on Guernsey. Formalised alliances or parties would allow deputies to stand on a shared platform, campaign with a collective set of focused policies and make the practice of governing more efficient, effective and proactive. This in turn could simplify the electoral process for voters by proving greater clarity of what each party stands for. Voters might also get a better of idea of what deputies stand for before they elect them. That, in turn, could make them more accountable in office.</p>
<p>But it’s not known if the people of Guernsey actually want all this. There was a record turnout of 72% in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-guernsey-36115151">last election in 2016</a>, suggesting voters actually quite like the independent, personal touch. The majority of voters between 18 and 24 told us they didn’t have an appetite for political parties and value Guernsey’s current approach to politics. </p>
<p>And, at least from the outside looking in, they seem to run more positive campaigns with less mudslinging than an average election. As they head to the ballot in October, Guernsey’s voters will surely be thinking about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/political-divisions-39147">divisive nature</a> of party politics in the US, or even closer to home in the UK, where two parties dominate. The grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side of the Channel.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Pich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Islanders currently stand as independent candidates, but this special system could be about to disappear.Christopher Pich, Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/966042018-05-16T22:34:15Z2018-05-16T22:34:15ZHow to cast your ballot: The non-partisan’s voting guide<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221989/original/file-20180606-137318-zon7dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Voting is the most important undertaking a citizen has in a democracy. With the Ontario election upon us and others looming, consider some non-partisan advice on how to cast your ballot. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are an increasing number of online tools to help citizens figure out who they should vote for, generally focusing on personal preferences regarding specific policy positions. </p>
<p><a href="https://votecompass.cbc.ca/ontario/">Vote Compass</a> in Ontario is typical, tabulating results based on a potential voter’s views on a range of issues — from rental, university tuition and electricity costs through to sex education, the power of unions, minimum wage, a guaranteed annual income and taxation on corporations. But such tools are only of limited use.</p>
<p>A millennial voter, one who feels maligned because of the criticism levelled at her generation for not voting, asked me recently about why she should vote, and how to think about voting as an act of citizenship rather than partisanship.</p>
<p>That led to a discussion about how one might assess politicians, either the real or aspirational variety, as well as parties — less on issues that divide, and more on ability to serve and how to do the job well. </p>
<p>Then a retired friend posted on social media that he is so discouraged by the current <a href="https://www.elections.on.ca/en.html">slate of candidates in the Ontario election</a> that he’s thinking of not voting at all for the first time since becoming a Canadian citizen. </p>
<p>Here’s my advice to them both, and to any voter, Canadian or otherwise, heading to the polls in the weeks or months to come. Canada’s next federal election is only a year and a half away, after all, and American voters cast their ballots in mid-term elections this fall that will determine the makeup of U.S. Congress.</p>
<h2>Government is important</h2>
<p>How you vote is an indication of the role you think government plays in society. </p>
<p>But understand that there is more than one “core business” of government. Governments legislate, regulate, provide funding, collect taxes — enabling and prohibiting actions large and small. In the 21st century, no magical thinking can erase the need for governance, but the scope and content of governance can and should be regularly contested.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219199/original/file-20180516-155584-1yncd6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219199/original/file-20180516-155584-1yncd6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219199/original/file-20180516-155584-1yncd6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219199/original/file-20180516-155584-1yncd6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219199/original/file-20180516-155584-1yncd6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219199/original/file-20180516-155584-1yncd6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219199/original/file-20180516-155584-1yncd6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Nebraska State worker inspects food at a restaurant at Mahoney State Park, Neb.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)</span></span>
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<p>Beware of candidates who claim government should be run like a business.</p>
<p>Private enterprise is largely motivated by profit; government is about the public good. Think about food safety, transportation or environmental regulation — all of which must consider public protection and not be ethically compromised by serving the interests of private corporations.</p>
<p>Experience matters in politics, but not only experience gained in the private sector. Previous public service, volunteer experience, the charitable and NGO sector — all are important in generating well-rounded candidates capable of taking on the challenge and the responsibility of elected office.</p>
<p>Politicians should lead, not follow.</p>
<p>If an unpopular policy makes sense, then inspired and articulate leadership requires appealing to the better angels of our nature as citizens, not the baser instincts of our behaviour as consumers. </p>
<p>Canadian political leaders of the past we most admire had the determination to convince naysayers of a broader, longer-term vision — think of John A. Macdonald <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/history/LESSONSSE4EP10CH1PA28LE.html">and the national railway</a>, <a href="https://humanrights.ca/tommy-douglas-health-care-all">Tommy Douglas and health care</a>, Pierre Trudeau and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLR5aToS2Zg">the Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a>. And those elected to government must remember that they govern for everyone, not just those who elected them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219050/original/file-20180515-195341-idna61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219050/original/file-20180515-195341-idna61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219050/original/file-20180515-195341-idna61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219050/original/file-20180515-195341-idna61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219050/original/file-20180515-195341-idna61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219050/original/file-20180515-195341-idna61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219050/original/file-20180515-195341-idna61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queen Elizabeth II signs Canada’s constitutional proclamation in Ottawa on April 17, 1982 as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau looks on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ron Poling</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Be wary of single-issue candidates who are experts on, or only committed to, one position. After all, government is complex. Likewise, an unwillingness to learn or to change when faced with new facts or circumstances is not necessarily a matter of principle. It could be obstinacy or even idiocy.</p>
<h2>Facts matter</h2>
<p>Policy-making is difficult, often affording poor and worse courses of action. Ideology may be helpful for providing an over-arching vision, but less so when assessing policy options, where fact-based evidence should be paramount. Spinning or crafting facts to suit a political agenda can lead to decision-based evidence-making, rather than evidence-based decision-making.</p>
<p>Former British prime minister Harold Macmillan once reputedly said that what sends any government off course is events beyond the control of any politician or party. No one can claim full responsibility for what goes well or awry during any administration. But pay attention to how and if politicians change their minds when faced with new or unexpected circumstances.</p>
<p>Regarding strategic voting, be sure to invest some time and energy. Let German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_imperative">categorical imperative</a> be your guide: Act in a manner such that your behaviour is generalizable. Before supporting a candidate as a protest vote, or spoiling or declining a ballot, consider if everyone were to vote the same way. Could you live with that choice?</p>
<p>Finally, and if really undecided, then think local: Look at the candidates in your riding, district or constituency. Think about supporting candidates so that your choice helps government better reflect our society, incorporating previously silenced voices and alternative perspectives.</p>
<p>Wherever you live, elections are probably looming on the horizon. Vote responsibly — it’s one of your most important duties as a citizen of any democracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96604/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara J. Falk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How you vote is an indication of the role you think government plays in society. As elections loom in Canada and beyond, here’s a guide to non-partisan, responsible voting.Barbara J. Falk, Associate Professor, Department of Defence Studies, Royal Military College of CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/845732017-09-24T23:10:38Z2017-09-24T23:10:38ZWhat New Zealand’s vote means for Maori – and potentially First Nations in Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187271/original/file-20170924-17306-wi0o2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=93%2C343%2C2176%2C1472&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New Zealand Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern, centre, and deputy leader Kelvin Davis, a Maori, far left, answer questions from the media in August in Wellington, New Zealand. Following the Sept. 23 election, Ardern could became the country's next prime minister if she can convince minor parties to support her.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Nick Perry)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>David MacDonald’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-for-canada-in-new-zealands-indigenous-friendly-electoral-system-83768">recent analysis</a> for The Conversation Canada proposes a radical rethinking of the place that First Nations’ people occupy in a modern liberal democracy.</p>
<p>He points to New Zealand’s <a href="http://www.elections.org.nz/voting-system/mmp-voting-system">Mixed Member Proportional Representation</a> (MMP) system, used to elect the country’s Parliament since 1996, as a potential path forward for Canada’s Indigenous. </p>
<p>Maori have been guaranteed representation through <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features-pre-2016/document/00NZPHomeNews201109011/the-origins-of-the-m%C4%81ori-seats">designated seats since 1867</a>. That’s something Canada might consider as part of its commitment to the United Nations’ <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf">Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a> that states:</p>
<p><em>Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision- making institutions</em>.</p>
<h2>No clear winner in New Zealand election</h2>
<p>New Zealand elected its 52nd Parliament this weekend. It’s a 120-seat Parliament that <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/research-papers/document/00PLLawRP03141/origins-of-the-m%C4%81ori-seats">guarantees seven members elected from a geographically based Maori electoral roll</a>. </p>
<p>Other Maori have been elected by voters from the 64 geographically based general constituencies, and from national party lists, from which 59 members are elected. </p>
<p>List seats are allocated to ensure that the total membership of the Parliament is proportional to each party’s share of the national vote. Since the MMP system’s introduction, Maori representation in Parliament has remained at least proportional to the Maori share of the national population.</p>
<p>Provisional election night results indicate that neither of the two large parties will be able to form a government alone.</p>
<p>The conservative <a href="https://www.national.org.nz/home">National Party</a> won 58 seats, three fewer than the number required to form a government. The main opposition <a href="http://www.labour.org.nz/">Labour Party</a> will hold 45, the nationalist <a href="http://www.nzfirst.org.nz/">New Zealand First Party</a> nine, the <a href="https://www.greens.org.nz/">Green Party</a> eight and the libertarian <a href="http://act.org.nz/">ACT Party</a> one. </p>
<p>The Maori Party failed to win any seats, but despite that trouncing, Maori politicians have still been elected from all parties but ACT. That means whoever forms the government, there will be Maori representation.</p>
<h2>No real improvement in Maori lives</h2>
