Election

The theme of election is prominent, if not the central theme, in the Old Testament. Election is expressed in some particular terminologies, but very often mirrored otherwise through imageries and metaphors. The election metaphors cover several issues that present themselves in the daily lives of humankind. Metaphors such as parental adoption or father/son relationship, military recruitment, master/servant relationship, shepherd/flock relationship, farmer/plant relationship, potter/pottery relationship, and marital union are used by the Hebrew Bible writers to highlight the theme. This underscores the theological significance of election in the Old Testament. Looking at the different aspects of the election metaphors, it also appears as a concept contributing to the theological coherence of the Old Testament. Thus, the concept belongs to the very theological framework of the Old Testament.

This paper examines the regulatory implications of the new media environment in which Australian elections are undertaken. While the impact of information and communication technologies on electoral behaviour to date has been far more modest than anticipated by early thinkers, these technologies provide a range of regulatory challenges that will need to be considered in future adjustments to law and practice. These challenges are driven by technological developments in expanding access to a global media with few access points for comprehensive regulation, and the acceleration of the computerisation of society. The largest implications come from social impacts of these technologies on human behaviour, self-regulation, and information literacies / capacities. As federal elections are time-specific and irregular, this has implications in the development of shared behavioural consensus by members of the community as an alternative to formal and legalistic regulations.

The CEGA Working Paper Series showcases ongoing and completed research by faculty affiliates of the Center. CEGA Working Papers employ rigorous evaluation techniques to measure the impact of large-scale social and economic development programs, and are intended to encourage discussion and feedback from the global development community.

Nigeria is a troubled nation-state grappling with myriad challenges of national development. Accordingly, this paper argued that these daunting challenges stem from failure of accountability in governance exacerbated by flawed process of election. In reference to secondary source of data collection and, nonobservational method, the researchers explored issues underlying irregularities that fraught Nigerian election process and its effects in the process of state governance. Theory of structural-functionalism was applied to illuminate the vicious cycle of failed elections and crises of accountable governance from the perspective of dysfunctionality of structures and roles in Nigerian political system. The discourse further revealed that election chaos in Nigeria is historic (despite intermittent efforts to strengthen its process) with multifarious effects on governance structures and process. From these findings, the discourse recommends plausible measures for new attitudinal orientation among other fundamentals to strengthen state institutions for credible elections and accountability in governance.

Many types of voting strategies are employed around the world. One of such strategy is e-voting. Evoting systems can greatly improve the efficiency, and potentially the transparency of national elections. However, e-voting introduces new sets of risks, doubts and opportunities for fraud and failure that cannot be contained in developing countries. In this paper we proposed an improvement of the traditional electoral system through real-time registration and e-identification of every voter before actual voting process commences. This approach will go a long way to eliminate multiple registrations/voting, impersonation and figures falsification as seldom found in developing countries. As a solution, while emphasizing the benefits of the system when implemented, we present an electoral system that is RFID-based utilizing the EPC network architecture.

The 2012 Freedom House Report reveals that only 12 percent of Sub-Saharan African countries are totally free or democratic compared to 71 percent in the Americas and 85 in Western Europe (see figure 1, Chapter 1). This descriptive statistic shows how poorly most countries in Africa are doing when it comes to embracing democratic culture. Free, transparent and fair elections; respect for human rights; protection of the rights of minorities; majority rule; separation of powers; and elimination of systemic corruption constitute major tenets of democracy. In many African countries, basic human rights are often violated and abused. In most cases, both the economic and political powers are confiscated and held in the hands of small groups of corrupt elites who through the use of force preside over the destiny of their countries. Since the adoption of multiparty systems in some African countries in the 1990s, most elections have been marred by violence and/or boycotts by political opponents who continue to question not only the fairness and the transparency of such elections but also the validity of the electoral systems of their countries. Is it legitimate to say that among the various types of electoral systems, one particular type is more prone to conflicts than the other systems?

