NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Presidential elections

In theory, the authority of the government in democracies derives solely from the consent of the governed. The principal mechanism for translating that consent into governmental authority is the holding of free and fair elections.

A pre-election hustings at the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency, England.

A poster for the European Parliament election 2004 in Italy, showing party lists

There is a broad consensus as to what kind of elections can be considered free and fair. Jeane Kirkpatrick, scholar and former United States ambassador to the United Nations, has offered this definition: "Democratic elections are not merely symbolic....They are competitive, periodic, inclusive, definitive elections in which the chief decision-makers in a government are selected by citizens who enjoy broad freedom to criticize government, to publish their criticism and to present alternatives." Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 561 KB) A husting in the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency, 2005-02-04 File links The following pages link to this file: Election Oxford United Kingdom general elections Political campaign Elections in the United Kingdom Husting Pre-election day events of the United Kingdom... Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 561 KB) A husting in the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency, 2005-02-04 File links The following pages link to this file: Election Oxford United Kingdom general elections Political campaign Elections in the United Kingdom Husting Pre-election day events of the United Kingdom... Husting (Old English: hiesting; Old Norwegian: hzesthing), the thing or ting, i. ... Oxford West and Abingdon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Download high resolution version (553x678, 61 KB)announcement of elections in Brunate (near Como), Italy, 2004-06-07. ... Download high resolution version (553x678, 61 KB)announcement of elections in Brunate (near Como), Italy, 2004-06-07. ... Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick (born November 19, 1926) is an American conservative political scientist and member of the neoconservative movement. ... For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ... The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. ...

The Democracy Watch (International) website, further defines fair democratic elections as, "Elections in which great care is taken to prevent any explicit or hidden structural bias towards any one candidate, aside from those beneficial biases that naturally result from an electorate that is equally well informed about the various assets and liabilities of each candidate". This was more formally stated in 2000 by Chief Justice Murray Gleeson of the Australian High Court as "The democratic and lawful means of securing change, if change be necessary, is an expression of the will of an informed electorate." Democracy Watch (International) is a service organization founded in 2003, based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA with offices in the Washington D.C., USA area. ... In politics, an electorate is the group of entities entitled to vote in an election. ... Justice Anthony Murray Gleeson (1938- ) QC AC is the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia; the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the court of last resort for the jurisdiction of Australia. ...

The apparently simple requirement of an informed electorate is difficult to achieve in modern electorates with thousands of voters, most of whom have no prospects of knowing candidates other than by information published by third parties. The party with the most immediate interest in having structural biases is the government conducting the election. One possible result is the 'show' elections described below.

Some other scholars argue that elections are at most secondary to a functioning democracy. They argue that the rule of law is more important. An example would be pre-unification Hong Kong, which was ruled by an unelected British administrator but was generally considered to be a free and open society due to its strong legal institutions. The rule of law implies that government authority may only be exercised in accordance with written laws, which were adopted through an established procedure. ...

Characteristics of elections

Who can vote

Campaigners working on posters in Milan, Italy, 2004

A crucial issue in elections is the question of suffrage—who is allowed to vote —whether the electorate comprises the entire citizenry or some subset of it. The democracy of ancient Athens did not allow women, children, foreigners and slaves from voting—thus disenfranchising the majority of the population. Over the last few centuries since elections began to be held there has been a long struggle to expand the franchise to excluded groups. campaigners working on posters in Milan, Italy, 2004-06-10. ... campaigners working on posters in Milan, Italy, 2004-06-10. ...

Originally in the U.S., for example, only white male property holders enjoyed the right to elect and be elected when the Constitution was signed in 1787. The property qualification disappeared by the early 19th century, and women won the right to vote in 1920. African Americans, however, did not enjoy full voting rights in the southern United States until the civil rights movement of the 1960s. And finally, in 1971, younger citizens were given the right to vote when the United States lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. In Canada First Nations were long denied the vote. 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... First Nations is the current title used by Canada to describe the various societies of the indigenous peoples, called Native Americans in the U.S. They have also been known as Indians, Native Canadians, Aboriginal Americans, Amer-Indians, or Aboriginals, and are officially called Indians in the Indian Act, which...

There are still many restrictions in place. Many countries do not allow those judged mentally incapable to vote, and some deny the vote to serving prisoners to. In some cases, such as some U.S. states, convicted felons are also barred from voting upon release. Children cannot vote in any country. A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a very serious crime; misdemeanors are considered to be less serious. ...

In some countries, voting is compulsory. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, they may be subject to punitive measures. Compulsory voting is a practice that requires citizens to vote in elections. ...

