Technologies of Manipulation During the Presidential Elections of 1999 in Ukraine

The article examines the election campaigns of the late twentieth century. in Ukraine and proved, that they operated manipulation technologies. The state was democratizing the political system, adoption of new election legislation, transition to a mixed electoral system; political pluralism was formed, the number of parties has increased significantly, the struggle for power intensified. With each subsequent election campaign (presidential, parliamentary), the political struggle intensified, and voter engagement technologies have become more vulnerable. The author proves, that the ways and purposes of application of technologies depend on motivations of subjects of the power, as: obtaining, exercising and retaining power; the desire to achieve political and social results, most profitable for pragmatic actors, although this may run counter to collective goals. In Ukraine, democratic processes are not yet complete, traditions of democracy and stable political institutions are absent. Instead, manipulation technologies, electoral engineering, which are aimed at limiting the actions of competitors and creating favorable conditions for their own victory. This prevents the formation of certain restraints, barriers to manipulation technologies, familiar to many civilized democracies.

HISTORICAL STAGES AND CURRENT TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN KAZAKHSTAN

The article provides a comparative legal and chronological analysis of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On local government and self-government" and the corresponding articles from the text of the Constitution. The priority directions of the ways of reforming the conceptual foundations of local government and self-government in Kazakhstan are analyzed. The research used general scientific and special methods of scientific knowledge. Among the results obtained, we will point out the following: proposals have been developed to improve legislation; recommendations on amendments to the Constitutional Law "On elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan" were proposed; reflects the advantages of a mixed electoral system; criteria for the election of deputies of maslikhats have been put forward.

The legal nature of reforming the modern electoral system of Ukraine: advantages and disadvantages

This article reveals the content of the main transformation processes that have taken place in recent years in the electoral process of Ukraine, including the abolition of "self-nomination" of candidates, abolition of mixed electoral system in parliamentary elections, study of the legal nature of the "single permanent vote". , regulation of the issue of cash collateral, delimitation of the concepts of "registered place of residence" and "actual place of residence", limitation of election funds for candidates for President of Ukraine, etc. Changes in the sphere of presidential, parliamentary and local self-government elections are outlined. The main preconditions for the development and adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine and its role for the further functioning of electoral law mechanisms are indicated. The result of the consolidation of all normative legal acts regulating election procedures in Ukraine into a single codified legislative act in order to unify the regulation of the preparation and conduct of elections in Ukraine is analyzed. The main directions of further development and improvement of the election legislation of Ukraine are studied, including: introduction of an effective system of legal liability for violation of election legislation, proper determination of sanctions for violation of citizens' election rights, assistance in increasing the personnel potential of election commission members and quality control. and integrity of the Central Election Commission, prohibition of amendments to the main provisions of the election law in the period of one year before the election process, regulation of election campaigning on social networks, elimination of problems in the field of transparency of election campaign financing, inclusion of relevant data in the voter list. to it, information and educational campaigns for voters, etc. The adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine has laid a solid foundation for a transparent, democratic and effective electoral process, following the basic principles and ideas of European integration policy and the policy of developed countries.

The legal nature of reforming the modern electoral system of Ukraine: advantages and disadvantages

This article reveals the content of the main transformation processes that have taken place in recent years in the electoral process of Ukraine, including the abolition of «self-nomination» of candidates, abolition of mixed electoral system in parliamentary elections, study of the legal nature of the «single permanent vote». , regulation of the issue of cash collateral, delimitation of the concepts of «registered place of residence» and «actual place of residence», limita¬tion of election funds for candidates for President of Ukraine, etc. Changes in the sphere of presidential, parliamentary and local self-government elections are outlined. The main preconditions for the development and adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine and its role for the further functioning of electoral law mechanisms are indicated.The result of the consolidation of all normative legal acts regulating election procedures in Ukraine into a single codified legislative act in order to unify the regulation of the preparation and conduct of elections in Ukraine is analyzed.The main directions of further development and improvement of the election legislation of Ukraine are studied, including: introduction of an effective system of legal liability for violation of election legislation, proper determina¬tion of sanctions for violation of citizens’ election rights, assistance in increasing the personnel potential of election commission members and quality control. and integrity of the Central Election Commission, prohibition of amend¬ments to the main provisions of the election law in the period of one year before the election process, regulation of election campaigning on social networks, elimination of problems in the field of transparency of election campaign financing, inclusion of relevant data in the voter list. to it, information and educational campaigns for voters, etc. The adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine has laid a solid foundation for a transparent, democratic and ef-fective electoral process, following the basic principles and ideas of European integration policy and the policy of developed countries.