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

A partir du XIIIe siècle, l'élection du Doge de Venise procède d'un système complexe impliquant différents niveaux de désignation, augmentant et réduisant successivement le nombre des personnes concernées par la procédure et organisant l’alternance de l’élection et du tirage au sort. Cette organisation complexe rendait impossible le contrôle de la procédure par telle faction ou famille. L’intervention régulière du tirage au sort réduisait considérablement les risques de corruption électorale, au moins en ce qui concerne les tentatives d’achat de votes, qu’un tel dispositif rendait vaines et donc inutiles.

As the world eagerly anticipates Africa’s biggest election in 2023, policy capture, process manipulation, and geo-politics are defining the electoral framework reform process as veto players exercise their preferences for policy outcomes. Within the Nigerian context, public confidence in the viability of electoral reforms to address the intractable challenges with Nigerian elections is unquestionable. Unfortunately, this confidence is undercut by political entrepreneurs who are driving the reform process. These actors are determined to substitute public interest for private political gains. Equally undermining public confidence is the limited instrumental outcomes of previous electoral reform efforts. As custodians of public interest, the National Assembly and the executive arms of government bear the burden of ensuring that the current reform process produces sustainable reforms, not ephemeral outcomes. Doing otherwise is a betrayal of public trust and repudiation of public interest.

წინამდებარე ნაშრომი სწავლობს შერეული საარჩევნო სისტემის კომპლექსურ მექანიკურ გავლენას არაპროპორციულობაზე (პარტიების მიერ მიღებული ხმებისა და ადგილების წილებს შორის განსხვავება) ევროპის ოთხ პოსტკომუნისტურ ქვეყანაში: ლიეტუვაში, საქართველოში, უკრაინასა და უნგრეთში. ნაშრომი ეყრდნობა მოცემულ ქვეყნებში 2018 წლის ჩათვლით ჩატარებული 27 არჩევნების შედეგების რაოდენობრივ ანალიზს. მოცემული კვლევა ზომავს არაპროპორციულობაზე მაჟორიტარული და პროპორციული კომპონენტების, სამართლებრივი ბარიერისა და მაკომპენსირებელი სიების ზემოქმედებას. კვლევის შედეგები აჩვენებს, რომ შერეული სისტემის მაჟორიტარული კომპონენტის როლი არაპროპორციულობის საერთო დონის გაზრდაში უფრო მნიშვნელოვანია, რაზეც, ძირითადად, გამარჯვებული პარტიის მიერ ზედმეტად მიღებული მანდატების დიდი რაოდენობა ახდენს გავლენას. პროპორციულ კომპონენტში სამართლებრივი ბარიერის მაღალი დონე არაპროპორციულობას ზრდის, რაც საერთო მაჩვენებელზეც აისახება. არაპროპორციულობის დონეზე ზემოქმედებს ბარიერს მიღმა დარჩენილი პარტიების მიერ მიღებული ხმების სიდიდე. კვლევის შედეგად, ასევე, გამოიკვეთა, რომ ის არჩევნები, რომელიც დაკავშირებული (კომპენსატორული) შერეული სისტემით ჩატარდა, არაპროპორციულობის უფრო დაბალი დონით ხასიათდებოდა, ვიდრე დაუკავშირებელი (პარალელური) სისტემით ჩატარებული არჩევნები.

Throughout history, sincere Christians have disagreed on how to handle God’s sovereign choice of His people. The brief study that follows does not claim to be the last word on a topic debated for centuries. This work does, however, seek to cut through the conglomeration of confessional commitments, ecclesiastical ties, and emotional fervor to trace the biblical terminology concerning divine election through both Testaments. In so doing, the study will reveal that God’s election of His people is sovereign and unconditional, necessitating both the security of the believer and the future restoration of ethnic Israel.

In Romans 9:1-5, the Apostle Paul records his sorrow and grief over the plight of his kinsmen. They are the covenant people of God. To them belongs the covenant promises and many other blessings. Yet they have failed to embrace the Messiah. How could this be? Paul explains this paradox beginning in 9:6-13. While some could say that God has not kept his promises, Paul adamantly promotes his view that God has been faithful to his word. He explains how he has been faithful to his covenant promises pulling illustrations from the history of his people to show how God has always worked. Thus, the lessons from the past explain his current situation. But Calvinists have seized upon Paul's explanation and found in them supposed proof for unconditional election to salvation. Is the Calvinist interpretation of Paul correct? Is Paul promoting unconditional election in 9:6-13? I think not. My paper exposes some of the fallacies in Calvinist thinking, exhibited pre-eminently in John Piper's scholarly work, "The Justification of God."