Who is voted for

Campaign flags in Taipei during a city council election 2002

In some states far more positions are filled through election than others. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

In all democracies it is often the case that some powerful figures are not elected. Those institutions that were designed to not be too closely swayed by public opinion are often not elected. For instance judges are usually appointed for life, or until a specific age, to insulate them against popular pressure and help ensure their impartiality. This is often seen as an integral part of the separation of powers. Separation of powers is the idea that the powers of a sovereign government should be split between two or more strongly independent entities, preventing any one person or group from gaining too much power. ...

However, there are some counterexamples. In the United States some judges are elected, and in ancient Athens military generals were elected.

Also frequent is the erecting of an intermediate tier of electors between the people and the elected figure. For example, the President of the United States is not elected directly by the people but by the U.S. Electoral College, and U.S. Senators were originally chosen by the state legislatures. Also, in the Westminster System the Prime Minister, who holds the most power, is formally chosen by the head of state and in reality by the legislature or by their party. An elector can be: In the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, the collegiate of seven Electors (eight since 1648) (Kurfürsten) consisted of those lay or clerical princes who had the right to vote in the election of the king or Holy Roman Emperor; see prince-elector. ... Seal of the President of the United States, official impression The President of the United States is the head of state of the United States. ... The United States Electoral College is the electoral college which chooses the President and Vice President of the United States at the conclusion of each Presidential election. ... Seal of the Senate The Senate is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... The Westminster System is a democratic system of government modelled after that of the United Kingdom system of government and used in Westminster, the seat of government, hence its name. ... A prime minister is the leading member of the cabinet of the top level government in a parliamentary system of government of a country, alternatively A prime minister is an official in a presidential system or semi-presidential system whose duty is to execute the directives of the President and... A head of state or chief of state is the chief public representative of a nation-state, federation or commonwealth, whose role generally includes personifying the continuity and legitimacy of the state and exercising the political powers, functions and duties granted to the head of state in the countrys...

Types of election

In most democratic political systems, there are a range of different types of election, corresponding to different layers of public governance or geographical jurisdiction. Some common types of election are:

Closely related to elections are referendums (or referenda) in which citizens can vote on specific laws and policies. Referendums are often added to an election ballot. Some areas have methods by which individuals can add measures to a ballot by petitions, but in most districts they are called by governments. Referendums are particularly prevalent and important in a direct democracy such as Switzerland. This article is about the political process. ... A general election is an election in which all members of a given political body are up for election. ... A primary election is one in which a political party selects a candidate for a later election by all registered voters in that jurisdiction (nominating primary). ... A by-election or bye-election is a special election held to fill a political office when the incumbent has died or resigned. ... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... Direct democracy comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics wherein all citizens can directly participate in the political decision-making process. ...

Electoral systems

Electoral systems refer to the detailed constitutional arrangements and voting systems which convert the vote into a determination of which individuals and political parties are elected to positions of power. Voters at the voting booths in the US in 1945 Voting systems are methods (algorithms) for groups of people to select one or more options from many, taking into account the individual preferences of the group members. ...

The first step is to tally the votes, for which various different vote counting systems and ballot types are used. Voting systems then determine the result on the basis of the tally. Most systems can be categorized as either proportional or majoritarian. Among the former are party-list proportional representation and additional member system. Among the latter are First Past the Post (FPP) (relative majority) and absolute majority. Many countries have growing electoral reform movements, which advocate systems such as approval voting, single transferable vote, instant runoff voting or a Condorcet method. There exist various methods through which the ballots cast at an election may be counted, prior to applying a voting system to obtain one or more winners. ... A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. ... Proportional representation (PR) is any of various multi-winner electoral systems which try to ensure that the proportional support gained by different groups is accurately reflected in the election result. ... Majoritarianism (often also called majority rule) is a political philosophy or agenda which asserts that a majority (sometimes categorized by religion, language or some other identifying factor) of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and has the right to make decisions that affect the... Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems used in multiple-winner elections (e. ... The Additional Member System (AMS) is a voting system where some representatives are elected from geographic constituencies and others are elected under proportional representation from party lists. ... The First Past the Post electoral system, is a voting system for single-member districts. ... Absolute majority is a supermajoritarian voting requirement which is stricter than a simple majority. ... Approval voting is a voting system used for elections, in which each voter can vote for as many or as few candidates as the voter chooses. ... The Single Transferable Vote, or STV, is a preference voting system designed to minimise wasted votes in multi-candidate elections while ensuring that votes are explicitly for candidates rather than party lists. ... When the single transferable vote voting system is applied to a single-winner election it is sometimes called instant-runoff voting (IRV), as it is much like holding a series of runoff elections in which the lowest polling candidate is eliminated in each round until someone receives majority vote. ... Any election method conforming to the Condorcet criterion is known as a Condorcet method. ...

