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While recall recently has gained slightly more attention from academia, the use of recall has hardly been under systematic scrutiny. Our study tackles this research gap and seeks to answer the following question: What combinations of conditions facilitate or constrain the use of local recall (in Germany)? It provides a qualitative comparative analysis of conditions of recall use in 11 German federal states. Building on theories of democratic innovations and previous studies on recall, we develop an analytic framework systematizing the conditions we include in our empirical analysis along three dimensions: institutional design, attitudinal context, and political context. While our article focuses on Germany, our analytic framework can be applied to study recall in other countries and on other levels, allowing for more systematic comparative research. Applying fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, our article provides a comprehensive picture explaining the use of recall. It shows that political and attitudinal conditions serve as an equally important explanation for recall use as the institutional design of recall does. Our article gives new insights considering the conditions for the use of direct democratic instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scattered case studies of recall procedures can be found in the literature on particular countries, and recent literature has drawn attention to the growth and diffusion of this family of practices. But the long genealogy, and the wide international distribution, of the recall process has been overlooked in the broader study of democratization, institutional design, and political representation. This article presents the two original country studies and situates them within the emerging field of comparative research. Four major themes are highlighted: the multiple and often subterranean sources of these experiments; their fluctuating profiles and (mostly) low external visibility; the relative weight of diffusion versus independent invention; and the resulting design pitfalls, as well as the potential benefits when carefully introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parliamentarians greatly differ with regard to the amount and quality of their work in parliament. Students of legislator behaviour mostly view Members of Parliament (MPs) as 'single-minded seekers of re-election', which is often argued to be the motivation for carrying out various activities. However, less attention has been paid to what extent MPs' efforts pay off at the next elections. The special section introduced here addresses the question if the type and volume of parliamentary activities carried out by legislators have any effect on their electoral prospects. In other words, do parties and voters take MPs' activity record into account when deciding on the re-election and the re-selection of an incumbent? To shed some light on this topic, we bring together students of legislative and electoral behaviour from all parts of Europe. Our general aim is to disentangle the necessary conditions for personal accountability to work in representative democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature shows that, on average, electorally vulnerable Members of Parliament (MPs) are more active than their colleagues. This article investigates whether parties have an incentive to reselect active MPs in a county with a closed-list electoral system. Being active is usually a way to increase one's visibility among the constituency. We argue that parties have incentives to reselect active MPs only when they believe that voters pay attention to the qualities of individual candidates. The Italian case is a perfect case to test this argument because the attention paid by voters to individual candidates varies significantly between the northern and southern regions. Our empirical analysis reveals that being active leads to a higher probability to be re-selected only in regions where the style of representation is personalised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When political disputes devolve into heated partisan conflicts, do the factors known to trigger electoral political engagement continue to operate, or do they change? We consider this question during a divisive electoral context—a gubernatorial recall—focusing on how media consumption, conversations, and interactions with social media feed into the decision to participate in politics. To do so, we employ high-quality survey data collected in the weeks before the 2012 Wisconsin recall election. Results indicate that during times of contentious politics, political communication does not operate as observed in less polarized settings, calling into question widely held assumptions about what spurs and suppresses electoral participation. Most notably, we find that broadcast news consumption negatively predicts participation, whereas political conversation with coworkers and use of political social media positively predict participation. The implications for electoral behavior research in contentious political environments are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are certain Members of Parliament (MPs) more likely to get re-candidacy for national legislative elections, therefore having the possibility to continue their career? This article answers this question by comparing political elites' long-debated explanations with more legislative behaviour-related factors. By focusing on more than 25 years of the Italian Lower House's history, we have built a novel dataset on the legislative behaviour and career patterns of more than 3500 Italian MPs. A multilevel logistic regression analysis shows that, with the exception of party switching, legislative behaviour does not seem to exert a significant impact on MPs' re-candidacy. On the contrary, the career status of parliamentarians, i.e., their parliamentary position or their ministerial historical record, strongly influences their chances of obtaining re-candidacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large-scale experiment assessed the turnout effects of the “Neighbors” mailer, which exerts social pressure to vote by disclosing the past turnout records of recipients and their neighbors. A prior large-scale experiment conducted in a low salience election found that this mailer increased turnout substantially. The experiment reported here gauges the effects of this mailer in the context of a