Vying for a political position entails a long journey for a political candidate. In order to win the polls and assume the much-coveted seat in the political arena, a candidate must be able to persuade the voters that their names are worthy to be written in the ballot and that being elected can bring forth the change that most voters want from the political leaders who aassume the posts and later govern the people.
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) described a political campaign as an exciting experience. A great deal will happen between now and Election Day and with a little forethought and planning.
While the given political landscape is an important factor in any campaign, in many cases the most important factor - the difference between winning and losing - is what goes on inside the campaign.
The winning political campaign is most often the one that takes the time to target voters, develops a persuasive message and follows through on a reasonable plan to contact those voters directly.
Persuading the masses is the essence of a politician’s campaign. In order to win the hearts of voters, politicians make use of various campaign propaganda and materials such as eye catching and colorful posters, melodious jingles and campaign slogans that are associated to the politician’s image. Moreover, the campaign materials contain the politician’s agenda or his promises to the people. Politicians nowadays adopt the songs from the top music charts to be used as their campaign jingles and use youth lingo in order to convince the youth of their cause. Further, adopting to the youthful trend helps politicians gain more popularity and recall among young voters.
The modern slogans, posters and jingles posted on the social media platforms also help politicians spread their propaganda at wider coverage at a minimal cost. Further, campaign materials and campaign propaganda launched through social media help a politician gain greater recall among voters.
In this regard, the researcher would like to find out to which extent these campaign materials and propaganda affect the voters’ decision in choosing who to vote, particularly voters of Calapan City.

В работе исследуются основные подходы к определению юридической ответственности в современном избирательном процессе России и ее виды.

The paper examines the main approaches to the definition of legal responsibility in the modern electoral process in Russia, and its types.

Note: Downloadable document is in Russian.

Series of election have been conducted in Nigeria from 1923 to date with one fault or the order discrediting their credibility and as a matter of fact led to people’s call preceded April 2011 general election for credible election with series of efforts been put in place to ensure its reality. It must be noted that the precept called ‘credible election’ is not new in our society because it is the modification of people’s calls for free and fair election. As a result of the above fact, it is the belief of this present writer that before this sacred objective called ‘credible election’ can be realise each and every stakeholder have positive roles to play because they have been playing negative roles that has been disrupting credibility of election in Nigeria.

This incident that led to election incredibility did not commence now and to solve the problem in a very short period of time is not realistic which as a matter of fact serve as the basis of describing it as a journey of a thousand miles. Consequently, the nature of credible election will be considered along with the challenges associated with their credibility as well as examine factors which will facilitate credible election in Nigeria. It must be noted that the problems of credible election are not lack of credible electoral law but the application of same, which this paper is dedicated.

The existence of Ombudsman promotes good governance around the world by ensuring administrative accountability and transparency. The necessity for the office of Ombudsman has been felt in Ethiopia ever since 1991 and the 1995 FDRE Constitution makers incorporated provision for democratic institutions in Article 55 of the constitution. In 2000, the parliament in Ethiopia passed the Ombudsman Act in pursuance of Article 55 of the FDRE constitution. The objective of this paper is to provide an analytical overview of the awareness and perceptions of civil servants about Ethiopian Ombudsman institution as a mechanism of good governance by focusing on south wollo zone civil servants. To achieve this objective explanatory research approach was used. First quantitative data collected and followed by qualitative data. The quantitative data interpreted using SPSS version 20 and verified against qualitative data and existing literature. Using these researcher reach upon the following finding. Thus, the finding shows that although the importance of ombudsman as mechanism of promoting good governance is accepted as indispensable part of democratization process, the office, however, has not yet been reach grass root level and the provisions of the act have remained as dead letters.

