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Historians and social scientists have long been interested in patterns of women's inclusion and participation in the years that followed enfranchisement. Municipal elections--an important part of the larger history of women's enfranchisement and electoral participation--have generally been neglected in this research. In this research note, we show how samples from lists of eligible voters in Canadian city elections can serve as a valuable data source for understanding patterns of inclusion and participation among Canadian women. Using the cases of Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, we demonstrate that processes of inclusion followed markedly different trajectories in each city in the early twentieth century, with very slow inclusion in Vancouver and more rapid inclusion in Calgary and Edmonton. We also provide evidence for a 2% gender gap in turnout in Calgary during the city's early post-enfranchisement decades. This analysis illustrates the value of widely available voters lists for research on women's democratic inclusion. Keywords: Canadian political institutions, Canadian politics, gender and politics, municipal politics, political recruitment Les specialistes de l'histoire et des sciences sociales s'interessent depuis longtemps aux modes d'inclusion et de participation des femmes a la democratie dans les annees qui suivent leur accession au suffrage. Les elections municipales, une part importante de l'histoire plus vaste du droit des femmes a voter et de leur participation electorale, sont generalement negligees dans leurs travaux. Dans cette note de recherche, nous montrons que des echantillons provenant de listes de personnes admissibles a voter aux elections municipales canadiennes constituent de precieuses sources de donnees pour comprendre les modalites de l'inclusion et de la participation des femmes canadiennes a la vie politique. En nous basant sur les cas de Calgary, d'Edmonton et de Vancouver, nous montrons que les processus d'inclusion suivent des trajectoires nettement differentes dans chacune de ces villes au debut du XXe siecle - tres lente a Vancouver et plus rapide a Calgary et a Edmonton. Nous montrons egalement qu'un ecart de participation de 2 % existait entre les sexes, a Calgary, pendant les premieres decennies suivant l'accession des femmes au droit de vote. Cette analyse illustre la valeur des documents facilement accessibles que sont les listes electorales pour la recherche sur l'inclusion democratique des femmes. Mots-cles : institutions politiques canadiennes, politique canadienne, genre et politique, politique municipale, recrutement politique, Introduction The effect of women's enfranchisement on electoral participation and election outcomes has been a major source of research attention for historians and political scientists. In recent years, political scientists [...]

Purpose To provide clinical practice recommendations and generate a research agenda on mechanical ventilation and respiratory support in patients with acute brain injury (ABI). Methods An international consensus panel was convened including 29 clinician-scientists in intensive care medicine with expertise in acute respiratory failure, neurointensive care, or both, and two non-voting methodologists. The panel was divided into seven subgroups, each addressing a predefined clinical practice domain relevant to patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with ABI, defined as acute traumatic brain or cerebrovascular injury. The panel conducted systematic searches and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) method was used to evaluate evidence and formulate questions. A modified Delphi process was implemented with four rounds of voting in which panellists were asked to respond to questions (rounds 1-3) and then recommendation statements (final round). Strong recommendation, weak recommendation, or no recommendation were defined when > 85%, 75-85%, and < 75% of panellists, respectively, agreed with a statement. Results The GRADE rating was low, very low, or absent across domains. The consensus produced 36 statements (19 strong recommendations, 6 weak recommendations, 11 no recommendation) regarding airway management, non-invasive respiratory support, strategies for mechanical ventilation, rescue interventions for respiratory failure, ventilator liberation, and tracheostomy in brain-injured patients. Several knowledge gaps were identified to inform future research efforts. Conclusions This consensus provides guidance for the care of patients admitted to the ICU with ABI. Evidence was generally insufficient or lacking, and research is needed to demonstrate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of different management approaches., Author(s): Chiara Robba [sup.1], Daniele Poole [sup.2], Molly McNett [sup.3], Karim Asehnoune [sup.4], Julian Bösel [sup.5] [sup.6], Nicolas Bruder [sup.7], Arturo Chieregato [sup.8], Raphael Cinotti [sup.9], Jacques Duranteau [sup.10], Sharon [...]