<p>Since 2008, the National Party has governed with what are known as <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/media/1461/2014-maori-party-relationship-accord-and-confidence-and-supply-agreement.pdf">confidence-and-supply agreements</a> with the Maori Party, grounded in Maori cultural values and an unapologetic politics of self-determination. </p>
<p>The Maori Party obtained policy commitments from the National Party in return for its support. </p>
<p>But it hasn’t been enough to result in sufficient improvement in Maori living standards, educational outcomes and employment numbers, or to reduce the Maori burden of disease and incarceration rates. </p>
<p>Significant progress in these areas was needed to allay Maori reservations about an alliance with a conservative party that they’d never before supported in great numbers. </p>
<p>MMP is a system that encourages democratic contest and gives Maori voters genuine choice. But the Maori Party’s failure to bring about sufficient progress towards self-determination helps to explain Saturday’s <a href="http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2017-general-election/2017-general-election-results">significant swing</a> by Maori voters to the opposition Labour Party. </p>
<p>The Labour Party won all seven of the Maori seats and left the Maori Party with no parliamentary representation. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, the system still reflects the diversity of Maori opinion and their presence in the country’s politics. </p>
<p>Paula Bennett’s tenure, as the National Party’s Maori deputy prime minister, depends on negotiating a coalition or a confidence-and-supply agreement with the nationalist New Zealand First Party, led by another Maori who once served as deputy prime minister, Winston Peters. </p>
<p>Kelvin Davis, meantime, is the Maori deputy leader of the Labour Party.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187268/original/file-20170924-2621-bjkhjb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187268/original/file-20170924-2621-bjkhjb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187268/original/file-20170924-2621-bjkhjb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187268/original/file-20170924-2621-bjkhjb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187268/original/file-20170924-2621-bjkhjb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187268/original/file-20170924-2621-bjkhjb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187268/original/file-20170924-2621-bjkhjb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Winston Peters, leader of the New Zealand First Party, is Maori and is calling for a referendum on the abolition of designated Maori seats in the country’s Parliament.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(The Associated Press)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Peters, whose party could determine the next prime minister, believes that Maori should be integrated into a singular political community. </p>
<p>His view is consistent with the Royal Commission on the Electoral System’s argument that the need for all parties to solicit Maori votes (Maori constitute around <a href="http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/estimates_and_projections/maori-population-estimates-info-releases.aspx">15 per cent</a> of the national population) means that there will always be <a href="http://www.elections.org.nz/voting-system/mmp-voting-system/report-royal-commission-electoral-system-1986">meaningful Maori representation drawn from the party lists</a> and that Maori are increasingly likely to be elected to represent general constituencies.</p>
<h2>Labour leader rejects referendum</h2>
<p>But others contend that in a Maori constituency, Maori candidates are free to use their own culturally reasoned arguments to win over voters in ways that may not make sense to a broader constituency, nor reflect that constituency’s priorities. </p>
<p>What’s more, they argue, Maori voters are free to assess Maori candidates according to their own cultural values and aspirations.</p>
<p>Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has indicated that her party <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11925884">won’t go along with</a> a referendum on the Maori seats as a requirement of a coalition with New Zealand First.</p>
<p>New Zealand’s MMP electoral system provides a foundation for substantive and inclusive liberal citizenship for Maori to facilitate the re-emergence of tribal entities. </p>
<p>The Maori party advocated for greater tribal authority while in government. Maori voters will expect that advocacy to continue given they largely believe full citizenship is not realized through the state alone. </p>
<p>In short, Maori people and policy influence New Zealand politics in ways that First Nations in Canada do not.</p>
<p>The depth and breadth of Maori representation in the New Zealand parliament does, as MacDonald suggests, mean that a New Zealand-style proportional representation system is one that Canada’s First Nations may want to entertain for themselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84573/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominic O'Sullivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While the Maori Party got wiped out in this weekend’s New Zealand election, there’s still a Maori presence in the country’s political system. That’s why Canadian First Nations should take note.Dominic O'Sullivan, Associate Professor, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/618472016-07-03T03:50:29Z2016-07-03T03:50:29ZExplainer: why don’t we know who won the election and what happens now?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129087/original/image-20160703-18328-idffb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Labor's better-than-expected performance has left a lot of seats still too close to call.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After one of the longest election campaigns in Australian history, a winner is yet to be decided.</p>
<p>As Australia is based on <a href="http://australianpolitics.com/democracy/key-terms/westminster-system">the Westminster system</a>, government is formed by the party (or coalition of parties) that wins a majority of seats in the House of Representatives, also known as the lower house. The leader of this majority becomes prime minister.</p>
<p>There are 150 seats in this chamber, so a majority needed to form government is 76 seats. This is the magic number that the Labor Party and Liberal/National Coalition will be striving for over the coming days.</p>
<h2>The house of government</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-what-we-know-so-far-about-the-results-of-election-2016-61522">As it currently stands</a>, neither major party can yet claim 76 seats. With many seats too close to call, pre-poll and postal votes (which will be counted over the coming days) will decide who is in the best position to form government.</p>
<p>If an effective campaign was run by incumbent MPs, the postal votes should favour them. Pre-polls, on the other hand, would reflect the broader trends of the electorate – so, in this case, that means the votes would be very tight on a two-party preferred basis. In such a close race, the favourite would be the candidate who was in the lead before counting postal and pre-poll votes.</p>
<p>As of today, the prospect of Australia having a <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-hung-parliament-and-how-will-a-government-be-formed-61963">hung parliament</a> is quite real. It means that neither major party can form a government in their own right and will depend on minor parties and independents to cobble together a majority in the lower house. If this was to occur, Australia will have its <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-09-08/labors-minority-government-explained/2253236">second minority government since 2010</a>.</p>
<p>Like a grand final ending in a draw, minority governments in Australia are unlikely but may occur. The Australian electoral system amplifies majorities, so governments may win with a small percentage of the vote but will usually have a comfortable working majority. For example, in 2013, the Coalition won 53.5% of the two-party-preferred vote, but won 60% of the seats in the lower house. </p>
<p>It’s a system that is ultimately geared towards manufacturing governments with clear majorities. But when the two-party-preferred vote is so close, as it is at the moment with the Coalition on 50.1% and Labor on 49.9%, a situation where neither party can win majority is a real possibility. </p>
<p>The 2016 result is very similar to that of the 2010 election. Back then, however, it was Labor with the slightly higher two-party-preferred vote.</p>
<h2>What do we know about the new Senate?</h2>
<p>The Senate has almost the same powers as the House of Representatives, so its composition also has implications for policy outcomes.</p>
<p>As this was a double-dissolution election, all Senate seats were up for election. This means that, unlike in a general election where six of the 12 seats from each state are up for grabs, all 12 were contested.</p>
<p>This in turn means the quota – which is the percentage of the vote needed to win a seat – was halved, making it easier for independents and minor parties to win representation. <a href="http://www.onenation.com.au/index.html">Pauline Hanson</a> and <a href="http://www.justiceparty.com.au/">Derryn Hinch</a> appear set to win seats. Prominent South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, and others from his <a href="https://nxt.org.au/">Nick Xenophon Team</a>, and the <a href="http://www.cdp.org.au/">Christian Democratic Party</a> are also looking like certainties in the new Senate.</p>
<p>In this election, <a href="https://theconversation.com/senate-voting-changes-pass-so-how-do-we-elect-the-upper-house-now-55641">a new system of voting</a> was used to elect senators. Unlike previous elections, preference wheeling-and-dealing between parties would not have the same impact. Candidates would have to win a large primary vote to stand any chance of victory. This appears to have occurred.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>Following an episode in 2013 in which where <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2013/November/The_disputed_2013_WA_Senate_election">some ballot papers were misplaced</a> in Western Australia, ballot security has been <a href="http://www.aec.gov.au/media/media-releases/2013/12-06a.htm">bolstered</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, counting of the votes will be undertaken in more secure settings, which will mean further delays in deciding close contests. Indeed, counting will recommence on Tuesday and it is expected that results won’t be any clearer until later this week. Counting for the Senate will continue over the coming weeks.</p>
<p>In terms of governance, the public service will continue to administer the policies that were in place prior to the election. New policies cannot be implemented and will have to wait until a new government is sworn in. The provision of government services will not be affected by the delay in the formation of a new government and will continue as usual.</p>
<p>Australian voters have once again decided that neither major party can form government on election night. Results in seats that are too close to call at present may decide who governs.</p>
<p>If neither party can get to 76 seats on their own, they will have to negotiate with the crossbenchers to manufacture a majority. The Australian system can accommodate this, as seen during the Gillard government years. Getting to that point, however, will take many more days and a lot more counting.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61847/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zareh Ghazarian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It may be several days, or even longer, before we know the shape of our next government, but the business of government will carry on as usual.Zareh Ghazarian, Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/586632016-05-04T09:25:05Z2016-05-04T09:25:05ZBiometric voting in Chad: new technology, same old political tricks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120668/original/image-20160429-10488-940qgy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Voting proceeded peacefully in N’Djaména.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marielle Debos/DR</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The market for biometric identification systems in Africa has been booming since the early 2000s. First developed by multinationals in the defence and security sectors, biometric technology has frequently been proffered as an effective way to avoid disputes over the voters’ roll and to minimise electoral fraud. Applicants for voter registration have their fingerprints recorded and their photographs taken so they can register only once. This technology has become a new standard for voter registration in Africa. </p>
<p>Chad’s first “biometric election”, held over the weekend of April 9 shows, however, that this extremely expensive technology raises hopes but, sadly, does not change the way the political game is played.</p>
<p>The introduction of electoral biometrics had already been put forward in the 2007 <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/2014/07/17/international-interventions-and-the-human-cost-of-a-militarized-political-marketplace-in-chad/">agreement</a> between the government and the main opposition coalition, signed under the authority of the European Union. Eight years later, the €22m contract was awarded to French company <a href="http://www.morpho.com/en">Morpho</a>, a subsidiary of <a href="http://www.safran-group.com/media/20160225_safran-record-results-2015">Safran</a>, after the initial feasibility study was carried out by a French consulting firm. A little over six million voter IDs were produced in France before being <a href="http://www.jeuneafrique.com/mag/315166/politique/tchad-grosse-fatigue-a-veille-de-presidentielle/">sent to Chad</a>. </p>