ABSTRACT
Vote buying during election is a phenomenon in Philippine politics clandestinely practiced as underground activities by political candidates who utilize it as a political strategy. This study examined the vote buying phenomenon of the Philippines during periodic elections in the national and local levels. It utilized secondary data from various source agencies and published refereed journals on practices of fraud and vote buying which have crucially shape out election results and the electoral system of the country.  The findings suggest that Filipino traditional voters attribute vote buying to “patron-client relations” during elections where parity and justice are momentarily accomplished when political candidates carry out their obligations and lend supports to their constituents with vested interests. Operationally for many Filipino voters, vote buying is a tangible “gift” from aspiring candidates which influences their choice and produce instrumental compliance. This phenomenon underlying the patron-client ties manifests a two-fold bond of reciprocity and mutual obligation linking individuals of disproportionate social status and authority based on the exchange of money and votes. Those less educated and rural residents are among the more vulnerable electoral groups to vote buying. The study concludes that vote buying as practiced in the Philippines has penetrated all levels of the bureaucracy. The veracity of vote buying has become culturally intricate with fraud, intimidation and violent means to win the electoral race.
Keywords - Vote buying, electoral system, political culture, voters’ education, election exercise, rural residents, Philippines
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Note:  If you cite this work, please cite the author, article tile, volume, issue, URL address or DOI, ISSN and journal where it is published, thank you very much! The “International Journal on Graft and Corruption Research”, Print ISSN 2362-7476, Online ISSN 2362-7492, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 36-45, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7719/ijgc.v2i1.301

This paper analyzes changes in regional electoral behavior and attitudes towards separatism and foreign policy orientation in Ukraine after the “Orange Revolution” and the “Euromaidan,” which turned into a violent internal conflict and one of the biggest international conflicts involving Western countries and Russia. The research question is whether the regional divisions concerning domestic politics, separatism and foreign orientation have changed significantly in Ukraine since the “Orange Revolution” in 2004 and the “Euromaidan” in 2014. This paper employs comparative and statistical analyses of voting results of the 2012, 2007, 2006, and 2002 parliamentary elections, and the 2014, 2010, and 2004 presidential elections, to examine effects of historical legacies, ethnicity, language, age, and economic factors on regional support for pro-nationalist/pro-Western and pro-Russian/pro-communist political parties and presidential candidates. The study also analyses support for separatism in Crimea and Donbas after the “Orange Revolution” and the “Euromaidan.” It uses a brief survey, conducted for this study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in April and May 2014, to examine determinants of pro-separatist attitudes. The paper also employs Razumkov Center and KIIS surveys to analyze changes in 2002-2014 in regional preferences for joining the European Union (EU), NATO, and a union with Russia. The analysis shows that Ukraine after the “Orange Revolution” remained divided along regional lines in terms of support for political parties and presidential candidates and attitudes towards joining the EU, NATO, and a Russia-led union. After the “Euromaidan,” such divisions in foreign policy orientation and, to a lesser extent, support for presidential candidates and political parties remained. A significant rise in separatist sentiments helped to fuel separatist takeovers of power in Crimea and Donbas and Russian military intervention in these regions.

¿Qué desafíos enfrentan todavía los procesos electorales en México? El objetivo principal de este artículo es analizar algunos problemas particularmente duraderos de la democracia mexicana. Para ser concretos, argumento que la compra de votos, en buena parte con recursos ilegales de campaña, sigue siendo frecuente el día de hoy. Mediante una revisión de la literatura académica más reciente, así como de fuentes de investigación periodística, el artículo busca esclarecer estos problemas así como sus posibles soluciones. La literatura revisada en este ensayo sugiere que la incidencia del clientelismo electoral sigue siendo alta, lo cual pone al país en riesgo de “retroceso democrático” de manera similar a otras regiones del mundo como Europa del Este y Sudamérica. Para sustentar estas aseveraciones, repaso varias acusaciones que se han hecho a los partidos principales en México por parte de sus rivales políticos y de observadores académicos. Las acusaciones de financiamiento ilegal de campaña que se han hecho incluyen el “Monexgate” del PRI, los “moches” del PAN y el “charolazo” del PRD. Las acusaciones de compra de apoyo político incluyen el abuso del programa Oportunidades así como del presupuesto de las Delegaciones en la Ciudad de México. Asimismo describo algunos esfuerzos notables para reglamentar estas conductas en la reforma político electoral de 2014, tales como la fiscalización en “tiempo real” y la prohibición del “turismo electoral”. Tras argumentar que los esfuerzos legislativos han sido insuficientes, concluyo que para seguir avanzando en la consolidación se necesita una mayor inclusión de las organizaciones civiles y de la ciudadanía común en el sistema político.