There is an absence of research in Trinidad and Tobago that investigates the swing voter dilemma in voting behaviour. As with previous studies on voting behaviour in Trinidad and Tobago, this study focuses on the island of Trinidad (the significantly larger island of the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago). This article addresses the prevalence of swing voters in Trinidad, their particular geographic concentration, who they are, the factors that drive their voting decisions and whether they value their vote more when they are located in a marginal constituency. Additionally, this article examines how swing voters cope in a deeply ethnic-divided society such as Trinidad where the two dominant ethnic groups cling to their coethnic political parties, leaving a minority mixed population to carry the burden of deciding the outcome of elections. Keywords: Voting behaviour; Swing voting, Party switching, Core voters, Trinidad elections. Il y a une absence de recherche a Trinite-et-Tobago qui etudie le dilemme de l'electeur swing dans le comportement de vote. Comme pour les etudes precedentes sur le comportement electoral a Trinite-et-Tobago, cette etude se concentre sur l'ile de Trinite-et-Tobago (l'ile considerablement plus grande de l'Etat jumeau de Trinite-et-Tobago). Cet article porte sur la prevalence des electeurs indecis a Trinidad, leur concentration geographique particuliere, qui ils sont, les facteurs qui determinent leurs decisions de vote et s'ils valorisent davantage leur vote lorsqu'ils sont situes dans une circonscription marginale. De plus, cet article examine comment les electeurs swing s'en sortent dans une societe profondement divisee entre les ethnies telle que Trinidad, ou les deux groupes ethniques dominants s'accrochent a leurs partis politiques co-ethniques, laissant a une population mixte minoritaire le fardeau de decider du resultat des elections. Mots-cles: Comportement de vote; Vote swing, changement de parti, electeurs principaux, elections a Trinidad. Hay una falta de investigacion en Trinidad y Tobago que investigue el dilema del votante indeciso en el comportamiento electoral. Al igual que con estudios anteriores sobre el comportamiento electoral en Trinidad y Tobago, este estudio se centra en la isla de Trinidad (la isla significativamente mas grande del estado de Trinidad y Tobago, dos islas gemelas). Este articulo aborda la prevalencia de votantes indecisos en Trinidad, su concentracion geografica particular, quienes son, los factores que impulsan sus decisiones de voto y si valoran mas su voto cuando se encuentran en un distrito electoral marginal. Ademas, este articulo examina como los votantes indecisos se las arreglan en una sociedad profundamente dividida etnicamente como Trinidad, donde los dos grupos etnicos dominantes se aferran a sus partidos politicos co-etnicos, dejando a una poblacion mixta minoritaria con la carga de decidir el resultado de las elecciones. Palabras clave: Comportamiento electoral; Votacion oscilante, cambio de partido, votantes centrales, elecciones en Trinidad., Since the introduction of adult suffrage in 1945 Trinidad and Tobago has conducted sixteen general elections from 1946 to 2015. It is useful to note that these general elections do [...]

This article assesses the impact of 'opposition entrepreneurs' on affirmative vote percentages for special purpose local-option sales tax (SPLOST) proposals in counties of the Metropolitan Atlanta region. The main question addressed is how does the presence of identifiable opposition-leading entrepreneurs in SPLOST campaigns affect the affirmative ('yes') vote percentages for these sales tax proposals? Aggregate-level county data and election-specific campaign data were collected for 86 county and school district SPLOST referenda in 15 counties in the Metropolitan Atlanta region during the time period spanning from 1998 through 2011. The results of ordinary least square regression analyses support the hypothesis that the presence of opposition entrepreneurs in SPLOST campaigns reduces affirmative voting. The results indicate that opposition, by itself, is not sufficient to impact voting outcomes in tax referendum elections. Rather, consequential opposition efforts need to be led by an identifiable leader. Keywords: Local Sales Tax, Tax Referenda, State and Local Politics, Atlanta, United States, Opposition Entrepreneurs, SPLOST Campaigns, Voting Outcomes, Elections, Antigrowth Entrepreneurs, Voting Behavior. Este articulo examina el impacto de los 'emprendedores de oposicion' en el porcentaje de votos afirmativos para propuestas a impuestos con proposito especifico a las ventas locales (SPLOST por sus siglas en ingles: special purpose local-option sales tax) en los condados de la region metropolitana de Atlanta. Lapreguntaprincipal que analiza este estudio es, icomo afecta la presencia de una oposicion identificable, es decir emprendedores de renombre, al porcentaje de votos afirmativos en las campanas que proponen impuestos SPLOST? Se recolecto informacion agregada a nivel condado y los resultados finales de 18 campanas especificas y SPLOST referenda en 15 condados de la region metropolitana de Atlanta durante el periodo de 1998 a 2011. El resultado de la regresion por minimos cuadrados ordinarios (OLS por sus siglas en ingles, ordinary least squares) apoya la hipotesis que la presencia de emprendedores opositores en campanas SPLOST reduce el porcentaje de votos afirmativos. Estos resultados indican que la oposicion por si misma no es suficiente para crear un impacto en los referenda de impuestos, si no que se tienen que realizar esfuerzos de oposicion por lideres identificables., Local tax elections are an important and common aspect of local governance in the United States. In the state of Georgia, county and school district officials are authorized to seek [...]