<p>This technological initiative was not without its share of hold-ups and controversy. Opposition figures <a href="http://www.makaila.fr/2015/12/tchad-saleh-kebzabo-releve-les-rates-du-processus-electoral.html?utm_campaign=_ob_share_auto&utm_medium=_ob_twitter&utm_source=_ob_share">lamented</a> the fact that the biometric system was not “comprehensive”. The ID cards, while carefully packed in alphabetical order, were distributed to voters in a chaotic manner and without the use of biometric identification. Distribution appears to have been largely effective, although it remains possible that some cards did not reach their rightful owners.</p>
<p>And while Chadians were asked to submit to fingerprinting at the time of voter registration, come election day they were simply required to sign the roll. The polling booths were not equipped with the technology to verify voter fingerprints.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The electoral roll was more accurate, but problems arose with the nomad and military votes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marielle Debos/DR</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Biometric voter registration did however lead to a more accurate electoral roll than in previous years, given that each voter was only able to register once. A quick comparison of the 2011 and 2016 electoral rolls reveals a sudden and mysterious population drop in certain regions perceived as presidential strongholds. </p>
<h2>A powerful crony network</h2>
<p>Technology is no guarantee of fair and transparent elections, even with a “comprehensive” biometric system, from voter registration to the polling booths.</p>
<p>Following a nearly two-week wait, election results finally came on April 22. Unsurprisingly, Idriss Déby, who has presided over his country’s destiny for 26 years, <a href="http://www.africanews.com/2016/04/21/idriss-deby-wins-fifth-term-in-office-with-6156-percent-of-votes/">was elected to a fifth term</a> with 61.56% of the votes in the first round.</p>
<p>In contrast to the previous presidential election, held in 2011, which was boycotted by the opposition, 13 candidates (all male) campaigned under tense conditions. During the campaign, <a href="http://reliefweb.int/report/chad/chad-rights-groups-quit-election-commission-days-key-poll">community leaders</a> – human rights activists and trade union members who sought to organise demonstrations against President Déby’s candidacy – were arrested and imprisoned. They were finally released after three weeks of demonstrations, including a widespread strike organised by Chad’s Trade Union Confederation, but four were slapped with <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr20/3848/2016/en/">four-month suspended sentences</a>.</p>
<p>The opposition was up against Déby’s party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (Mouvement Patriotique du Salut – MPS), a powerful crony network stretching across the entire county. Prior to the election, the streets of N’Djamena were adorned with large posters announcing a “knock-out” victory for Déby, pointing to a defeat for the opposition in the first round of voting. In every neighbourhood, small huts and large estates were turned into Déby “support offices”. </p>
<p>Walls were painted with the MPS’s colors and its <a href="https://mpsfrance.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/1005863_1378672199016312_1776373178_n.jpg">logo</a>: a hoe and a Kalashnikov crossed in front of a flame, a reminder that the incumbent candidate came to power through military force, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13164690">ousting Hissène Habré in 1990</a>.</p>
<h2>Repressive measures</h2>
<p>While the vote was carried out peacefully, it was beset with problems. Most worrying was the military vote, which took place the day before the civilian election. Officers made sure that the troops voted for the “right” candidate. Soldiers thought to be voting for the opposition <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/chad-tense-as-members-of-military-disappear-before-election-results/a-19200668">disappeared</a> and haven’t been heard from. Their families allege forced disappearances, unconvinced by the security minister’s claims that these soldiers left on deployment, without telling their loved ones. </p>
<p>Voting for the nomad populations was highly disorganised, leaving it wide open to fraud. Some polling stations didn’t provide enough ballots; others lacked material to compile the results. Finally, a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36024501">texting and social media blackout</a>, which prevented the results from getting out and slowed down possible action, did nothing to assuage rumours.</p>
<p>Distinguishing between logistical problems arising and real cases of fraud is not easy. Especially since the <a href="http://www.africanews.com/2016/04/13/african-union-chad-polls-free-and-without-fraud-despite-anomalies/">only international observers</a> were from the African Union, an organisation currently <a href="http://www.au.int/en/pressreleases/19659/president-idriss-deby-itno-chad-has-been-elected-new-chairperson-african-union">headed up by none other than Déby himself</a>. The 30 or so observers deployed across the expansive nation noted some anomalies, but overall decided that the elections were credible and transparent.</p>
<p>Voting was also overseen by national observers from an influential community organisation with close ties to the ruling party, headquartered in one of the capital’s luxury hotels. </p>
<h2>Out of sight</h2>
<p>The MPS is the only party that was able to send representatives to all polling stations, in contrast to the opposition parties which were not represented across the country. In N’Djamena, the vote took place under the watchful eyes of citizens and activists, as was the case in the southern cities. But in regions where it is costly and sometimes dangerous to be associated with the opposition, or even with “civil society”, this kind of mobilisation was impossible.</p>
<p>How can the voting process and results be overseen without representatives from opposition parties? How can you make sure that ballot boxes are not stuffed overnight or that the voting results sent to the capital are accurate? How can local authorities be prevented from putting pressure on voters? Above all, how can the act of voting have meaning when one party, born of an armed movement, has governed for years by co-opting and repressing its opponents?</p>
<p>The introduction of biometric voter registration has not just been a boon for French industry. Déby now has a mandate that is (somewhat) more credible than before, without having to renounce his old tricks to remain in power.</p>
<p><em>Translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for Fast for Word.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marielle Debos ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Advanced electoral technology could actually work against democracy in the wrong hands.Marielle Debos, Associate professor in Political Science, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre, Institute for Social sciences of Politics (ISP), Université Paris Nanterre – Université Paris LumièresLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/571452016-04-11T10:07:09Z2016-04-11T10:07:09ZAre poor societies stuck with dictators?<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35854768">Africans recently went</a> to the polls in Benin, Cape Verde, the Republic of Congo, Niger and Zanzibar.</p>
<p>The outcome was decidedly mixed. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>In Congo, riot police used tear gas in the capital to disperse dozens of opposition supporters who alleged vote irregularities. But incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso won reelection after eliminating the two-term constitutional limit. </p></li>
<li><p>The opposition in Niger called for a boycott of the election, alleging fraud. Militants from al-Qaeda and Boko Haram staged <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35842300">attacks</a> during the campaign. In the end, however, President Issoufou crushed his opponent with 93 percent of the vote. </p></li>
<li><p>On the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania, the opposition Civic United Front urged its supporters to boycott the election and violent protests broke out. USAID <a href="http://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00042141.html">has now cancelled</a> US$472 million in aid.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These mixed results deserve our attention because elections are a barometer of how well a democracy is functioning. The Electoral Integrity Project (EIP), which I direct, was founded four years ago to provide an independent evaluation of the quality of elections worldwide. The EIP’s results have been published in several books, including my own, <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/why-elections-fail"><em>Why Elections Fail</em></a>. </p>
<p>The results of this year’s survey provide new and sometimes surprising insights into the failure – or success – of elections, especially in Africa, where democracy has a shallow history and its future is often in doubt.</p>
<h2>Many ways to fail</h2>
<p>People help elections fail in many ways. </p>
<p>Presidents extend or overturn term limits. Laws ban opposition parties. Rival leaders are imprisoned. Voting rights are suppressed. Voting lists are inaccurate. Ruling parties dominate the airwaves. Free speech is muzzled. Thugs threaten voters. Money buys influence. Ballots are stuffed. Electoral officials favor the government. Dispute resolution mechanisms are broken. </p>
<p>Rigged elections are important because they can reinforce the legitimacy of corrupt and repressive leaders and solidify their hold on power.</p>
<p>March’s elections were not the worst recent ones on the African continent, by any means. Even more deeply flawed elections have been recently held in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Burundi. </p>
<p>In Burundi, for example, President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/24/burundi-pierre-nkurunziza-wins-third-term-disputed-election">sparked</a> civil unrest, a failed coup and conflict that threatened to ignite civil war. Contentious elections in each of these states threaten fragile prospects for stable democratic governance in Africa.</p>
<p>Yet some contests in Africa provide room for hope. For example, in Cape Verde’s <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-capeverde-election-idUSKCN0WN10P">parliamentary elections</a>, also on March 20, the ruling party was defeated, the campaign saw little conflict and the opposition came to power after 15 years. </p>
<p>Benin’s <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-benin-election-idUSKCN0WM0BP">presidential contest</a> on the same day also saw a relatively peaceful government turnover where Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou, a former investment banker, conceded defeat to businessman Patrice Talon, the “king of cotton” in the second-round runoff.</p>
<p>Nor are these cases unique. Previous African elections which also worked relatively well, according to international observers and experts, have been held in <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mauritius-election-idUSKBN0JP0PU20141211">Mauritius</a>, <a href="http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2014/05/21/zuma-elected-as-president-of-south-africa">South Africa</a>, <a href="http://af.reuters.com/article/lesothoNews/idAFL5N0W60RX20150304?sp=true">Lesotho</a> and Namibia.</p>
<h2>Wealth and poverty</h2>
<p>Many factors contribute to these contrasts among African elections. These include a history of war and violence, the curse of having natural resources, constitutional designs, ethnic divisions and regional neighbors. </p>
<p>But is poverty an important part of the answer?</p>
<p>Ever since sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset’s classic 1959 <a href="http://homepages.wmich.edu/%7Eplambert/comp/lipset.pdf">article</a> titled “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy,” scholars have puzzled over the links between democracy and development. </p>
<p>The so-called “Lipset thesis” argues that democracies and, by extension, electoral integrity flourish best in industrialized and postindustrial societies with widespread literacy and education, an affluent professional middle class and a pluralistic range of civic associations serving as a buffer between citizens and the state. </p>
<p>The original claim by Lipset specified most simply that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This claim has been debated for more than a half-century. Many studies <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2110747">confirm</a> the original correlation. Others suggest cases <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/587819">disputing the pattern</a>. </p>
<p>For example, Singapore is one of the richest countries in the world, yet it has been ruled by Lee Kuan Yew’s <a href="http://www.untag-smd.ac.id/files/Perpustakaan_Digital_2/POLITICS%20AND%20GOVERNMENT%20Singapore%20Politics%20Under%20the%20People%92s%20Action%20Party.pdf">People’s Action Party</a> since 1959. At the same time, several low- to middle-income African countries such as Lesotho, Cape Verde, Botswana and Benin have solid democratic ratings, according to <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/regions/sub-saharan-africa">Freedom House</a>, for more than two decades. Contests in Nigeria last year also provide hope for progress. <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/india">India</a> is also cited as an important outlier.</p>