While openness and accountability are usually considered cornerstones of a democratic system, the act of voting itself is usually an important exception. The secret ballot is a relatively modern development, but it is now considered crucial in most free and fair elections, as it limits the effectiveness of intimidation. Accountability has several meanings and is the subject of a broad debate in American governance. ... The Polling by William Hogarth (1755); Before the secret ballot was introduced voter intimidation was commonplace The secret ballot is a process in elections where the choice of the voters is kept confidential. ...

(See National electoral systems for individual electoral systems) An electoral system is the system used to administer an election. ...

Scheduling

The nature of democracy is that elected officials are accountable to the people, and they must return to the voters at prescribed intervals to seek their mandate to continue in office. For that reason most democratic constitutions provide that elections are held at fixed regular intervals. In most states elections are held between every three and six years. There are exceptions to this; the U.S. House of Representives stands for election every two years, while the President of Ireland holds a largely ceremonial position for seven years. The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... The President of Ireland (Irish: Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of the Republic of Ireland. ...

Some nations have pre-determined and fixed election dates (e.g., the U.S.). This has the advantage of fairness and predictability. However, it tends to greatly lengthen campaigns, and makes dissolving the legislature more problematic if the date should happen to fall at time when dissolution is inconvenient. Other states (e.g., the United Kingdom) only set maximum time in office, and the executive decides exactly when within that limit it will actually go to the polls.

Difficulties with elections

Show elections

While all modern democracies hold regular elections, the converse is not true—not all elections are held by true democracies. Some governments employ other 'behind-the-scenes' means of candidate selection but organise a sham process that appears to be a genuine electoral contest, in order to present the facade of popular consent and support.

Dictatorships, such as the former Soviet Union, have been known to hold such show elections. In the 'single candidate' type of show-election, there may only be one candidate for any one given position, with no alternative choices for voters beyong voting yes or no to this candidate. In the 'fixed vote' type of show-election such elections may offer several candidates for each office. In both cases, the government uses intimidation or vote-rigging to ensure a high yes vote or that only the government-approved candidates are chosen. Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were two of the 20th centurys most notorious dictators. ... A show election is an election that is held purely for show, that is, without any significant political purpose. ... Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ...

Another model is the 'false diversity' type of show-election in which there may be several choices, all of which support the status quo. In theory, 'false diversity' elections would be recognised by a truly informed electorate but as noted above this may be impossible, for example where a government conducting elections also controls the media by which most voters are informed. Examples of this are given below.

Bias and limited options

Similar to the false diversity elections are those in which candidates are limited by undemocratic forces and biases. The Iranian form of government is an example of this. In the 2004 Iranian parliamentary elections almost all of the reformist candidates were ruled unfit by the Guardian Council of religious leaders. According to the Iranian constitution this was fully within the Council's constitutional rights, and designed to prevent enemies of the Islamic Revolution from coming to power. (Redirected from 2004 Iranian parliamentary elections) Elections to the Majlis of Iran were held on February 20, 2004. ... The Guardian Council of the Constitution (شورای نگهبان قانون اساسی in Persian) is a high office within the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran which has the authority to interpret the constitution and to determine if the laws passed by the parliament are in line with the constitution of... Protestors take to the street in support of Ayatollah Khomeini. ...

Simply permitting the opposition access to the ballot is not enough. In order for democratic elections to be fair and competitive, opposition parties and candidates must enjoy the rights to freedom of speech, assembly, and movement as necessary to voice their criticisms of the government openly and to bring alternative policies and candidates to the voters. In states where these freedoms are not granted or where opposition party politicians are harassed and their events disrupted, elections will not reflect the legitimate views of the populace. A current example of such a state is Zimbabwe. In states with fragile democracies where there has been a history of political violence or blatantly unfair elections, international election observers are often called in by external bodies like the United Nations, and protected by foreign forces, to guarantee fairness. Freedom of speech is the liberty to freely say what one pleases, as well as the related liberty to hear what others have stated. ...