This article tests the impact of corruption on electoral turnout for over 200 elections from over 70 presidential systems conducted between 1990 and 2011. Differentiating among three corruption indicators (i.e., the International Country Risk Guide corruption indicator, the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, and the World Bank Control of Corruption measure), I evaluate corruption's precise impact on electoral participation in a pooled time series framework. Controlling for compulsory voting, semi-presidentialism, regime type, development, political culture, the closeness of the election, and state size, my results are nuanced. I find that corruption more narrowly defined as political corruption stifles turnout, whereas a rather broad definition of corruption, which includes societal and financial corruption, has no impact on macro-level turnout. Finally, I discover that the interactive impact of corruption on other variables in the turnout function is rather limited. Keywords: Corruption, Elections and Electoral Politics and Policy, Voting Behavior, Electoral Turnout, Presidential Systems, Comparative Politics, International Comparative Policy. Este articulo verifica el impacto de la corruption en la participation electoral en mas de 200 elecciones de un universo de mas de 70 sistemas presidenciales entre los anos 1990 y 2011. Evaluo el impacto preciso de la corrupcion sobre la participacion en un marco de series de tiempo integrado distinguiendo entre tres indicadores de corruption (p.e. el indicador de corruption ICRG, el indicador de Perception de la Corruption de Transparencia Internationaly la Medicion de Control de la Corruption del Banco Mundial). Los resultados son matizados habiendose controlado para las variables voto obligatorio, semi-presidencialismo, tipo de regimen, desarrollo, cultura politica, la proximidad de la election y tamaho del estado. El principal hallazgo es que la corruption definida estrechamente como corruption politica sofoca la participation mientras que una definition mas amplia de la corruption, que incluye corruption social y financiera, no contribuye en ninguna medida a la abstention. Finalmente, descubro que es muy limitado el impacto interactivo de la corrupcion sobre otras de las variables de la funcion de participacion., Corruption or the 'misuse of public office for private gains' negatively affects individuals, municipalities, regions, countries, and the world as a whole (Lipset and Lenz 2002; Rose-Ackerman 2008). (1) While [...]

Scholars have long argued over the dimensionality of legislative voting. Using scores from ten groups, this research note shows that analysis of even basically unidimensional voting can benefit from consideration of domain-specific ideology. Although correlations between interest group scores and DW-NOMINATE--the most widely used measure of congressional ideology--are generally high, I find several areas of concern. First, correlations have increased over time, suggesting a need for caution when using the more general scores for historical analysis. Second, the policy-specific interest group scores differ substantially on aggregate measures, such as the location of the median, that political scientists use to test models of the political process. Third, at least one policy area where party is crosscutting, agriculture, is not well captured by NOMINATE scores. This research note concludes with an example of how the use of domain-specific group scores can shed light on the role of party and constituency in voting. Keywords: Policy Domain-Specific Ideology, Interest Group Scores, Dimensionality, Legislative Voting, NOMINATE, Agricultural Policy. La dimensionalidad de la votacion legislativa ha sido un tema de debate entre investigadores. Usando puntuaciones de diez grupos estas notas de investigacion muestran que incluso un analisis unidimensional de la votacion puede beneficiarse si se considera un area de ideologia especifico. Aunque las correlaciones entre las puntuaciones de los grupos de interes y NOMINATE--la medida mas usada para estimar la ideologia congresional--son generalmente altas, encuentro muchas areas de preocupacion. Primero, las correlaciones han aumentado con el tiempo, sugiriendo la necesidad de precaucion al usar las puntuaciones mas generales para un analisis historico. Segundo, las puntuaciones de los grupos de interes con politicas especificas difieren significativamente en medidas agregadas, tales como la localizacion de la mediana, que los politologos usan para probar modelos del proceso politico. Tercero, al menos un area en donde el partido es transversal, agricultura, no es correctamente capturada por la puntuacion NOMINATE.El investigacion concluye con un ejemplo de como el uso puntuaciones de grupos con areas especificas puede esclarecer el papel de la afiliacion partidaria y distrito electoral en las votaciones., The vast majority of studies on legislative voting in the U.S. Congress now rely almost solely on one dimension of NOMINATE scores to measure congressional voting, since Poole and Rosenthal [...]