<p>One of the most influential arguments about wealth and democracy was advanced by political scientists Adam Przeworski and Fernando Limongi in their influential 1997 article <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/25053996?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">“Modernization: Theories and Facts.”</a> This study compared 135 autocratic and democratic regime states from 1950-1990. </p>
<p>The authors argued that dictatorships collapsed for all sorts of reasons. When this happens, achievement of a certain threshold of development – equal to about $8,000 per person a year in 2005 prices or equivalent currencies – protects new democracies from backsliding. Below this level of development, however, countries that experienced regime transitions had little chance of sustained democratic stability.</p>
<p>In this view, poor African societies may experience a regime transition from autocracy to the establishment of democratic constitutions and multiparty elections, but only for a short period. Their odds of flourishing remain slim. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/world/africa/mali-coup-france-calls-for-elections.html">democracy in Mali collapsed</a> following a military <em>coup d’etat</em> in March 2012, proving as fragile as the local Tuareg nomad settlements built upon shifting Sahara sand dunes.</p>
<h2>Is richer more democratic?</h2>
<p>If development is the root cause of the problem, then electoral malpractices such as coercion, vote-buying and fraud can be expected to be particularly severe in the poorest societies in Africa. But are they? This is where the EIP provides insights. </p>
<p><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/electoralintegrityproject4/projects/expert-survey-2/the-year-in-elections-2015">The 2015 EIP annual report</a> compares the risks of flawed and failed elections, and how far countries around the world meet international standards. It gathers assessments from over 2,000 experts to evaluate the integrity of all 180 national parliamentary and presidential contests held between July 1, 2012 and December 31, 2015 in 139 countries worldwide, and it generates an overall 100-point Perceptions of Electoral Integrity (PEI) index. Contests are further classified into flawed contests (those scoring 40-49 on the 100-point scale) and failed elections (those scoring less than 40).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118009/original/image-20160408-23656-1hqh3x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118009/original/image-20160408-23656-1hqh3x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118009/original/image-20160408-23656-1hqh3x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118009/original/image-20160408-23656-1hqh3x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118009/original/image-20160408-23656-1hqh3x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118009/original/image-20160408-23656-1hqh3x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118009/original/image-20160408-23656-1hqh3x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118009/original/image-20160408-23656-1hqh3x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">PEI Index Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To summarize the evidence in the region, Figure 1 maps the contrasts in the overall 100-point PEI index for all the African countries covered in the survey since 2012.</p>
<p>The African map shows relatively positive scores for electoral integrity in Benin, Mauritius, Lesotho, South Africa and Namibia. All had high integrity. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, more than half the African states included in the survey have flawed contests (with low scores for integrity), with Burundi, Equatorial Guinea and Ethiopia rated as failed elections – and some of the lowest ratings for integrity in any country around the globe.</p>
<p>But is development the key? </p>
<p>Figure 2 illustrates the links between economic development (per capita GDP in purchasing power parity, with data from the World Bank) and the electoral integrity (measured by PEI experts).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118003/original/image-20160408-23651-1abenr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118003/original/image-20160408-23651-1abenr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118003/original/image-20160408-23651-1abenr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118003/original/image-20160408-23651-1abenr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118003/original/image-20160408-23651-1abenr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118003/original/image-20160408-23651-1abenr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118003/original/image-20160408-23651-1abenr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118003/original/image-20160408-23651-1abenr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The development of democracy in Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the figure shows, within Africa, there is little evidence that wealth and poverty are correlated with levels of electoral integrity. Thus, failed contests include oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, along with poor Burundi, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Similarly, the flawed category includes elections in moderate-income Algeria as well as low-income Mauritania and Malawi, while the high-integrity contests include both low-income Benin and the more prosperous Mauritius.</p>
<p>Of course, the evidence within Africa provides a limited test of both the Lipset thesis and the Limogi and Przeworski argument, because nearly all states fall into the less developed category. A broader comparison of elections across the whole world suggests a positive link between economic development and the quality of elections.</p>
<p>Affluent Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands have high-quality elections, according to experts, while low-income Haiti, Ethiopia and Cambodia score poorly, with just a few outliers, like Kuwait and Singapore.</p>
<h2>What is to be done?</h2>
<p>Elections are the heart of the representative process. Flawed contests damage party competition, democratic governance and fundamental human rights. </p>
<p>And that’s not all. As shown in my book, <em><a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/why-electoral-integrity-matters">Why Electoral Integrity Matters</a>,</em> malpractices have important consequences by deepening public mistrust of electoral authorities, political parties and parliaments, which, in turn, depresses voter turnout and catalyzes protest activism.</p>
<p>Rather than abandoning support for elections in the face of these challenges, the international community needs to double down on its investment. </p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.aiddata.org">AidData</a>, roughly half a million U.S. dollars of official developmental assistance are spent annually on providing electoral assistance worldwide. While many African elections are indeed deeply flawed today, the EIP evidence suggests that poverty is not an insurmountable barrier to elections with integrity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pippa Norris receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p>A classical political science debate focuses on whether democracy is dependent on development. The director of the Electoral Integrity Project revisits the issue using new data from African elections.Pippa Norris, ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney and McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Harvard Kennedy SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/482212015-12-09T23:41:51Z2015-12-09T23:41:51ZFrom Africa to America, manipulation and money make elections less than truly democratic<p><em>This article is part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/democracy-futures">Democracy Futures</a> series, a <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/democracy-futures/">joint global initiative</a> with the <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/">Sydney Democracy Network</a>. The project aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the many challenges facing democracies in the 21st century.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>2016 is almost upon us and with it the global media event that is the US presidential election. In November, Americans will vote for their next national leader – a practice more than 90% of countries share.</p>
<p>In West Africa, the people of Burkina Faso voted last month in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/world/africa/burkina-faso-elections.html?_r=0">national elections</a>. The vote followed a popular uprising last year that ousted the president of 27 years, Blaise Compaoré, after he tried to extend his rule.</p>
<p>An election date of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/29/central-african-republic-announces-fresh-elections">December 13</a> has been set in the Central African Republic. The vote was postponed in October due to violence.</p>
<p>The spread of elections after the Cold War led to a burst of optimistic scholarship about the prospects for democracy around the world. Citizens have never been more empowered; they get to choose their leaders (in theory, at least).</p>
<p>But optimism, especially in political matters, never lasts long. By the turn of the millennium, more and more regimes appeared to have made only cosmetic shifts (adopting democracy’s formal institutions but not its substance). Concerns about democratic backsliding and reversal grew.</p>
<p>New democracies in particular were criticised for holding elections despite lacking many civil liberties and even the basic rule of law. Elections could be rigged, manipulated and <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.060106.095434">subverted to sustain authoritarianism</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103504/original/image-20151128-11618-1bnrq9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103504/original/image-20151128-11618-1bnrq9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103504/original/image-20151128-11618-1bnrq9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103504/original/image-20151128-11618-1bnrq9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103504/original/image-20151128-11618-1bnrq9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103504/original/image-20151128-11618-1bnrq9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103504/original/image-20151128-11618-1bnrq9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A park in Nairobi became home to military barracks to stop protests after Kenya’s 2007 presidential election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/44222307@N00/2203789368">DEMOSH/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The latter has been particularly true in Africa. A number of countries held multi-party elections at the time of decolonisation. By the late 1980s, however, 42 out of 47 regimes in Africa were closed autocracies or socialist regimes holding non-competitive, single-party elections.</p>
<p>At the end of the Cold War, a <a href="https://v-dem.net/media/filer_public/43/dd/43ddad26-aae0-48fb-895a-5609fd96e981/v-dem_working_paper_2015_3.pdf">rapid transition</a> took place. The proportion of countries in Africa holding multi-party elections jumped from 25% in 1988 to 84% in 1994. Today, 94% hold multi-party <a href="http://africanelections.tripod.com/index.html">elections for national office</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103987/original/image-20151202-14429-glwlbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103987/original/image-20151202-14429-glwlbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103987/original/image-20151202-14429-glwlbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103987/original/image-20151202-14429-glwlbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103987/original/image-20151202-14429-glwlbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103987/original/image-20151202-14429-glwlbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103987/original/image-20151202-14429-glwlbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103987/original/image-20151202-14429-glwlbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A long menu of manipulation</h2>
<p>The quality of elections in Africa still varies widely. They range from elections plagued by violence and fraud (like those in <a href="http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/crises/crisis-in-kenya">Kenya in 2007</a> or the Democratic Republic of Congo <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/10/congo-election-result-violent-protests">in 2011</a>) to the relatively free and fair elections in (Ghana <a href="http://www.nai.uu.se/news/articles/ghanaian_elections_narrow/">in 2008</a> and Cape Verde <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2012/cape-verde">in 2011</a>).</p>
<p>The variety of methods that can be used to manipulate and undermine an election’s integrity is dazzling. The list includes manipulation of electoral legislation and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/01/this-is-the-best-explanation-of-gerrymandering-you-will-ever-see/">gerrymandering</a>, opposition and voter intimidation, flawed voter registries, biased media and campaigning, ballot box rigging and vote count manipulation. The possibilities come down to context, which includes a country’s level of democratisation.</p>
