Electoral Illiteracy and Democratic Citizenship in Zimbabwe

The Internet and Democratic Citizenship

Relations between the public and holders of political authority are in a period of transformative flux. On the one side, new expectations and meanings of citizenship are being entertained and occasionally acted upon. On the other, an inexorable impoverishment of mainstream political communication is taking place. The Internet has the potential to improve public communications and enrich democra...

Campaign Advertising and Democratic Citizenship

Concern about the state of American democracy is a staple of political science and popular commentary. Critics warn that levels of citizen participation and political knowledge are disturbingly low and that seemingly ubiquitous political advertising is contributing to the problem. We argue that political advertising is rife with both informational and emotional content and actually contributes ...

Democratic Principle and Electoral College Reform

Democratic Process and Electoral Politics in Andhra Pradesh, India

read the draft and gave their comments. The queries from Ms Rachel Bishop, editor for ODI, were extremely helpful in identifying certain gaps and refining the style of the text. v Glossary Andhra Kesari Literally, 'Lion of Andhra'; name given to the legendary Tanguturi Prakasam, leader of a Congress Party faction and founder of the Praja Party Amma Mother Anicuts Irrigation systems Anna Elder b...

Presidentialism, Electoral Identifiability, and Budget Balances in Democratic Systems

This paper examines the impact of the form of government—–presidential or parliamentary—–on fiscal outcomes in democratic systems. Based on data for democracies in 98 countries between 1970 and 2002, it shows that the gross domestic product ratio of the central government budget balance is higher in presidential than in parliamentary democracies. It also shows that this impact is not due to the...