In addition, elections in which opposition candidates are not given access to radio, newspaper and television coverage are also likely to be biased. An example of this kind of structural bias was the 2004 re-election of Russian president Vladimir Putin, in which the state controlled media consistently supported his election run, consistently condemned his opponents, provided virtually unlimited free advertising to Putin's campaign, and barred attempts by his opponents to run campaign advertisements. For this reason, many countries ensure equal air time to election ads from all sizeable parties and have systems that help pay for election advertising. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Term of office: December 31, 1999 – Preceded by: Boris Yeltsin Succeeded by: Date of birth: October 7, 1952 Place of birth: Leningrad, U.S.S.R. First Lady: Liudmila Putina Political party: None Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: Владимир Владимирович Путин pronunciation; born October 7, 1952) is a Russian politician and...

Some allege that beyond the examples given here, there are more subtle and systemic forms of 'false-diversity' in elections which are not generally recognised. Noam Chomsky and other progressives argue that in the West, and especially the U.S., powerful corporate interests behind the media act as a filter that only lets preordained views be heard by the public and excludes third parties and alternative viewpoints. Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages. ... In a two-party system a third party is a party other than the two dominant ones. ...

Corruption of democracies

The very openness of a democracy means that in many states it is possible for voters to vote to get rid of democracy itself.

Democracies have failed many times in history from ancient Greece to 18th and 19th century France (see Second Empire under Napoleon III), and perhaps most famously in 20th century Germany, when the Nazis initially came to power by democratic means (albeit by plurality vote). Throughout most of the developing world today democracies remain unstable, often collapsing to military coup or other forms of dictatorship. Thinkers such as Aristotle and many others long believed democracy to be inherently unstable and to always quickly collapse. Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... This article is about the Second Empire architectural style. ... Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (April 20, 1808 - January 9, 1873) was the son of King Louis Bonaparte and Queen Hortense de Beauharnais; both monarchs of the French puppet state, the Kingdom of Holland. ... The Nazi swastika symbol The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ... A plurality (or relative majority) is the largest share of something, which may or may not be a majority. ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... Aristotle (sculpture) Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης Aristotelēs) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher. ...

Most democracies have some form of separation of powers so that even if a tyrant is elected the constitution would still have to be obeyed, in theory at least. Of course, an elected government can change the constitution, but this can be made difficult by, in some cases, requiring a 2/3 majority in two consecutive elected governments—the actual requirements vary by each constitutional system. Separation of powers is the idea that the powers of a sovereign government should be split between two or more strongly independent entities, preventing any one person or group from gaining too much power. ...

To limit this danger the system used in many states indirectly places limits on how easily new parties can form. The "first past the post" electoral system makes it hard for new parties to quickly gain power. In states using proportional representation systems, there is a determined proportion of the popular vote that must be won before a party can be admitted to parliament.

Elections around the world

See List of election results for an overview by country.

Elections by country gives information on elections. ...

List of election advertising techniques

An attack ad in election terms is an advertisement whose message is meant as an attack against another candidate or political party. ... In an election canvassing is a method used by a political campaign to directly speak to large numbers of voters. ... Direct marketing is a form of marketing that attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, using addressable media, such as mail. ... An election promise is a promise made to the public by a politician who is trying to win an election. ... Get out the vote, sometimes GOTV, is a term used to describe two categories of political activity, both aimed at increasing the number of votes cast in one or more elections. ... Lawn signs placed outside a polling place in the U.S., July 2004 Lawn signs are one of the most visible features of an election campaign in some countries. ... Negative campaigning is trying to win an election by attacking an opponent rather than emphasizing ones own positive attributes or policies. ... Opposition research often referred to as oppo is the section of an election campaign designed to investigate the life and record of the opposing candidate. ... PIG is an electoral technique commonly employed in the United Kingdom, consisting of three steps: Persuade — in which the organisation concerned convinces the public to support them—usually a political party attempting to solicit votes. ... A push poll is a campaign technique in which a fake poll is used to alter the views of respondents. ...

External links

Angus Reid Consultants: Election Tracker (http://www.angus-reid.com/tracker/)
CNN.com World News: Election Watch (http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/election.watch/)
Democracy Watch (International)'s Definition of Democracy (http://www.democracywatch.org#great_care)
Electionworld.org (http://www.electionworld.org)
Voter Guide Toolkit (http://www.vgt2004.org)

Categories: Elections | Ethics

Results from FactBites:

U.S. presidential election, 2004 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (5425 words)
	On October 5, the Vice Presidential debate was held between Dick Cheney and John Edwards in Cleveland, Ohio, and was moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS.
	Election watchers and political analysts forecast a number of contested election results in a manner similar to the Florida voting recount of 2000.
	Although the overall result of the election was not challenged by the Kerry campaign, third-party presidential candidates David Cobb and Michael Badnarik obtained a recount in Ohio.

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