<p>Electoral manipulation can be classified into three categories: coercion, co-optation and institutional manipulation. These strategies are distributed along a continuum from more coercive to more co-optive.</p>
<p>One way to determine election outcomes is to intimidate voters and opposition candidates to reduce competition sufficiently for the incumbent to stay in power. Another way is vote buying to “persuade” voters with gifts and financial rewards. A third strategy is to manipulate institutions – that is, the legal framework and administration of elections.</p>
<p>All these practices require organisational and financial resources. However, some are more costly than others.</p>
<p>For example, manipulating electoral institutions may be relatively easy for incumbent political actors. Vote buying often requires more extensive financial resources and organisational networks. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103506/original/image-20151128-11628-29uvx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103506/original/image-20151128-11628-29uvx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103506/original/image-20151128-11628-29uvx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103506/original/image-20151128-11628-29uvx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103506/original/image-20151128-11628-29uvx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103506/original/image-20151128-11628-29uvx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103506/original/image-20151128-11628-29uvx5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Manipulation of results often occurs without voters’ knowledge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Truthout.org/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It makes sense that political actors choose the cheapest, least visible and most effective forms of manipulation. The aim is to avoid attracting formal and informal sanctions, in the form of legal prosecution or depleting resources, and losing legitimacy among citizens.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9680150&fileId=S0017257X15000068">study</a> of electoral manipulation in Africa between 1986 and 2012 found institutional manipulation of electoral management and administration, along with the tabulation of results, likely to be most effective. Electoral institutions are highly accessible to incumbents. Most of their work is “behind the scenes”, so in many cases institutional rigging is the least costly and least visible option. </p>
<p>The next most favoured tactic is coercion. Though intimidation is more visible, it involves relatively little cost and is quite effective. Vote buying is the most costly and least effective type of manipulation.</p>
<p>It makes sense, then, to expect political actors to prefer institutional manipulation and coercion to vote buying. However, the options available to them – the “menu of manipulation” – depend on the political and economic context of each election.</p>
<p>Political actors will not be able to get away with manipulating electoral institutions or intimidation in more developed democracies. In such countries, independent media and judiciaries will denounce (and prosecute) such behaviour. The manipulation of institutions only really succeeds in authoritarian regimes where the rule of law is weak and the bureaucracy vulnerable to partisan capture.</p>
<h2>Not all good things go together</h2>
<p>This means that, paradoxically, as countries move towards democracy, they experience an initial increase in vote buying. </p>
<p>The new <a href="https://v-dem.net/media/filer_public/40/1f/401f4c6b-f336-44f1-88ed-5ce0a02f0061/v-dem_codebook_v3.pdf">Varieties of Democracy database</a> includes almost 400 fine-grained indicators of democracy in 173 countries from 1900 until 2012. These reveal a trade-off between different types of electoral manipulation. When institutional manipulation and coercion is higher, vote buying is lower; as democratisation progresses, there is a shift in the opposite direction.</p>
<p>It seems democracy in Africa promises better administered but not necessarily fairer elections. Not all good things go together. The move towards democratisation will mean more money in politics, more patronage and more clientelistic offers thrown around, at least in the short to medium term.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105157/original/image-20151209-15564-1hnrx2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105157/original/image-20151209-15564-1hnrx2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105157/original/image-20151209-15564-1hnrx2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105157/original/image-20151209-15564-1hnrx2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105157/original/image-20151209-15564-1hnrx2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105157/original/image-20151209-15564-1hnrx2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=964&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105157/original/image-20151209-15564-1hnrx2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=964&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105157/original/image-20151209-15564-1hnrx2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=964&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests gave voice to concerns about the Koch brothers and money politics in the US.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/shankbone/6183371761/in/photolist-aqpoZX-aCmcQq-aw2pqK-ariLUk-aCiJ6k-aCmnwE-aCmQMw-aCiwFF-c8C9jy-c593zC-bUCWJz-ayVh4W-bfTsKg-auE2du-bfTMo2-aukZrC-bfUnH8-bfUvyn-bfUx6i-bfUqdt-bfUkBH-bfTyyt-bfUdTT-bfTwE8-bfUu6M-bfUmBp-bfTWPD-bfUipz-bfTuuM-bfTEK6-bfTxzv-bfTtyX-bfUcFH-bfTJY6-bfTUb6-kEFdvM-vBGJzR-zeYMLp-zkVuAX-roeHTP-q5ncQX-bfTHVg-bfTAJp-bfU2un-bfUhn4-bfTLdc-bfTBNe-bfTXPT-bfTVk8-bfUjwk">flickr/David Shankbone</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether money politics will eventually decline as democratisation progresses remains to be seen. This trade-off poses questions about the quality of democracy not only in Africa but in established democracies like the US. Multibillionaires Charles and David Koch are projected to spend <a href="http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2015/nov/06/bernie-s/sanders-says-koch-brothers-are-outspending-either-/">US$900 million</a> backing Republican candidates in the 2016 presidential campaign.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/02/us/politics/money-in-politics-poll.html?_r=0">CBS newspoll</a> this year, Americans, regardless of political affiliation, agreed that wealth has too much influence on elections. They also agreed that candidates who win office promote policies that help their donors.</p>
<p>In Africa or America, money politics is a continuing concern – underscoring that high-quality democracy depends on more than just elections.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48221/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolien van Ham receives funding from the Australian Research Council's DECRA funding scheme (project number RG142911, project name DE150101692). The views expressed in this article are the views of the author, based on the author's research, and in no way represent the views of the ARC. </span></em></p>Voting for national leaders has become the global norm in a remarkably short time – in Africa in 1988, only 25% of countries had multiparty elections, but 94% do today. Yet all is not well.Carolien van Ham, Lecturer in Comparative Politics, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/463952015-10-15T03:06:49Z2015-10-15T03:06:49ZFlipped elections: can recalls improve democracy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92725/original/image-20150821-31376-1kgfq68.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The recall is a democratic tool for active citizen participation and intervention.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/6948319846/in/photolist-bzZXq3-d75TRN-7BcXP4-Udnh-fjNXKj-48ZF1A-4vYgFq-6y9tkx-6KCK93-bB82gA-4A8BjS-5zxZqy-5yAQGL-5GwuvH-4sivTX-hGxZ4-ej8BSo-8QDFv9-7RiUeM-5AwxUs-5zktnx-nPCsuv-nPCsqT-nPCsrz-o71YLq-7XYYzn-c4MF9Y-rRjkk5-bSXaXT-bSXaWt-6WQkvX-49MTsf-nPCktX-2muPEP-5zu8QM-Udu8-5UrBkd-bSXB8t-nPCkwH-nPCkuZ-npW24r-nPCkwx-bHbZ2e-nPCsti-qJD7qa-bE3RXq-nPCspk-5zBKq5-o71YJG-7YYMXD">United Nations Photo/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/democracy-futures">Democracy Futures</a> series, a <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/shortcodes/images-videos/articles-democracy-futures/">joint global initiative</a> with the <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/">Sydney Democracy Network</a>. The project aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the many challenges facing democracies in the 21st century.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><a href="http://aceproject.org/ace-en/focus/direct-democracy/recall">The recall</a>, a mechanism that allows citizens to remove an elected holder of public office before the end of their term, became <a href="http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2014-15/recallofmps.html">law in the UK</a> in March. Earlier, in 2010, it was debated in <a href="http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/key/RecallElections">New South Wales</a> and has kept constitutional experts on their toes ever since.</p>
<p>Even if the procedure appears new to some, negative election procedures such as the recall originated from the ancient democratic practice of ostracism. In the fifth century BC, a minimum of 10% of the Athenian Assembly could select an individual and order him to leave the city for ten years.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92743/original/image-20150821-31376-17b64kt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92743/original/image-20150821-31376-17b64kt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92743/original/image-20150821-31376-17b64kt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92743/original/image-20150821-31376-17b64kt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92743/original/image-20150821-31376-17b64kt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92743/original/image-20150821-31376-17b64kt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92743/original/image-20150821-31376-17b64kt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Voting ostraka (pottery pieces) used by the Athenian Assembly during the ostracism process in the fifth century BC.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carole Raddato/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Before ostracism, the power of political exile was in the hands of the elites. Its transfer to the demos had the <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i8078.pdf">positive effect</a> of moderating the use of political exile and contributing to the consolidation of a democratic system. Even critics of democracy like Aristotle acknowledged ostracism to be a conditionally good democratic institution.</p>
<p>Ostracism was a method by which democratic cities thwarted tyrannical or aristocratic attempts of subversion. It was aimed against individuals who <a href="http://polisci.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/alexkirshner.original.pdf">monopolised power</a> and concentrated political credit by undemocratic means. </p>
<p>Evidently, the ancients recognised that political corruption went hand-in-hand with anti-democratic rule. They probably would not have tolerated the likes of Berlusconi and Gaddafi for as long as we did.</p>
<p>Switzerland and the US adopted ostracism’s modern incarnation, the recall, in the mid-to-late 19th century. Its use, however, has certainly increased over the last two decades. </p>
<p>In the US, <a href="http://graphics.latimes.com/2003-recall-coverage/">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a> was elected governor of California after the recall of Gray Davis in 2003. At the end of that year in Venezuela, the exhaustive <a href="http://www.cartercenter.org/documents/2020.pdf">attempt to recall the president</a>, Hugo Chavez, was just beginning.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96610/original/image-20150929-30993-qqroid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96610/original/image-20150929-30993-qqroid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96610/original/image-20150929-30993-qqroid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96610/original/image-20150929-30993-qqroid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96610/original/image-20150929-30993-qqroid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96610/original/image-20150929-30993-qqroid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96610/original/image-20150929-30993-qqroid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96610/original/image-20150929-30993-qqroid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver after his defeat of Gray Davis in California’s 2003 recall election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/schumigirl1956/1170019120/in/photolist-xf6cz-xf5Y9-xf5SM-xf63E-nQfo1i-xf69M-xf5C7-xf61o-xf67h-xf5rJ-xf5dX-xf5uq-xf5Jc-xf5nf-xf5VW-xf5y5-xf5G5-xf5Lp-xf5js-xf5zM-xf5bR-xf5RX-xf5h2-2MoDVs-4jUbpS">flickr/gail mrs gray</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recalls are normally triggered by the collection of a minimum number of signatures. This is usually around <a href="http://www.idea.int/publications/direct_democracy/upload/direct_democracy_handbook_chapter5.pdf">25% of the last voter turnout</a>. In most cases, voters need not disclose the grounds for demanding a recall, although some jurisdictions require ratification by a court.</p>
<p>It is also common for a recall petition to take place simultaneously with the election of the replacing candidate. Though recalls are mainly used for local officials like mayors and state governors, they may touch presidents, MPs or entire legislatures.</p>