hotly contested recall election. We find smaller but still sizable effects, especially for low-propensity voters. Turnout increases significantly in the presidential election several months later, and the immediate and downstream effects are similar regardless of whether the mailer is worded in partisan or nonpartisan terms. Using data furnished by the Obama campaign and several nonpartisan organizations, we find little evidence that receiving the Neighbors mailer caused people to become the targets of subsequent mobilizing activity, suggesting that the downstream effects of social pressure cannot be attributed to subsequent campaign contacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Philippines, senators are nationally elected officials, and citizens vote for 12 candidates every three years. The country's electoral features include a weak party system, a low-information environment for voters, and a history of political dynasty rule and preponderance of media celebrities in elected political offices. The article first applies cluster analysis on exit poll data for the 2010 Senatorial Election and then examines predictors of Senatorial candidate sets. Hypotheses are proposed based on theories and evidence that name recall has important consequences in voter decision-making under low information circumstances, and that media celebrities and members of political dynasties benefit from the name recall vote. Findings support predictions that voters put media celebrities and members of national political dynasties together often on a ballot and that the voters who are likely to operate with little information are more likely to vote for these candidates. These are voters with low education and low income, who live in rural areas, and who exhibit high abstention rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the democratic significance of citizen talk about politics, the field of communication has not considered how that talk is weathering stresses facing our civic culture. We examine political talk during an archetypal case of political contentiousness: the recall of Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin in 2012. Pairing qualitative and quantitative methods, we show that a fracturing of civic culture took place in which many citizens found it impossible to continue political discussion. Individuals at fault lines of contention, by nature of occupation, geographic location, or other personal circumstance, were most prone to this breakdown. Our results call into question the ability of talk to bridge political and social differences in periods of polarization and fragmentation, with implications for democratic functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1997 and 2013, more than 5000 recall referendums were activated against democratically elected authorities from 747 Peruvian municipalities (45.5% of all municipalities). This makes Peru the world's most intensive user of this mechanism of direct democracy which is designed to remove elected authorities from office before the end of their term. What are the reasons for this extensive use of recall referendums in Peru and, more importantly, what consequences do they have in terms of democratic legitimacy and government efficiency? This paper sets out to answer these questions by comparing the Peruvian case against the background of other countries in the Andean region. It proposes an explanation for the intensive activation of recall procedures through the combination of two factors: first, the features of the institutional design of the mechanism, which affect the probability of a successful activation of recall referendums, and second, the degree of institutionalization of political parties, which influences the incentives of political actors to gain power between regular elections. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The mechanisms behind vote recall inaccuracy are not well understood. The literature has been unable to separate inaccuracy due to the nature of the voter (such as non-attitudes) from inaccuracy due to interfering events after casting the vote (such as a change in vote intention). This paper employs event history analysis to disentangle time-invariant and time-variant explanations of recall inaccuracy. Using Dutch panel data on 20,936 respondents in 42 waves between 2010 and 2012 (and additional data collected between 2006 and 2010), we explain the likelihood of misreporting the 2010 vote during the subsequent electoral cycle. The analyses show that although both explanations play a role, voters’ general level of volatility before casting the recalled vote matters less than changes in vote intention after the vote. We conclude that accurate recall is affected mainly by events rather than the nature of voters. Our findings imply that survey measures of voting behavior could be improved by offering cues on the elections of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legislation on recall of MPs, introduced as a response to the parliamentary expenses scandal, was presented as filling an accountability gap. The nature of this alleged gap is examined, and it is argued that the accountability of Members of Parliament is more complicated than the recall proposal suggests. This includes issues about the regulation of parliamentary standards. Finally, the recall proposal is located within the context of discussion about the condition of representative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research finds that doubts about the integrity of the secret ballot as an institution persist among the American public. We build on this finding by providing novel field experimental evidence about how information about ballot secrecy protections can increase turnout among registered voters who had not previously voted. First, we show that a private group’s mailing designed to address secrecy concerns modestly increased turnout in the highly contested 2012 Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election. Second, we exploit this and an earlier field experiment conducted in Connecticut during the 2010 congressional midterm election season to identify the persistent effects of such messages from both governmental and non-governmental sources. Together, these results provide new evidence about how message source and campaign context affect efforts to mobilize previous non-voters by addressing secrecy concerns, as well as show that attempting to address these beliefs increases long-term participation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study employs content and network analysis techniques to explore the predictors of opinion leadership in a political activism network on Twitter. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using user-generated content to measure user characteristics. The characteristics were analyzed to predict users’ performance in the network. According to the results, Twitter users with higher connectivity and issue involvement are better at influencing information flow on Twitter. User connectivity was measured by betweenness centrality, and issue involvement was measured by a user’s geographic proximity to a given event and the contribution of engaging tweets. In addition, the results show that tweets by organizations had greater influence than those by individual users. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker faced only the third gubernatorial recall in the nation's history and was the first to survive. From a legal perspective, the 2012 Walker recall involved equally unique issues arising from the Wisconsin Constitution and obscure state statutes. This Article reviews the history of recall in Wisconsin and examines three significant legal issues that arose during the Walker recall: (1) litigation over review of submitted recall signatures; (2) unlimited campaign finance contributions; and (3) the scheduling of the recall election. The Article concludes that an assessment of the historical nature of the Walker recall is incomplete without consideration of the impact of these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voters’ recall of past behavior is known to be inaccurate. Yet, owing to data limitations, the precise mechanisms behind recall inconsistency have not yet been pulled apart empirically. We analyze the Dutch 1VOP panel data set (29,955 respondents, 53 waves) to simultaneously test four explanations of recall inconsistency. We conclude that vote recall is explained by forgetfulness, nonattitudes, and cognitive bias, but find no evidence for measurement bias. Recall consistency is affected by current party preference and by volatility in party preferences. Both effects become stronger with longer time intervals between recalls. We discuss the implications for (cross-national) survey research methodology and for substantive research on electoral volatility and offer tentative solutions against the resulting validity, reliability, and equivalence issues. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The publication of a White Paper, Recall of MPs, and a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny, by the UK Government in December 2011 was greeted with almost universal antipathy. In bringing forward the draft Bill Cabinet Office ministers declared their intention to ‘trigger a debate on what would be the best model for a recall mechanism’ and they expressed a willingness ‘to consider alternative models’ or even to contemplate ‘adopting a completely different approach’. Yet, they made it clear any such proposals ‘must work within our unique constitutional framework’ and be ‘suitable for our system of representative democracy’. The objective of this article, therefore, is to do precisely what Cabinet Office ministers asked: to examine comparative experience and to apply lessons from that experience to the UK's ‘unique constitutional framework’. Three questions guide the analysis: first, what is the problem to be addressed in introducing recall?; secondly, what does comparative experience reveal about the operation of recall? and thirdly how unique is the UK's constitutional framework? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the ever-evolving jurisprudence of campaign finance, one principle has endured: the rules governing candidate elections are analyzed differently from the rules governing ballot measures because, according to the courts, the latter elections do not implicate the state's legitimate interest in combating quid pro quo corruption. It should now be apparent to even a casual observer of the initiative process, however, that candidates are very involved in ballot measures. Savvy politicians use initiatives to influence turnout in elections in which they are also running, and some resort to initiatives to adopt policy change they cannot enact through the traditional legislative system. The clear relationship between candidates and direct democracy is formally present in a context of growing salience: recall elections. In the nineteen states that allow recalls on the state level and the twenty-nine or more that provide for recalls of local officials, the hybrid nature of our democratic institutions is clear and draws into question any easy bifurcation of campaign finance rules that turn on the presence of a candidate. In this Article, I will use recall elections as a way to consider the current state of campaign finance jurisprudence as it relates to all the mechanisms of direct democracy. Recalls provide a different framework through which to assess campaign finance rules because they are explicitly hybrid elections, combining a ballot question about the recall of an official and, sometimes simultaneously, the election of a successor. Part I will lay out the structure of the recall process, particularly in California and Wisconsin, the two states in which statewide recalls of governors have shaken the political establishment and caught the attention of the nation. Part II will analyze the constitutional issues raised by campaign finance regimes that include contribution limitations affecting recall elections, focusing on Citizens United v. FEC and other relevant recent decisions. Part III will extend this analysis and argue that the conclusions reached about permissible regulatory structures in the context of recalls implicate the way states and municipalities regulate money in ballot measure campaigns generally. Moreover, the conclusions that emerge from the analysis powerfully suggest that the Court's broader campaign finance jurisprudence ignores the most compelling justification for regulating money in politics: working to ensure equality of the opportunity to participate in the political realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the recall elections at Wisconsin for the post of governor. It mentions that Scott Walker became the first governor in the U.S. history to survive a recall election. It mentions that Walker's defeated his opponent Tom Barret despite of his heavy support from labor unions.

