What was similar and different about the elections

The number of electors in each states is equal to its number of representatives in both houses of Congress. Initiative - An electoral procedure whereby citizens can propose legislation or constitutional amendments and refer the decision to a popular vote by obtaining the required number of signatures on a petition.

Machine - A hierarchically organized, centrally led state or local party organization that rewards members with material benefits patronage. Office-Block Ballot - A ballot listing all candidates for a given office under the name of that office; also called a "Massachusetts" ballot.

Party-Column Ballot - A ballot listing all candidates of a given party together under the name of that party; also called an "Indiana" ballot. Split-Ticket Voting - Voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election. For example, voting for a Republican for senator and a Democrat for president. Straight-Ticket Voting - Voting candidates who are all of the same party.

For example, voting for Republican candidates for senator, representative, and president. Library of Congress Teaching materials for educating students on the electoral process. The existing literature traditionally approaches local elections either as of lower rank or as of a different kind. The first conceives of these elections as being of less importance and political relevance Miller, Allegedly part of a subordinate plethora, participation and party choice in local elections are said to reflect main arena conditions and considerations guiding partisan actors and voters alike.

The latter will perceive less impetus to turn out and tend towards expressive voting e. The second approach points to local elections as being of a different kind. Here, horizontal variation is also highlighted instead.

Not only do local authorities differ substantially from their national counterparts offering a complementary form of place-bound self-government but equally they do from one another producing different kinds of elections in various local polities.

The elections of regional legislatures are then treated as exemplifications of the subnational political arena, which is compared with its national sometimes also with the European counterpart. Often adopting the second-order framework as its default analytical conjecture, this literature emphasizes effects specific to the regional arena as well. In the study of multi-level elections, insights on the patterns and dynamics of local elections and voting can thus still be considered as a missing link.

Critically engaging with existing frameworks, the model reformulates these into an alternative that combines insights of vertical integration and horizontal variation. The model takes the second-order framework as a reference amending some of its assumptions however to renewed premises. It conceives the stakes of local elections and voting as a balance between nationalization depending on the position in the national electoral cycle of the second-tier elections and localization depending on second-tier features in terms of government, politics, elections and voting.

This balance is differentiated but inverse and affected by the procedures and campaigning at the second-tier. Positions on the balance differ between individuals, localities and countries and the model develops some hypotheses to account for this variation e.

Still, theoretical refinement and empirical falsification are needed. The comparative study of local elections and voting remains underdeveloped, however.

This is divergent from other topics in the field. In recent years one can observe an increasing interest in the comparative study of European local governments and politics. Thanks to the extensive cross-national surveys of European mayors Heinelt et al. We believe that a more comprehensive and integrated study of electoral systems and voting behavior in local elections constitutes an essential part for the development of this emerging research field.

This holds also beyond the confinements of this topic narrowly defined. Clark and Krebs e. This is because of the proximity of local political institutions to their citizens and usually larger relative value of a single vote in considerably smaller constituencies Blais, ; Miller, ; Oliver et al.

The functions of elections are as important at the local than at the national level Vetter, , even if the patterns of participation, competition and vote choice differ substantially. The electoral rules applied at the local level not always follow the system functioning in the parliamentary election. The report of the Council of Europe and the article of Van der Kolk attempted to systematize the variety of electoral systems applied for the election of local councils in West European countries, yet empirical studies verifying their performance and impact on local policy dynamics are still much less numerous than in case of national elections.

Turnout rates in local elections are usually lower than in national elections, yet the size of the turnout gap varies substantially between countries and over time Hoffmann-Martinot et al.

In many municipalities, usually smaller and peripheral, electoral participation is higher in local than in national elections. The recent meta-analysis performed by van Houwelingen confirms that quite universally local turnout rates decrease along with the increase of municipal population size.

However, our knowledge on the determinants of electoral participation in local elections, both between countries as well as municipalities, is still rather limited. It seems that local voting is less nationalized and follows unique local patterns of political conflict and competition.

Apart from the substantial reasons to study local electoral politics, there is also a methodological argument. Clark and Krebs notice that local elections offer the political analysts the greater number of observations both within and across jurisdictions upon which to base their research — in Europe local elections are held in more than , municipalities Loughlin et al.

In other words, numerous local government units offer a chance for more robust findings and increasing knowledge on the functioning of various electoral rules and political behavior.

The electoral reforms and experiments at the local level, often introduced selectively in the part of local jurisdictions, equally allow to implement quasi- experimental research designs van der Kolk, The aim of the workshop is thus to further develop the analytical framework for the study local elections and voting, accounting for the peculiarities of local democracy within contemporary multi-level political systems. To what extent and under which conditions do they resemble elections and voting at other levels of governance taking the national level as a main point of reference?

It seems that this resource remains underestimated and insufficiently exploited by comparative political science. It should identify the gaps in the existing approaches and set the agenda for future research. To vote or not to vote? The merits and limits of rational choice theory.

University of Pittsburgh Press. Clark, A. Elections and policy responsiveness. In: Mossberger, K. The Oxford handbook of urban politics. Oxford University Press.

Council of Europe , Electoral systems and voting procedures at the local level. Referendum sometimes called a plebiscite :- This is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal, issue or question.

It is a vote in which the electorate can express a view on a particular issue or public policy. An issue which is given to the people for popular vote. They may be used to discuss an issue rather than to decide or confirm policy questions. Referendums can be advisory or mandatory. A single issue vote. Search for:. Pin It on Pinterest.