9. Voters

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9. (Voters) 10. Interest Groups
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Electoral systemspresidents

• Presidents
• Electoral system
• Three additional features
• Term length
• Is reelection possible?
• Link with other elections

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Presidents electoral systems

• Election
• - Indirect (or non-elected)
• - Direct
• Plurality
• Majority-runoff

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Indirect election

• Office-holders elected by a body which has itself
  been chosen by a wider constituency
• Examples US president, upper houses of
  parliament in many countries also, US Senate in
  the past

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Presidents additional features

• Term length typically no less, often longer,
  than legislature (up to 7 years)
• Reelection possible? Term limits lame duck
  effect
• Timing coattails

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Voting behavior

• Why do voters vote the way they do?
• We see a decline of cleavage politics, rise of
  issue voting
• Cleavage politics voting as act of affirmation
  rather than choice

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Party identification model (Michigan ,
socialization )

• Voting - expression of loyalty, deep-seated
  long-lasting commitment
• Result of socialization process

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Socialization party ID

• Family
• ? (reinforcement)
• Social groups
• ?
• Party identification

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Party identification(Europe group
identification)

• Long-term attachment to a particular party,
  anchoring voters political views
• Related to, but separate from, electoral choice

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Decline of cleavage (class) voting(party
identification)

• Symptoms/consequences
• decline in party identification
• falling turnout
• increased volatility
• emergence of new parties

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Partisan dealignment

• Weakening of ties
• voters ? political parties
• social groups ? political parties
• Causes
• political disillusionment
• social/economic changes

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Electoral alignment changethree scenarios

• Dealignment weakening links
• Non-alignment dissapearance of links
• Realignment new links

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Dealignment how do voters choose now?

• Retrospective voting (Fiorina) what has the
  government done for me lately?

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Declining turnout why?

• Two general factors
• - declining satisfaction with government
  performance
• success in resolving the capital-labor
  conflict (growth of the welfare state)

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Cross-national variations in turnout
cost/benefit analysis

• Features of the electoral system
• Compulsory voting
• Proportionality
• Postal voting
• Weekend polling
• Decisiveness
• Automatic registration

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Referendum, initiative, recall

• Increased turnout individual features
• - Age, party loyalty, education, income (direct
  effect)
• - Church attendance, belongs to union (influence
  of environment)

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Referendum, initiative, recall

• Referendum referred to people (initiated from
  above)
• Initiative (from below) initiate a referendum
• Recall voters demand a referendum to remove an
  official

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Elections in new democracies

• Founding election vs. second election
• Too much of a good thing?
• Too few (one party, no parties) is a serious
  problem
• How about too many parties?

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Example Ukraine 2002

• If you are a left-wing voter
• Not much choice in a country like the US (Greens?
  Democrats?)
• Things slightly better in France (Socialists,
  Communists, Greens)
• Ukraine?

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Youre a Communist voter

• The Communist Party of Ukraine
• The Communist Party of Ukraine (Renewed)
• The Communist Party of Workers and Villagers

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Working-class union member

• Choose between
• Workers Ukraine
• Working Ukraine

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A Socialist voter

• You also have a choice
• The Socialist Party
• The Progressive Socialist Party

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If you like Social-Democrats

• The Social Democratic Party of Ukraine
• The Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United)
• Ukrainian Social Democratic Party
• The Social Democratic Union

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For nationalist voters

• The Popular Movement of Ukraine
• The bloc Popular Movement of Ukraine
• The Ukrainian Popular Movement

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Elections in authoritarian states

• Q How were elections called under Communism?
• Only one party to choose from
• Often, one candidate to choose from
• A elections Paradise-style
• God to Adam
• Here is Eve, the woman of your choice

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Exercise Duverger vs. Rokkan

• Duverger (institutionalist)
• electoral system ? party system
• Effects
• mechanical
• psychological

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Rokkan sociological approach

• Society/social diversity
• ?
• Party system
• ?
• Electoral system