This dissertation investigates the internal struggles within the labour movement in Dalarna at the beginning of the twentieth century. I investigate Social Democracy, Anarcho-Syndicalism and Communism, the three major factions of the working class. I study the relationship between these organisations and their supporters in the complex socio-economic area of Dalarna.

I have based my study on the three party programs and their answer to two central questions of the time: Will the conflicts of society lead to revolution? and How should politics and production be organised in the non capitalist society to come? Generally, anarcho-syndicalists argue that state power must be transformed to local government, social democrats hope to make different social interests compromise into political consensus. Communists want a proletarian state through social revolution. How were those ideologies received in Dalarna? In the beginning, anarchists fought social democrats: The opposition excluded from social democracy 1917 was also more influenced by anarchism than by communism. The opposition founded a party, witch towards the 1920´s turned from anarchism into communism, and the small farmers, that erlier had been attracted by the anarchist influenced rural propaganda, left and more industrial workers joined. Simultaneously, anarchists reorganised from a political party to a syndicalistic trade union, gradually mowing from the industrialised south to northern Dalarna. Communists, mainly left in the industrialised south, were shaken by two splits in the 1920´s and they lost their ability to compete with the social democrats in democratic elections. In Dalarna, social democrats, confronting anti-parliamentary anarchy and totalitarian communism alike, won the contest within the labour movement: At the end of the period, they dominated the area.

This paper discusses about the prevalence of good governance in some selected public institutions of Kemisie town, Amhara region, Ethiopia. To do this the researcher used pragmatic paradigm, mixed research approach. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used. To collect primary information interviews, FGD and questionnaires were employed. As well 206 sample populations were participated. Using five core elements of good governance the researcher reach upon the following conclusions; the general assessment of performance of good governance in Kemisie town shows that there are some progresses in establishing legal and institutional base for good governance but in terms of practices the study come across mixed results. The town achieved some progress in enhancing popular participation, government offices transparency and government accountability with some limitation. However, the government performance in terms of effectiveness and efficiency and combating corruption is not satisfactory. The practices of good governance in the town is challenged by harmful traditional practices, human trafficking, inter-house hold killing, religious fundamentalism, land related conflicts, petty corruption, partisanship and bureaucrats skills and ethical problems. Hence, the study implies that there is the need for national attention to control illegal immigration-human trafficking, which is the ongoing humiliating activity in the area. In addition, it needs comprehensive attitudinal change works on revenge, which is the major problematic cause of killing and harmful traditional practices in the area.

Survey of Hebrew and Greek vocabulary for election, how they were used in OT, Second Temple literature, and NT, and how a corporate view of election with conditional individual participation in the elect best interprets the biblical data and provides continuity across testaments of the idea of God choosing a people for himself.
Seminar paper/capstone project for my Master of Arts in Theological Studies degree at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.

This chapter will investigate the relationship between elections and democratic development in the Philippines. It will trace the emergence and institutionalization of electoral politics at various junctures in Philippine history. Essentially, it will determine the degree of proportionality in which votes are translated into political mandates. Lastly, it will explore the modalities of reforming the electoral system in order to enrich the democratization process.

