Plus ça change: Electoral law reform and the 2008 Romanian parliamentary elections

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cosmin Gabriel Marian ◽  
Ronald F. King
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Representation System ◽  
Qualitative Comparison ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Additional Layer ◽  
Zero Effect ◽  
Electoral Law

Romania reformed the law governing its parliamentary elections between 2004 and 2008, shifting from a complex proportional representation system based on county-level party lists to a complex uninominal system in which each district for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate elects one representative. The change in law emerged after more than a year of heated political controversies, including partisan and personal animosity between President Basescu and Prime Minister Tariceanu, a failed attempt at impeachment, a deadlocked special electoral commission, a failed popular referendum, an unfavorable constitutional court ruling, and a confusing final accord brokered under deadline. Qualitative comparison of the 2004 and 2008 laws reveals that the heralded reform merely added an additional layer of calculation to the previous electoral system. Quantitative analysis using counterfactual estimation reveals that the new law had absolutely zero effect on the partisan outcome. In the conclusion, we explore the implications of these findings for Romanian politics and the politics of electoral reform more generally.

scholarly journals A German Perspective on Legal and Political Problems of Coalition Governments

1999 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Ingo Von Münch
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Public Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
The Public ◽  
Coalition Governments ◽  
Deputy Prime Minister ◽  
Electoral Law

In September and October 1998 Professor von Münch was a visiting fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Public Law.  During an extremely busy visit, Professor von Münch gave a number of seminars on aspects of German Constitutional and Electoral Law.  These seminars, given by both a leading Constitutional and Electoral Law academic and a former deputy prime minister of the State of Hamburg and former member of the Bundesrat, or German Senate, were timely given the trials and tribulations of New Zealand's first MMP Coalition Government which had then just ended in the sacking of the minor party's leader as Deputy Prime Minister.  In contrast to much of the contemporary gloom at the perceived failed hope of MMP, Professor von Münch presented a hopeful view of both the electoral system that New Zealand had imported from Germany and of the possibilities of Coalition Government. The following is an enlarged text of a speech, delivered to the Public Law section of the New Zealand Ministry of Justice.

Essebsi’s death leaves Tunisia elections in limbo

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Money Laundering ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
The Face ◽  
Electoral Law

Significance As prime minister and later president, Essebsi played an important role in the early stages of Tunisia’s peaceful transition to democracy, but failed to deliver any real programme to transform the country’s ailing economy. He leaves behind a country which has shown resilience in the face of many domestic and regional challenges, but in which political infighting and a lack of economic progress means trust in the political class is low. Essebsi’s death so close to an election he had promised not to contest means the Tunisian state was already prepared for a transition. Impacts Signing the electoral law will open the political class up to criticism that it is self-serving. Not signing the law could see a candidate under investigation for money-laundering win the presidency. Essebsi's Nidaa Tounes party has largely collapsed thanks to infighting, and is unlikely to do well in the parliamentary elections.

scholarly journals Estatutos de Autonomía y sistemas electorales autonómicos

2020 ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Luis A. Gálvez Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
Electoral Regime ◽  
Electoral Law

Este trabajo se ocupa de examinar la confluencia entre el estatuto de autonomía y el sistema electoral, como exponentes máximos de dos sectores fundamentales del Derecho constitucional español: el régimen autonómico y el régimen electoral. A este propósito, se da cuenta del contenido de los estatutos sobre el sistema electoral autonómico, se calibra su importancia, se individualizan las aportaciones realizadas al conjunto del Derecho electoral, en especial el español, y se concluye, finalmente, con una valoración de la regulación y una breve referencia a la posición del Tribunal Constitucional sobre los escasos conflictos planteados.This paper deals with examining the confluence between the statute of autonomy and the electoral system, as maximum exponents of two fundamental sectors of Spanish constitutional law: the autonomous regime and the electoral regime. For this purpose, the content of the statutes on the autonomous electoral system is realized, its importance is calibrated, the contributions made to the electoral law as a whole, especially Spanish, are individualized, and it is concluded, finally, with an assessment of the regulation and a brief reference to the position of the Constitutional Court on the few conflicts raised.

scholarly journals Chile's 2015 Electoral Reform: Changing the Rules of the Game

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 126-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Gamboa ◽  
Mauricio Morales
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
The Government ◽  
Electoral Law ◽  
Rules Of The Game

AbstractIn 2015, a center-left government introduced an electoral reform that replaced the binomial electoral system governing parliamentary elections since 1989 with a more proportional system. This article provides an account of the reform process, describes the new electoral law, and discusses the factors explaining the reform. We argue, first, that it was possible, due to the incentives the government provided, to secure the support of an ample majority of parliamentarians; also, a new and favorable political scenario had emerged, in which the support of the main right-wing parties was not necessary for the reform to pass. Second, we maintain that the reform sought mainly to resolve problems affecting the parties of the governing coalition related to negotiations of coalition lists for elections. As a complementary objective, the reform promoted a general interest by establishing rules that allowed a “fairer” system of representation and improved competitive conditions.

Electoral System Incentives for a Party-Serving Personal Vote

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Marina Popescu ◽  
Mihail Chiru
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Campaign Strategy ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Almost All

Candidate-centric campaigns are most likely to occur when electoral system incentives to personalize do not conflict with party-based incentives. Then it makes sense for candidates to use any campaign mean to improve their chances to win a seat while also helping the party win more seats and increasing their standing within the organization. The Romanian electoral system uniquely combined mechanisms that enabled all three motivations for almost all candidates. Our analysis of the degree and determinants of personalization in the 2012 parliamentary elections illustrates that electoral system incentives were key factors driving campaign personalization as a party-congruent rather than adversarial campaign strategy.

