The purpose of the present study is to investigate the sociological impact of social factors on the electoral behavior of citizens of Mazandaran province by comparing the two age groups of youth and adults. In this regard, a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire. Statistical population of this study is men and women over 18 years old th...

the relation between religiosity and electoral behavior as the major research question in this study has been reported by some researchers with paradoxical results. for a more profound understanding of the relationship between the two variables, religiosity was analyzed at two levels: scale and type; electoral behavior was also investigated at two levels: voting tendency and voting participatio...

in this paper, the french electoral system in different layers of power and its impact on voter’s political life and behavior is explored. the french chose the two-step plurality system in the national assembly elections. this electoral style has caused the multi-party and bipolar system to be institutionalized in the land of flowers. although this electoral system is harmful to minor parties e...

Due to the legacy of apartheid segregation South Africa remains a divided society where most voters live in politically homogenous social environments. This paper argues that political discussion within one’s social context plays a primary role in shaping political attitudes and vote choice. Using data from the Comparative National Elections Project 2004 and 2009 South African post-election sur...

The principle of democracy is that the people govern through elected representatives. Therefore, a democracy is healthy as long as the elected politicians do represent the people. We have analyzed data from the Brazilian electoral court (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, TSE) concerning money donations for the electoral campaigns and the election results. Our work points to two disturbing conclusion...

Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral systems are considered by some to be ‘‘the best of both worlds’’ because they combine single member district representation with proportional outcomes. Critics, however, maintain that such systems cause voter confusion leading some voters to cast misinformed votes. Survey data from Germany and New Zealand are used to investigate voter’s political knowle...

Dominant theories of electoral behavior emphasize that voters myopically evaluate policy performance and that this shortsightedness may obstruct the welfare-improving effect of democratic accountability. However, we know little about how long governments receive electoral credit for beneficial policies. We exploit the massive policy response to a major natural disaster, the 2002 Elbe flooding i...

In previous chapters, we discussed the contextual factors that affect the development of political systems. However, the evolution of political systems is not merely a function of the economic, social, cultural, and international environments. Political democracy is also as much a product of human choices as it is a product of context, particularly the choice of institutions that help shape the...