Les électeurs choisissent-ils le parti qui leur correspond le mieux ? Disposer de plus d'informations entraîne-t-il plus d'hésitations avant de voter ? Comment les électeurs belges perçoivent-ils la démocratie ? Lors des dernières élections, plus de quarante pour cent des électeurs ont voté pour un autre parti que celui qu'ils avaient soutenu au scrutin précédent. Comment peut-on interpréter cette observation factuelle ? Qu'est-ce que cela nous apprend sur les réflexions des électeurs et sur l'état de notre système politique ? Décrypter l'électeur offre une vue complète sur les évolutions du paysage électoral belge. Les principaux chiffres et faits du dernier scrutin electoral sont présentés et disséqués. En outre, le livre propose toute une série d'analyses complémentaires sur des sujets comme les attitudes sousjacentes des électeurs, le débat communautaire ou le vote préférentiel. Des différences entre la Wallonie et la Flandre à la confiance des électeurs dans la démocratie : les principaux politologues belges proposent dans cet ouvrage l'une des synthèses les plus détaillées de l'électeur belge jamais publiée.

""During the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine, the second largest country in Europe came close to a violent break-up similar to that in neighboring Moldova, which witnessed a violent secession of the Transdniestria region. Numerous elections, including the hotly contested 2004 presidential elections in Ukraine, and surveys of public opinion showed significant regional divisions in these post-Soviet countries. Western parts of Ukraine and Moldova, as well as the Muslim Crimean Tatars, were vocal supporters of independence, nationalist, and pro-Western parties and politicians. In contrast, Eastern regions, as well as the Orthodox Turkic-speaking Gagauz, consistently expressed pro-Russian and pro-Communist political orientations. Which factors ? historical legacies, religion, economy, ethnicity, or political leadership ? could explain these divisions? Why was Ukraine able to avoid a violent break-up, in contrast to Moldova?
This is the first book to offer a systematic and comparative analysis of the regional political divisions in post-Soviet Ukraine and Moldova. The study examines voting behavior and political attitudes in two groups of regions: those which were under Russian, Ottoman, and Soviet rule; and those which were under Austro-Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, and Czechoslovak rule until World War I or World War II. This book attributes the regional political divisions to the differences in historical experience. This study helps us to better understand regional cleavages and conflicts, not only in Ukraine and Moldova, but also in other cleft countries.""

Publikácia bola schválená Edičnou radou UCM a vedením Fakulty sociálnych vied UCM v Trnave. Všetky práva vyhradené. Bez súhlasu ich majiteľa toto dielo a ani jeho súčasti nemožno reprodukovať. Vysokoškolská učebnica neprešla jazykovou úpravou.

After centuries of absence, sortition is making its return through academic research, practical experiments, and activists’ calls for linking participation and deliberation. These invocations of sortition, however, offer divergent accounts of the concept and different justifications. Gastil and Wright’s proposal for a “sortition chamber” provides one such example, but sortition can be conceptualized more broadly. When properly analyzed in this larger sense, one can better appreciate how sortition satisfies democratic principles—often in novel ways that go beyond those enumerated in the lead chapter of this volume.
To better understand the implications of sortition, I begin by contrasting it with the other modes of selection democracies use to place people in positions of power, including not only elections but also nomination and certifi cation. I then distinguish varieties of sortition that differ by their mandate, the population from which a random sample is drawn, and the degree to which service is voluntary or compulsory. Depending on the design considerations such as these, sortition can provide a novel means of realizing the democratic aspirations of equality, impartiality, representativeness, and legitimacy.

Courant Dimitri (2019), "Sortition and Democratic Principles: A Comparative Analysis", in Gastil and Wright (eds.), Legislature by Lot: Transformative Designs for Deliberative Governance, Verso, New York/London, p. 229-248.

https://www.versobooks.com/books/2969-legislature-by-lot

Since the third wave of democratisation hit Africa in the early 1990s, Elections in Africa has been anything but free and fair. While the magnitude of electoral malpractices differed from country to country, Nigeria has had a tough time organising credible elections since independence. Except for the 1993 elections, and more recently the 2015 presidential election, elections in Nigeria has been bedevilled with all kinds of malpractices before, during and even after the elections. This book is a review of elections in Nigeria since 1999, with examples drawn from pre-1999 elections in some cases.
The chapters contain a mixed bag of robust articles based on qualitative and quantitative approaches. Inherent in this work are a critical review of selected elections, the role of the electoral umpires, the media as election watchdog, and the judiciary as the arbiter of myriad of election petitions that usually accompany elections in Nigeria.