Businessperson Deputies and Party Cohesion: Evidence from the Russian State Duma

Previous explorations of Russia’s mixed electoral system uncovered conflicting results on party discipline in legislative voting. The effect in recent convocations is modest, with single-member district deputies expressing slightly less factional loyalty than those elected under proportional representation. However, factors other than electoral mandate may also affect party cohesion. In particular, a definitive connection exists between holding public office in Russia and the opportunity to maximize personal profit-seeking. Using individual-level reading voting data on budgetary bills from the 7th State Duma, I examine how the profit-seeking behavior of deputies who previously held business positions at the executive level influences party cohesion. I find significant evidence that deputies with previous executive business positions defect from their party more frequently than those without. The effect is marginally greater for deputies elected from single-member districts rather than the party-list. These findings have greater implications for party cohesion and the involvement of businesspeople in national legislatures.

Practical implications for the electoral system: New Nation Movement NPC v President of the Republic of South Africa

In New Nation Movement NPC v President of the Republic of South Africa, the Constitutional Court declared parts of the Electoral Act 73 of 1998 unconstitutional in so far as the Act does not provide for independent candidates to stand for political office in the national and provincial legislatures. The court has given the National Assembly two years to redesign the electoral system. Given the constitutional and logistical constraints, the legislature will probably not be able to avoid a major electoral reform. It will be very hard to justify that voters may select a candidate of their choice only when such a candidate runs as an independent but not when a candidate elects to run on a party ticket. The best option would therefore be to introduce a mixed electoral system which combines constituency-based elections with proportional representation of political parties. To keep ballots manageable it would be appropriate to use other electoral design tools such as an entrance hurdle for political parties and deposits and/or nominations by registered voters supporting independent candidates as well. Such a reform might contribute to weed out candidates tainted by corruption because the capacity of political parties to shield them from the electorate in closed lists where the voters have no say about which candidates get elected will be constrained.

Party Linkage, Public Justification and Mixed Electoral Systems

In recent years, a number of political theorists have aimed to restore the central role of parties in democratic life. These theorists have especially highlighted two key normative functions of parties: linkage and public justification. In this article, I argue that these two functions are often in tension. First, I illustrate how this tension manifests itself in liberal democracies. Second, I explain that parties’ ability to fulfil each of the two functions is strongly affected by the electoral system under which they operate: while first-past-the-post encourages party linkage but hinders public justification, the opposite is true of proportional representation. Third, I argue that a mixed electoral system can best guarantee the balance between parties’ linkage and justificatory functions. Fourth, I suggest a number of proposals for party reforms that could help mixed electoral systems to balance party linkage and public justification while preventing the re-emergence of the tension between them within parties.