The article focuses on the issue of presidential election and unionism in the U.S. in 2012. It notes the victory of Presidential candidate Barack Obama in the presidential election and the failure of Republican and Democratic Parties during the collapse of unionism in the country. Furthermore, it notes the efforts of trade union groups in mobilizing Democrats in key Midwestern states of the U.S. and provides analysis on the recall election in Wisconsin wherein politician Scott Walker is a candidate.

From the Paris Commune to the Red Shirt uprising in Bangkok, revolutionaries lacking the power to overthrow their states or depose unpopular politicians have captured parts of major cities and formed their own temporary enclaves of resistance. These groups create intraurban borders by building barricades, arming themselves, and fighting to protect their space. The borders, while temporary and usually ineffective, are powerful symbols as they separate a sphere of active resistance from territory under state control. While these borders stand, they are challenges to state power – lines marking the limits of what states can control. This essay looks at how these borders arise and how they relate to more familiar types of borders. Revolutionary borders are shaped by many of the same forces as national borders, most notably globalisation, but have a distinct character that is closely linked to the changing geography of urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a court case wherein the Privy Council of Gibraltar heard a petition to remove the Chief Justice from office. The Queen's Counsel had lost confidence in the ability of the Chief Justice to discharge the functions of his office. The council heard oral evidence and written statements. The council held that the Chief Justice should be removed from office.

Recent work on testing effects has shown that retrieval practice can facilitate memory even for complex prose materials (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006a, 2006b). In three experiments the current study explores the effectiveness of retrieval practice on fill-in-the-blank (FITB) tests requiring the recall of specific words or phrases from a text. Final tests included both repeated items that were directly taken from initial tests, and related items. In Experiment 1, with a 2-day delay between initial and final tests, FITB testing benefited performance only on repeated items. In Experiment 2 a 7-day delay between testing sessions led to more robust effects on repeated items. However, once again no benefits were seen for related items. In Experiment 3 the scope of retrieval was varied by comparing FITB tests to paragraph recall tests requiring retrieval of all sentences following a topic sentence. Only the more open-ended recall practice demonstrated improvements in transfer to novel questions. The results suggest that scope or type of processing required during retrieval practice is likely a critical factor in whether testing will have specific or robust benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the proposed introduction of recall of members of Parliament and citizens' initiated elections in Australia. It says that recall is an element of a direct democracy, which is often described collectively as the referendum, recall, and initiative. Moreover, it discusses the use of recall in the comparative jurisdictions of Canada and the U.S. and the use of collective recall as citizens' initiated elections in Switzerland, Japan, and Germany.

A large body of literature on “within-individual retrieval-induced forgetting” (WI-RIF; Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994) shows that repeatedly retrieving some items, while not retrieving other related items, facilitates later recall of the practised items, but inhibits later recall of the non-practised related items. This robust effect has recently been extended to “socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting” (SS-RIF; Cuc, Koppel, & Hirst, 2007). People who merely listen to a speaker retrieving some, but not other, items—even people participating as speakers or listeners in conversations—show the same facilitation and inhibition. We replicated and extended the SS-RIF effect with a structured story (Experiment 1) and in a free-flowing conversation about the story (Experiment 2). Specifically, we explored (1) the degree to which participants subsequently form a coherent “collective memory” of the story and (2) whether schema consistency of the target information influences both WI-RIF and SS-RIF. In both experiments, speakers and listeners showed RIF (that is, WI-RIF and SS-RIF, respectively), irrespective of the schema consistency of the story material. On final recall, speakers and listeners described similar renderings of the story. We discuss these findings in terms of the role of “silences” in the formation of collective memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]