<p>Arguments for citizens’ right to recall assert their potential to increase the public accountability of elected officials. They thus guard against political misconduct. In addition, recalls encourage close monitoring of public officials’ activities and enable citizens to resist widely unpopular policies.</p>
<p>On the other hand, recalls are chiefly criticised on the grounds that they produce high levels of polarisation between political parties. This is because they provide an implicit invitation to sabotage the performance of a rival. The chilling effect of the possibility of a recall, critics say, could also undermine the parliamentary culture of deliberation and decision-making by preventing politicians from making daring but necessary political decisions.</p>
<h2>Re-conceptualising representation</h2>
<p>Does the act of recalling threaten to destroy free parliamentary mandate? If recalls force elected officers to execute only what their campaigns promised, representatives may be prevented from deliberating freely and exercising autonomous judgement regardless of any new or specific circumstances that arise.</p>
<p>These restrictions of parliamentary mandate do not cohere with the dynamic process of politics. Different problems are identified all the time and solutions debated and negotiated. Ultimately, depriving representatives of their capacity to think constructively and argue as free individuals will severely limit their ability to do their job well.</p>
<p>But will recalls inevitably put a break on democratic government? There is evidence indicating otherwise.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93022/original/image-20150826-1592-c3l3fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93022/original/image-20150826-1592-c3l3fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93022/original/image-20150826-1592-c3l3fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93022/original/image-20150826-1592-c3l3fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93022/original/image-20150826-1592-c3l3fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93022/original/image-20150826-1592-c3l3fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93022/original/image-20150826-1592-c3l3fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Can the citizenry’s right to recall obstruct democratic government?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Montecruz Foto/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First, secret voting makes <a href="http://pa.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/06/30/pa.gsu014.short">voters “invisible”</a>. This prevents MPs from knowing who voted for them and what exactly their expectations and individual wills are. It follows, then, that they cannot be bound by these individuals’ wills.</p>
<p>Second, it is commonly accepted that elected officials represent not only their supporters, but the whole constituency. Even if their political mandate is a continuous relation of <a href="http://politics.as.nyu.edu/docs/IO/4738/urbinati_f04.pdf">ideological sympathy and communication</a> with the plurality of their constituents, they are vested with sovereign power on behalf of the entire abstract commonwealth (the people, the state, the nation). </p>
<p>Hence, elected officials reason in terms of the <a href="https://books.google.se/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Ajl-1Fa-vgsC&oi=fnd&pg=PA15&dq=runciman+representation&ots=H-URkrPJHs&sig=pgzMs4ps2FGUY8wZPdswl4-5whk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=runciman%20representation&f=false">general will</a> – not in favour of the individual wills of those who voted for them. Recalls do not challenge this multidirectional scheme of representation and its adjacent premise that autonomous judgement is necessary for representatives to capture and defend the interests of the commonwealth as a whole.</p>
<p>On the contrary, recalls strengthen the legitimacy and representativeness of the non-recalled legislature.</p>
<h2>Do recalls foster populist politics?</h2>
<p>Another substantial criticism against recalls is that by politicising corruption they play directly into the hands of populist parties. Through their inherent nature, recall petitions construct a bipolar image of a corrupt political class and a united and morally superior citizenry.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93020/original/image-20150826-1606-1apdsdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93020/original/image-20150826-1606-1apdsdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=825&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93020/original/image-20150826-1606-1apdsdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=825&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93020/original/image-20150826-1606-1apdsdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=825&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93020/original/image-20150826-1606-1apdsdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1037&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93020/original/image-20150826-1606-1apdsdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1037&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93020/original/image-20150826-1606-1apdsdd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1037&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Efforts to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker began when he announced plans to limit collective bargaining rights for state employees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lena/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The accusation is that instead of political pluralism, recalls promote a materialist and socially exclusive definition of the “people”. The concept does not comprise the political class, but only the non-elected people, specifically those from the lower and middle classes.</p>
<p>In reality, however, recalls serve the opposite function. By providing a public stage to interrogate and debate allegations of political corruption, they protect against conspiracy theories and any ill-founded allegations that may be channelled into political action. </p>
<p>Recalls can pull the rug out from under the feet of populists. This is because their political identity mostly capitalises on highly popularised, yet often unsubstantiated scandals. Forced to find support for their accusations of political mischief, populists are stripped of the opportunity to “own” the anti-corruption movement.</p>
<p>However, the risk of political opposition adopting recalls as a tactic to get rid of their rivals remains. In addition, the mechanism’s potential to mobilise a majority of the population against specific individuals may reproduce discriminatory tendencies. This is a risk especially in countries where political divisions reflect ethnic, linguistic or other characteristics.</p>
<p>Fortunately, proper institutional arrangements can avoid both of these problems. For example, excessive political polarisation can be addressed by disallowing recalls too close to an election. The challenge to minorities can be overcome by imposing high thresholds for validating recalls, or even requiring legislative review of recalls.</p>
<h2>A form of democratic self-defence?</h2>
<p>The type of political rationale developed around the recall deserves special attention. Besides issues of transparency and accountability, the obvious, yet unacknowledged, reason recalls are urgent today is that they are a tool for <a href="http://users.ox.ac.uk/%7Essfc0073/Writings%20pdf/Capoccia%20EJPR%202001.pdf">democratic self-defence</a>. </p>
<p>When the extreme right is on the rise in Western democracies, counter policies are easily tarnished by controversy. In the face of this, the recall could serve as an opportunity to legitimately withdraw the mandates of non-democratic politicians.</p>
<p>Without recalls, democracies are set to resort to one of two existing paradigms for pro-democratic action.</p>
<p>The first is the model of <a href="https://books.google.se/books?hl=en&lr=&id=32p58E4IhUMC&oi=fnd&pg=PP8&ots=EPrpTUtRim&sig=XZZbk8lJwitN1RD3L_uowaSjBM8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">militant democracy</a>. This constitutionally protects democracy and thus allows banning political parties and curtailing individual freedoms in its name. </p>
<p>The model basically stipulates that representative institutions must be guarded from substantively undemocratic decisions, even if this involves bypassing the democratic process. Militant democracy is often criticised as a system where the democratic ends justify the undemocratic means.</p>
<p>The alternative is procedural democracy. This system does not pose limits to political expression. It generally prioritises democratic procedures over the quality of decisions they produce, even if these are substantively undemocratic.</p>
<p>As a result, procedural democrats are accused of passively resigning to the <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/eldar-sarajlic/perils-of-procedural-democracy-lesson-from-bosnia">rise of undemocratic movements</a> within democratic societies. Or, they may resort to <a href="http://cardozolawreview.com/Joomla1.5/content/27-5/SAJO.WEBSITE.pdf">increased security measures and policing</a>, which may de facto narrow down individual liberties.</p>
<p>What we need, then, are democratic procedures that have the potential to counter extremism without predetermining the substance of decisions produced through their use. Essentially, such a neo-procedural approach to democratic self-defence would move towards reinforcing democratic procedures that are designed specifically to protect the system from being undermined by internal forces.</p>
<p>Recalls offer the best possibility of this. They take place separately from regular elections and apply the procedural standards of democratic elections while employing a distinct type of (negative) political judgement. They hand more power to the demos by inviting voters to make decisions on any elected representatives who harm our democracy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92750/original/image-20150822-31400-cacv5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92750/original/image-20150822-31400-cacv5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92750/original/image-20150822-31400-cacv5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92750/original/image-20150822-31400-cacv5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92750/original/image-20150822-31400-cacv5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92750/original/image-20150822-31400-cacv5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92750/original/image-20150822-31400-cacv5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2004 rally held in support of the recall of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carlos Granier-Phelps</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Such a reliance on the demos for guarding the representative system may seem counter-intuitive for those who take the voting demos to be the source of (and certainly not the solution to) extremism.</p>
<p>However, a general distrust of the masses is itself an anti-democratic outlook <a href="https://books.google.se/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dPidAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA81&ots=grzVvI2lpq&sig=aD7sL_GNJKx6oyVq6bZGCafqCEg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">influenced by postwar elitism</a>. It partly resulted from a skewed attribution of the rise of Nazism to mass participation. This ignored the importance to the Weimar “accident” of constitutional manipulation and the collapse of intra-party negotiations. </p>
<p>Unless this ill-founded suspicion of democratic participation is overcome and voters are recognised as defenders of (and not threats to) the democratic state, the potential of recalls to function as democratic tools against extremism cannot be tapped.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46395/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthoula Malkopoulou receives funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme.</span></em></p>The recall is an ancient electoral procedure that has gained support in recent decades as a means for voters to defend the democratic state against extremism and serious abuses of power.Anthoula Malkopoulou, Researcher in the Department of Government, Uppsala UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/421162015-05-24T20:13:10Z2015-05-24T20:13:10ZBudget’s $45m slush fund for MPs is an unethical use of public money<p>The 2015-16 Commonwealth budget’s “<a href="http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/jb/releases/2015/May/budget-infra_01-2015.aspx">Stronger Communities</a>” slush fund for every lower house MP raises serious questions. The allocation of $150,000 a year to every MP’s electorate risks seducing and trapping MPs into unethical behaviour that conflicts with new benchmarks for parliamentary codes of conduct.</p>
<p>The allocation, at a total cost of $45 million over two years, is wrong on two counts.</p>