Legal aspects of formation and development of electoral systems in Ukraine

Introduction. The history of the Ukrainian Parliament functioning counts many electoral systems. The constant change of one kind or another was supposed to eliminate the shortcomings that were revealed during the preparation and carrying out the last elections. For a long time elections were holding under a mixed electoral system, but the combination of proportional and majoritarian components in it did not allow to provide the real expression of the citizens’ will and the effective parliament functioning. Therefore the legislator has been tasked with introducing a more optimal voting model. The result in this area was the adoption the Electoral Code of Ukraine in 2019. The purpose of the paper is to identify the main disadvantages of a mixed electoral system. to carry out the comparative analysis of the activity of deputies, which elected by different components of the mixed electoral system, to investigate the key points of the Electoral Code of Ukraine that will form the basis of legal regulation of the preparation and holding the elections to the Ukrainian Parliament and to compare them with the previous electoral system features. Results. Despite the combination of proportional and majoritarian electoral systems, theirinherent negative features remained relevant. We are talking about the lack of opportunity to select specific candidates from the electoral lists of parties, whose votes were not supported by another candidate in the single-member district etc. At the same time there was a pronounced preference for the proportional system over the majority one, because thanks to the popularity of the political party candidates could obtain a mandate without “special” effort. It is determined, that the points of the new Electoral Code of Ukraine provide the introduction of a new electoral system that will allow citizens to independently determine the priority of a candidate on the list during the distribution of mandates. At the same time the analysis of the Electoral Code shows that in some cases it will still be possible to keep "closed" lists. Conclusion. The Electoral Code of Ukraine, approved by the People's Deputies, is another testimony to the prudence of their political will and readiness to take into account the demands of society. During the analysis of the codified act it was found out that it will promote the political will of the citizens in the elections and ensure the efficiency of the deputies themselves.

Elections to regional parliaments of Russia on the example of the State Assembly (Il Tumen) of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

The article analyzes the tendencies of elections to the regional parliaments of Russia on the example of the State Assembly (Il Tumen) of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Local parliaments are called upon to fulfill the function of separating the legislative and executive branches of government. However, in the modern Russian political system, the institution of parliamentarism is poorly developed at the federal and local levels. Regional parliaments have little influence on decisions on financial aspects, often continuing the all-Russian legislative process. The electoral process associated with elections to local legislative assemblies developed based on the logic of the development of the federal electoral system and the development of federal relations. In the 1990s during the period of decentralized federalism, various types of regional regimes with developed party systems took shape. In the 2000s during the period of centralization, the powers of the regions were reduced, which led to the abolition of direct elections of heads of subjects, and the reform of party and electoral systems. By now, a mixed electoral system has been formed according to party lists and the majority system. The party composition of regional parliaments also does not differ from the federal list of Duma factions. The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is a national republic, which influences the formation of the local regional elite. There are noticeable tendencies in the interdependence of representatives of the elite of the executive and legislative branches of government, as well as signs of community, family ties. According to the party lists of the party of power “United Russia”, the Head of the Republic and representatives of the upper echelons of the republican government are usually represented. In the elections of 2013 and 2018 four parties, representatives of the small parties “Civic Platform” and “For Women of Russia”, are steadily receiving deputy mandates to the local parliament

PRIMARIES AS A NEW COMMUNICATION FORMAT FOR INTERACTION BETWEEN THE RUSSIAN VOTER AND THE PARTY CANDIDATE

The transformation of electoral processes, as well as the introduction of new elements, as a rule, are due to the dynamic development and at the same time the increasing complexity of social relations. One of such manifestations is the active testing party of the mechanism of preliminary intraparty voting to determine the most effective candidates by the United Russia and their subsequent nomination to elected authorities of power. The use of a truly innovative candidate selection mechanism for the Russian Federation, for the first time in which all citizens with active electoral rights could join, was a demonstration of the party’s preparation for participation in the competition for single-mandate constituencies within the framework of the newly returned mixed electoral system in the elections of deputies of the State Duma. In the given conditions, the party declared its readiness to induce its regional organizations to reorient - the main political resource for it should be voter support. The key indirect effect of the use of this tool for the Russian voter was manifested in the expansion of the traditional boundaries of the application of active suffrage. Taking into consideration attention to the emerging practice of both its supporters and critics, as well as attempts to institutionalize, the author analyzed the background of the issue and formulated the advantages and threats brought by the primaries into the Russian electoral process. The basis of the study for the formulation of the problem and the formulation of possible arguments in favor of this procedure were the data of sociological and expert surveys, as well as the existing scientific works of authors who are few in this area of work.