The Never-ending Story of Law and Electoral System in Lesotho

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoolo Nyane
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Mixed Electoral System ◽  
2012 Election

While electoral discontent has been the enduring feature of constitutional democracy in Lesotho since independence, disagreement over electoral system is a fairly recent phenomenon. When the country attained independence in 1966 from Britain, electoral system was not necessarily one of the topical issues of pre-independence constitutional negotiations. The major issues were the powers of the monarch, the office of prime minister, the command of the army and many more.  It was taken for granted that the country would use the British-based plurality electoral system.  This is the system which the country used until early 2000s when the electoral laws were reformed to anchor a new mixed electoral system.  When the new electoral laws were ultimately passed in 2001, the country transitioned from a plurality electoral system to a two-ballot mixed member proportional system. By this time, electoral system had acquired prominence in politico-legal discourse in Lesotho.  In the run-up to 2007 elections, bigger political parties orchestrated the manipulation of electoral laws which culminated in clearly distorted electoral outcomes. The manipulations motivated further reforms in the run-up to 2012 election which resulted in the single-ballot mixed member proportional system. The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate how electoral laws have anchored electoral system reforms throughout the various historical epochs in Lesotho since independence. The paper contends that while the country has been courageous, unlike most of its peers, to introduce far-reaching electoral system changes, the reform of electoral laws has not been so helpful in attaining the higher objectives of political inclusivity, constitutionalism and stability in Lesotho.

The Israeli General Election of 1996 – Another Upheaval?

1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Capitanchik
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
General Election ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Central Issue ◽  
Direct Election ◽  
Electoral Law ◽  
First Time

The Israeli General Election of 1996 Has Been Described as a ‘referendum’ on the Middle East peace process, the central issue in the campaign. However, important as it was, the outcome of the election was determined not so much by the issue of peace, as by a change in the electoral law providing for the direct election of the prime minister. On 29 May, for the first time, Israelis went to the polls to elect a prime minister as well as a new Knesset and the result was yet another upheaval in Israeli political life.

Regional features of local elections in 2020: Poltava region

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12
Author(s):  
Petro Vorona ◽  
S. A. Solovey
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Party Building ◽  
Regional Features ◽  
Electoral Law

The article considers the issue of holding local elections on the example of one of the regions of Ukraine - Poltava region. The research hypothesis is based on the study of the dynamics of party representation in local governments of Poltava region as a central, iconic region to study the evolution of electoral sympathies and features of party building from the standpoint of public administration science. The author conducted a comparative analysis of the electoral preferences of Poltava residents in the local elections in terms of political parties and their dynamics in accordance with the 2015 elections. The development of democratic processes is directly dependent on the mechanisms and procedures for both local and parliamentary elections - the extent to which electoral law allows the majority of voters to understand the wide variety of political parties and candidates, allows opinion leaders to participate in elections. It is pointed out that there is a certain regrouping («political mimicry») of some political parties in the country, as a reestablishment of the «old political elite» and a campaign for local elections in a new composition and with a new name. The article focuses on strengthening the role of regionally influenced political parties in local elections. They allowed the local political elite to be more independent of all-Ukrainian parliamentary parties. Attention is drawn to local political party projects led by charismatic or financially influential politicians. It is noted that the local elections in 2020 continued the positive dynamics of change - from the previous convocation, only a quarter of people entered the Poltava Regional Council, and its membership was renewed by almost 70%. The dominance of the post-Soviet communist and Komsomol elites in the region, which were characterized by exceptional unity, is disappearing, although they retain some of their political electoral influence in the region. It is pointed out the need to further improve the provisions of the Electoral Code where it is necessary to lay down the principle of fairness in the distribution of seats on the main electoral list in accordance with the electoral rating of candidates.

Polarization and Electoral Incentives: The End of the Chilean Consensus Democracy, 1990–2014

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Fábrega ◽  
Jorge González ◽  
Jaime Lindh
Keyword(s):  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Support ◽  
The Political ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Consensus Democracy ◽  
Electoral Incentives ◽  
Spatial Voting ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Political Center

AbstractConsensus democracy among the main Chilean political forces ended abruptly after the 2013 presidential and parliamentary elections, the most polarized elections since the return to democracy in 1990. Relying on spatial voting theory to uncover latent ideological dimensions from survey data between 1990 and 2014, this study finds patterns of gradual polarization starting at least ten years before the collapse of consensus, based on an increasing demobilization of the political center that misaligned politicians from their political platforms (particularly in the center-left parties). That phenomenon changed the political support for the two main political coalitions and the intracoalition bargaining power of their various factions. The pattern also helps to explain the process behind the 2015 reform of the electoral system.

The 2016 Electoral Reform in Mongolia: From Mixed System and Multiparty Competition to FPTP and One-Party Dominance

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 511-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Maškarinec
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
District Level ◽  
Mixed System ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Party Dominance ◽  
Duverger's Law

This article tests the effects of a new electoral system that was introduced in Mongolia for the June 2016 elections. The decision to implement a first-past-the-post (FPTP) system instead of a mixed-member majoritarian (MMM) system, which was first and last used in the previous elections of 2012, was due to the April 2016 ruling of the Mongolian Constitutional Court on unconstitutionality of the list tier as one of the mechanisms for distributing seats within MMM. Through an analysis of national- and district-level results, this article addresses the question whether electoral competition at the district level was consistent with Duverger’s law and resulted in the restoration of bipartism, which had been disrupted in 2012 due to the use of MMM.

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