<p>Firstly, taxpayers’ money is being used to buy advantage for government MPs compared to their opponents at the next election, whether opposition, minor party or independent candidates. Because Tony Abbott’s Coalition government has more MPs – they occupy 90 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives – more of the money will go to government-held electorates. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82644/original/image-20150522-989-1xwqgqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82644/original/image-20150522-989-1xwqgqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82644/original/image-20150522-989-1xwqgqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82644/original/image-20150522-989-1xwqgqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82644/original/image-20150522-989-1xwqgqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82644/original/image-20150522-989-1xwqgqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82644/original/image-20150522-989-1xwqgqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82644/original/image-20150522-989-1xwqgqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Coalition’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_pendulum_for_the_Australian_federal_election,_2013">marginal seat MPs</a> will be especially advantaged. Incumbent MPs will be able to splash around taxpayers’ money – an extra $300,000 each over the next two years – to curry favour from voters. Their opponents in these electorates will have no access to public money for projects to strengthen the same local community.</p>
<p>Secondly, these slush funds have a sorry record of corrupt use by MPs to benefit themselves, family friends and supporters. Known as <a href="http://internationalbudget.org/budget-briefs/brief10/">constituency development funds</a> (CDFs) in other countries, they are notorious for diversion and misuse. They have been spent on everything from non-existent “consultant’s reports” to urgent, expensive medical treatment for individual constituents.</p>
<h2>Federal MPs have no code of conduct</h2>
<p>The risk of misuse is greater in the Australian Parliament because <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/Conduct#_Toc325623487">it has no code of conduct to guide MPs</a> on ethical behaviour.</p>
<p>Two things should happen. As a matter of principle, the “Stronger Communities” money should be removed from political influence. The money should be administered by public servants to fund projects according to national priorities, not vote-buying.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82627/original/image-20150522-1004-1g756de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82627/original/image-20150522-1004-1g756de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82627/original/image-20150522-1004-1g756de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82627/original/image-20150522-1004-1g756de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82627/original/image-20150522-1004-1g756de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82627/original/image-20150522-1004-1g756de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82627/original/image-20150522-1004-1g756de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82627/original/image-20150522-1004-1g756de.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A code of conduct for MPs based on internationally accepted principles of public life is ready for the federal parliament to adopt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/Main/Document_Library/Codes_of_Conduct/Codes_of_Conduct_.aspx">Commonwealth Parliamentary Association</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even more importantly, the parliament should adopt and enforce a code of conduct, using the new <a href="http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/Main/Document_Library/Codes_of_Conduct/Codes_of_Conduct_.aspx">Benchmarks for Codes of Conduct</a> recently developed by my team based at Monash University working with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).</p>
<p>The CPA benchmarks aim to strengthen parliamentary performance and fill a serious gap in how to deal with unethical behaviour by members of parliament. Research suggests that unethical behaviour <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-hard-for-voters-to-trust-leaders-who-wont-promise-true-integrity-34710">undermines reputations, legitimacy and performance</a>. Effective parliamentary codes greatly reduce the corrosive risks of unethical behaviour.</p>
<p>Underpinning the CPA benchmarks are fundamental concepts which must be reflected in codes. Thus every MP must understand that he or she is a public officer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/politicians-forget-what-public-trust-means-we-must-remind-them-34981">entrusted to act on behalf of the public</a> in general. </p>
<h2>MPs must put public interest first</h2>
<p>An MP is not free to act in his or her own interest or that of anyone else except the public. This also means that political parties must put the public interest first. These concepts relate to essential features of parliament which are crucial to good governance.</p>
<p>The code also rests on principles including the internationally respected <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life">Principles of Public Life</a>: selflessness; integrity; objectivity; accountability; openness; honesty; and leadership. These ethical principles can be traced back to Queensland’s <a href="http://www.ccc.qld.gov.au/about-the-ccc/the-fitzgerald-inquiry">Fitzgerald Royal Commission</a>, which investigated rampant corruption in the state government. The principles were <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140131031506/http:/www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/parlment/nolan/nolan.htm">further developed by Lord Nolan</a> almost 20 years ago.</p>
<p>Corruption in politics is a constant risk, not just a product of the occasional “bad apple”, according to research extending over decades in many countries. It requires eternal vigilance backed up by effective codes that are strongly enforced. </p>
<p>Our research identified three key features of an effective code:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>clear standards of expected behaviour</p></li>
<li><p>ethical training and advice</p></li>
<li><p>independent investigation of alleged breaches.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The history of political corruption around the world confirms that sooner or later, some MPs will succumb to the temptation to rort the “Stronger Communities” slush fund. MPS will advise on and are likely to <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/federal-budget-2015-government-to-splash-45m-for-local-infrastructure-projects-20150511-ggz3y3.html">have influence in the selection of projects</a> in their electorates. The temptation to misuse public money to win votes is particularly strong in marginal seats. </p>
<p>The absence of a code of conduct adds to the risk. The lack of an independent adviser with whom MPs can discuss the ethics of “Stronger Communities” proposals is yet another weakness, which heightens the risks of the program becoming a slush fund.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Abbott would have had severe doubts about the ethics of the “Stronger Communities” funding if he had followed the principles recommended in the CPA benchmarks. It is hard to argue that advantaging the incumbent majority of Coalition MPs is in the public interest. Rather, it undermines public confidence in the fair use of taxpayers’ funds.</p>
<p>Australia is out step with the many other democratic parliaments that have and enforce a code of conduct. These parliaments are expected to apply the CPA benchmarks to the structure and functions of their codes of conduct, and so help avoid MPs being trapped through schemes like the “Stronger Communities” slush fund.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Acknowledgement: The Benchmarks for Codes of Conduct applying to members of parliament is available <a href="http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/Main/Document_Library/Codes_of_Conduct/Codes_of_Conduct_.aspx">here</a>. It has been funded by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in partnership with Monash University. The CPA is the international association of national, provincial/state, territory parliaments of the UK and its former colonies – almost 200 houses of parliament.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42116/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Coghill is a former Speaker and Member of the Victorian Parliament and is a life member of the Australian Labor Party.</span></em></p>‘Better Communities’ funding is supposedly non-partisan: every electorate gets $300,000 for local projects. But only incumbent MPs have a say in this spending and 60% of them are government members.Ken Coghill, Associate Professor, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/404692015-05-22T01:17:36Z2015-05-22T01:17:36ZA year on, coup leaders rule with disdain for Thais and democracy<p>Twelve months ago a Thai army junta under General <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15639418">Prayuth Chan-ocha</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/stealthy-declaration-of-martial-law-keeps-thailand-guessing-26989">declared martial law</a> and took over the government of Thailand. Since then the junta’s five-part structure of governance supposedly has been working towards new elections by February 2016. This goal is now made unlikely, not least because the military government has deferred to a growing insistence on <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32799690">putting the newly drafted constitution to a referendum</a>.</p>
<p>The whole project is at risk of falling apart because the junta has no understanding of how to go about securing the popular legitimacy of a constitution. </p>
<p>The interim structure of governance built last year by the National Council for Peace and Order (NPCO) – the junta – comprises, in addition to itself and the cabinet, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), the National Reform Council (NRC) and the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC). Not surprisingly the junta chose the bulk of the nominees to these bodies.</p>
<p>During the past few months, the CDC has been drafting a new constitution. It submitted the draft to the NRC for debate in late April and the NRC responded the following week. The NRC will decide whether to adopt the final draft in August.</p>
<h2>What is in the draft constitution?</h2>
<p>Among its provisions are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the establishment of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed-member_proportional_representation">mixed-member proportional system</a> of voting for the House of Representatives, which amounts to an adjustment of past practice such that the system more closely resembles the German model of proportional representation, but with an “open” party list</p></li>
<li><p>a provision for a non-elected person to be appointed prime minister in certain circumstances</p></li>
<li><p>a change in the Senate so that only a little over a third of members would be elected (one from each of the 77 provinces).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Sixty-five senators would be selected from among former high-ranking state officials, such as military leaders and permanent secretaries, and by legally registered professional organisations and people’s organisations such as labour unions and agricultural co-operatives from among their members. The remaining 58 senators would be <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/515227/cdc-rethinks-outsider-pm-and-senate">selected from</a> “respected experts from various areas such as education, public health and natural resources"’. Except in the cases of selections by specified organisations, no mention is made of who the selectors would be (while under the previous constitution this was clearly stated).</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/510976/the-road-to-true-democracy">defence of the draft constitution</a>, a member of the CDC, Lieutenant General Navin Damrigan, revealed other contentious recommendations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>to involve the Senate much more deeply in legislative processes</p></li>
<li><p>to prohibit a member of the House of Representatives from crossing the floor to vote against the government</p></li>
<li><p>to allow a representative to remain as such even though s/he may cease to be a member of his or her the party at the time of being elected</p></li>
<li><p>to remove the scope for ministers to remove permanent heads of government departments. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>How have Thais responded?</h2>
<p>A regular Bangkok Post commentator, Associate Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak, had <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/539487/a-well-intentioned-but-problematic-charter">this to say</a> of the published draft constitution:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Its overarching design is to codify a ‘good society’ and ‘clean politics’ in Thailand by stipulating minute provisions for good governance and enforce morality and ethics into politics in a nitpicking fashion.</p>
<p>… The current draft reads less like basic constitutional principles and more like a code of moral conduct, backed by ethical procedures, for Thai citizens and their representatives. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In a similar vein, another regular commentator, Akira Achakulwisut, <a href="http://m.bangkokpost.com/opinion/535363">wrote</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The problem is this father-knows-best attitude runs … throughout almost the entire document. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In late April it became clear that there was considerable argument between the CDC and the wider NRC. Since that time opposition to various aspects of the draft constitution has become louder, not only within Thailand - notably on the part of the NLA - but among commentators abroad (see, for example, <a href="http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-04-20/thailand-needs-elected-leaders-not-a-new-constitution">What’s wrong with Thailand’s new constitution?</a>).</p>