Over the centuries, especially since the Jansenist controversy, much ink has been spilled defending and criticizing Augustine's contentious interpretation of the revealed doctrines of predestination and reprobation. Instead of attempting to trace the entire debate or adjudicate the exegetical questions, I attempt the more modest task of analyzing how Augustine's massa damnata theory of election has been re-received in modern Catholic scholarship. Thus, leaving aside the historical and exegetical complexity of the issue, I argue for a particular conceptual appropriation of Augustine's theory in line with a contemporary Catholic theology of grace and predestination.

(...) Les élections de 2015 et après en Afrique, loin des
crises, des angoisses et des frustrations, devront être
des motifs d’espoir et de fierté : Espoir pour une jeunesse
avide d’un nouveau modèle de gestion des
affaires publiques susceptibles d’ancrer les Etats
africains dans le domaine légitime des droits fondamentaux
et de l’Etat de droit ; Fierté pour des générations
d’Africains qui ont connus des régimes autoritaires.
Comme Nelson MANDELA, « cela semble
toujours impossible, jusqu’à ce qu’on le fasse ».

This is a dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Psychology. Since the Philippine election 2022 is just around the corner, this research topic is relevant and might help voters to identify what are some of the factors that they should consider before voting. The main objective of this paper is to determine the factors that influence the voting reference of Filipino citizens for this coming 2022 election. In order to gather the data needed, the researchers used data from different articles and social media posts that are related to the given objective of the study.

In his 2015 book, The Chosen People, A. Chadwick Thornhill argues, based on his analysis of election discourse in Second Temple Jewish literature, that the apostle Paul never presents election as the divine determination of individuals for eschatological salvation. Thornhill suggests that election in Second Temple Judaism is primarily conditional, usually presented in corporate categories, and never in terms of divine predestination. Therefore, he judges it unlikely that Paul held to predestinarian election. In response, this article offers a careful examination of three Second Temple texts that do present election in predestinarian terms, which were not given due weight in Thornhill’s study. It is argued that Sirach, though less consistently than others, can be read in deterministic terms, especially 33:7–15. Less controversially, the divine predestination of individuals to either salvation or judgment is explicit at Qumran. This teaching is seen transparently in the Treatise on the Two Spirits (1QS 3:13–4:26) and the Thanksgiving Hymns (1QHa, esp. lines 7 and 9). These writings present election in terms of God’s determination before creation who will and who will not be a member of the covenant and an heir of eschatological life. Even the conditional actions of covenant membership (e.g., repentance) are presented as consequences of God’s prior determination and effectual enablement. In the analysis of these texts, Pauline passages are noted where the analysis of the Second Temple sources will prove relevant in exegesis.

Representing what may be termed 'evangelical Calvinism,' Thomas Forsyth Torrance's doctrine of election is, with critical modifications, recommended as a model worthy of contemporary acceptance. Torrance follows Barth's christologically conditioned doctrine of election closely, but not slavishly, and presents a view of universal atonement and even universal pardon, but not universal salvation. Torrance contends that the word 'predestination' emphasizes the sovereign freedom of grace and so the 'pre-' in predestination refers neither to a temporal nor to a logical prius, but simply to God Himself, the Eternal. For

In August 2020, the presidential election took place in Belarus, followed by unprecedented mass protests due to apparent election fraud. Aliaksandr Lukashenka, the country's long-term authoritarian leader, faced the biggest electoral challenge since his first election in 1994. This article analyzes his official rhetoric during the campaign and after the election focusing on the image of the society. For this purpose, discourse-historical approach is applied to understand his political vision of the developments in Belarus and to explore changes in his rhetoric caused by the unprecedented challenge to his power. The research demonstrates that Lukashenka acts as a classical authoritarian ruler with respective discursive strategies. The text shows that he adopted the imaginary role of Belarus's strict father, who has assumed full responsibility for its fate and offensively reacts to every challenger of this role. It also reveals that Lukashenka sees his personal contract with the Belarusian society as a stable and durable instrument that does not require changes and per se implies his personal engagement as a party to it. Finally, the analysis of Lukashenka's rhetoric in 2020 suggests that a voluntary transition of power in Belarus remains rather wishful thinking.