<p>It is clear that the two major political parties, the Democrats and Pheu Thai, are very critical. However, they have not been able to debate the CDC’s draft because of the continuing <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/543027/political-parties-get-draft-charter-but-can-t-debate-it">limitation on the right of assembly</a> and the <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/557651/udomdej-tells-politicians-to-toe-ncpo-line">junta’s bellicosity</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/556299/opposition-to-charter-grows">There is opposition</a>, too, from a body representing multiple social organisations, the Political Development Council. It especially objects to the draft’s inclusion of two extra-parliamentary bodies designed to enable the army and others responsible for the new constitution to enforce progress in the reforms it mandates. On May 11, local government officials <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/557899/village-tambon-chiefs-protest-draft-charter">came out against the draft</a>.</p>
<p>Such criticism is indirectly criticism of the junta, which is also seen as responsible for declining economic growth. Opposition is emerging broadly, even from powerful business leaders.</p>
<p>Criticism of the draft constitution has been added to continuing opposition, especially within the media, to censorship. This includes the closure of the radio station of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Front_for_Democracy_Against_Dictatorship">United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship</a> (the "redshirts”). Under section 44 of the interim constitution, the junta and indeed junior military officers can ban media reports and even close down media outlets. </p>
<p>To make sure that citizens are deterred from taking to the streets in protest, the NLA recently passed legislation to introduce what are, for Thailand, strong restrictions on public gatherings, in the unlikely event that Prayuth lifts the <a href="http://asiancorrespondent.com/132633/thailand-public-assembly-law-creates-new-hurdles-for-political-protests/">ban on political assemblies</a> of more than five persons.</p>
<h2>Martial law lifted, but section 44 is worse</h2>
<p>Section 44 effectively replaces martial law, which was lifted after 11 months. It vests wide powers not in the NCPO - as was the case under martial law - but in the head of the junta, now also the prime minister. These powers are effectively unlimited. </p>
<p>Under Section 44, the <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/516427/un-section-44-worse-than-martial-law">Bangkok Post reports</a> that Prayuth has:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the unfettered right to exercise the powers of the executive, legislative and judicial branches for security and in the national interest. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50495#.VVwYRLmqqko">described this</a> as “more draconian than martial law”, saying it bestows “unlimited powers” on the prime minister “without any judicial oversight at all"’. The Bangkok Post reported:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The section 44 order allows soldiers to continue to make arrests of people deemed to endanger national security and hold them for seven days without a court warrant, and also to ban media reports judged harmful to the national interest.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In recent weeks increasing attention has been given to the merit of putting the draft constitution to a referendum. The CDC itself has <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/560463/charter-writers-agree-with-referendum">unanimously voted for a referendum</a>. While the NLA will now consider a change in the interim constitution <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/lite/topstories/567859/cabinet-vets-options-if-polls-veto-charter">to allow for a referendum</a>, such a decision would by no means mandate it.</p>
<p>Warnings are being expressed by various commentators, including former Democrat prime minister <a href="http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/abhisit-blasts-cdc-for-creating-new-parliamentary-dictatorship/55982/">Aphisit Vejjajiva</a>, that if the people are not properly consulted they will respond with collective inertia and a collapse of any sort of governance. </p>
<p>If the draft were put to a referendum and rejected, months of discussion within the junta’s governance structure would be wasted. It <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/497342/">has been argued</a> that to avoid a protracted hiatus the referendum should present the people with a choice – between the proposed draft and the constitution of 1997 or of 2007 (preferably the former). Evidently the bill when presented to the NLA will include provision for what should be done if the draft constitution is rejected.</p>
<p>The constitution drafters have reflected a military conviction that governing has to be codified to constrain democratic processes. While the monarch has been able in the past to influence the course of coups and the return to national elections, that influence has become less palpable with the fading of the more senior members of the royal family from view. But the influence of the palace surely endures. </p>
<p>The NCPO presumably has a definite position on the succession and on the place of the monarchy in the Thai polity, as well as an understanding with the palace about how to fill the vacuum being created as senior members of the royal family retire from public life. It is hard to see that democratic processes will be promoted however the relationship between the military and the palace develops.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavan Butler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A year ago, a military coup toppled Thailand’s elected government. The junta promised elections once a new constitution is adopted, but its authoritarian rule betrays a hostility to real democracy.Gavan Butler, Honorary Associate in Political Economy, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/415952015-05-11T04:54:32Z2015-05-11T04:54:32ZVoting system gives Tories a result most UK voters didn’t want<p>On Thursday, May 7 2015, the Conservative Party won the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/uk-general-election-2015">national election</a> in the United Kingdom – despite the fact that nearly two-thirds of ballots were cast for other candidates. With only 36.9% of the vote - some 3% more than opinion polls predicted - the Conservative Party won a 50.9% absolute majority of seats, 331 out of 650, in the House of Commons. </p>
<p>The 61.1% of voters who supported other candidates will thus be represented by a minority in the Commons. There have been <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-10/riots-erupt-in-london-against-re-election-of-david-cameron/6458098">public protests</a> at an outcome that some feel was not a democratic expression of voters’ will.</p>
<h2>Labor made bigger vote gains, but lost seats</h2>
<p>Here are a few facts about the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/election/2015/results">election results</a> that may surprise readers:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The Conservative Party increased its vote by 0.8%, but increased its number of seats by 28 seats.</p></li>
<li><p>The Labour Party increased its vote by a greater percentage than the Conservatives did, 1.5%, but its number of seats decreased by 24.</p></li>
<li><p>Most voters cast their votes for defeated candidates, so most are “represented” by an MP they did not support.</p></li>
<li><p>Some parties are over-represented in the House of Commons relative to their support among voters. So the governing Conservatives, with 36.9% support, have 50.9% of the seats, and the Scottish Nationalists, with 4.7% support, have 8.6% of the seats.</p></li>
<li><p>Other parties are grossly under-represented, most notably the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) with just one seat, yet 12.6% support.</p></li>
<li><p>The percentage swing to UKIP was the biggest for any party in the UK for at least a generation, but the 3,881,129 people who voted for them – the third-biggest vote after the Conservative and Labour parties – are almost all unrepresented in the House of Commons now.</p></li>
<li><p>Both the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32633388">Labour</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32633719">UKIP</a> leaders resigned following their parties’ disappointing number of seats won, even though the votes for their parties significantly increased.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>‘First past the post’ distorts multi-party contests</h2>
<p>Why is this so? The problem with UK elections, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk-election-prediction-this-weeks-result-wont-reflect-the-voters-will-40387">highlighted previously</a> in The Conversation, is that single-member electoral districts, combined with the lack of <a href="http://www.prsa.org.au/votesyst.htm#3">preferential voting</a>, means that election results usually strongly distort the voters’ wishes.</p>
<p>Here’s how it happens.</p>
<p>Consider the county of Cornwall. With six electoral constituencies, the overall vote was as follows:</p>
<p>43.1% Conservative</p>
<p>22.4% Liberal Democrat</p>
<p>13.8% UKIP </p>
<p>12.3% Labour</p>
<p>5.8% Green </p>
<p>2.5% Others</p>
<p>Although 57% of voters in Cornwall voted for parties other than the Conservatives, the Conservatives won every seat. This is because, under the <a href="http://www.prsa.org.au/pluralit.htm">first-past-the-post</a> system, each winner needs to be just a nose in front of each of the other candidates, even if most of the voters didn’t vote for him or her. In fact, only one Conservative candidate exceeded 50% support in Cornwall.</p>
<p>The full details of what happened are given in the table below:</p>
<p><strong>Breakdown of voting in six seats of Cornwall</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81140/original/image-20150511-22743-wf7gub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81140/original/image-20150511-22743-wf7gub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81140/original/image-20150511-22743-wf7gub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81140/original/image-20150511-22743-wf7gub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81140/original/image-20150511-22743-wf7gub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81140/original/image-20150511-22743-wf7gub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81140/original/image-20150511-22743-wf7gub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81140/original/image-20150511-22743-wf7gub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The only voters whose ballots count for the election of an MP are those who support the candidate who gets the biggest share. This biggest share is usually well under 50%, because there are five or sometimes six parties getting significant support in the UK. There is no preference voting, so if - for example - you vote for a Greens candidate, as 3.8% of voters across the UK did, your vote is effectively discarded (in all but one seat) because at least one other candidate gets more votes.</p>
<p>The Conservatives were able to win a clear majority of seats because their candidates got ahead of others in more than half of the 650 seats, even though they received several million votes short of a majority of votes. Across the south-east and west of England the same picture we see in Cornwall was repeated in many places – with overall votes of less than 50% the Conservatives won all, or almost all, the seats.</p>
<p>But in the rest of the UK the story is different. In the north-east of England, for example, around Durham and Newcastle, out of 28 seats, Labour won 25 and the Conservatives only 3. But, again, Labour’s vote was well under a majority, being just 45.1% of the vote.</p>
<p>What happened in Scotland? Well, the Scottish Nationalists (SNP) are celebrating a huge win, but actually a majority of voters, albeit a very slim majority, voted for other candidates. Final figures show that the Scottish Nationalists won 49.97% of the vote, but 94.9% of the 59 seats in Scotland (56 seats). </p>
<p>Some have said this result in Scotland presages a vote for independence in any future referendum, but the SNP did not win a majority of votes in Scotland last week, nor a majority in the <a href="https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=2014+Scottish+Referendum">2014 referendum</a>. A win in any further referendum doesn’t seem likely soon.</p>
<p>So this is why many people in the UK are upset by the election result. Most voters didn’t vote for the outcome they got, and most voters are not represented in the House of Commons - which is the only elected House - by the candidate they voted for.</p>
<p>Is this distortion really the best that democracy can offer? I would say a definite no.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can read The Conversation’s comprehensive coverage of the UK general election <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/election-2015">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41595/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Morey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Labour, UKIP and the Greens all gained much bigger swings than the Conservatives, but were election losers. The first-past-the-post system let the Tories pick up a swag of seats with a 0.8% swing.Stephen Morey, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Linguistics, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.