Folk wisdom counsels voters to stick with leaders in time of a war, though recent experience suggests otherwise. Taking advantage of largely unexplored polls from the 1940s (Gallup and National Opinion Research Center), this research probes vote choices in the World War II elections. Of particular interest is a counterfactual question that asked respondents how they would have voted if there was no war. In addition, the aggregate vote in presidential contests over time is used to estimate how the White House party fares in wartime elections. President Roosevelt received a special premium in electoral support from the wartime condition in both 1940 and 1944. This premium was earned through popular support for war-related issues. Hence, in wartime elections where such support is lacking voters may be inclined to change horses., It is not best to swap horses when crossing streams. --Abraham Lincoln (New York Times 1864) Seeing it through in Vietnam cost me 20 points in the polls. --Lyndon Johnson, [...]

For decades, political scientists, sociologists, and historians have tracked the perils of residential segregation in the African American community. The consensus is clear: segregation has hampered African American socioeconomic mobility and social integration. Given the strong relationship between socioeconomic status and political participation, segregation, therefore, is at least partially responsible for low levels of political participation within the black community. Over the last 20 years, Latinos have started to experience segregation rates similar to African Americans. I argue that the detriments of residential segregation are not isolated to the black community and present similar barriers to Latinos. This finding has important political implications, indicating that Latinos are unlikely to realize their full potential at the ballot box because of the socioeconomic barriers of segregation. Keywords: Latino Segregation, Political Participation, Citizenship, United States, Democracy, Spanish-Speaking, Race, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, Politics and Language, Voting Behavior. Durante decadas politologos, sociologos e historiadores han dado seguimiento a las consecuencias de la segregacion residencial en la comunidad Afroamericana. El consenso es claro: la segregacion ha danado la movilidad socioeconomica de las comunidades afroamericanas y su integracion social. Dada la estrecha relacion entre el estatus socioeconomico y la participacion politica, la segregacion es por lo tanto parcialmente responsable por los bajos niveles de participacion politica dentro de dicha comunidad. Durante los ultimos 20 anos, los inmigrantes latinos en los Estados Unidos han experimentado niveles de segregacion similares a aquellos presentes hacia las personas de color. Sostengo que las consecuencias de la segregacion no son un caso unico de la comunidad afroamericana sino que tambien presentan las mismas barreras para la comunidad latinoamericana en Estados Unidos. Este hallazgo tiene implicaciones politicas de gran importancia, indicando que los latinos tienen pocas posibilidades de alcanzar su maximo potencial en las casillas electorales debido a las barreras socioeconomicas de la segregacion., Although segregation declined marginally for both African Americans and Asians between 1970 and 2000, it rose dramatically among Latinos (Timberlake and Iceland 2007). In 1960, less than half of the [...]

The fact that political parties hold competitive nomination contests that require voters to choose among multiple candidates leaves open the possibility that the contest itself could damage the prospects of an eventual nominee. In this study, we employ the American National Election Study panel survey data from the 2008 U.S. presidential election to assess the impact of the Democratic Party nomination process on candidate evaluations and general election vote preference. We find evidence that Barack Obama had greater difficulty uniting his party than his Republican counterpart due to the fact that Clinton voters were slow to coalesce around Obama. These supporters failed to report higher levels of favorability until Clinton conceded the race in the summer, while Huckabee and Romney voters were seen rallying to their party's nominee in the spring. In the end, many Clinton primary voters either abstained from voting in November or crossed over to support the Republican nominee. Keywords: Parties, Elections, Campaigns, Voting Behavior, Public Opinion, Political Parties, Primary Elections, 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, Candidate Selection, Candidate Evaluation. El hecho de que los partidos politicos realicen contiendas de nominaciones competitivas que exijan a los votantes elegir entre multiples candidatos crea la posibilidad de que la contienda en si misma perjudique las expectativas del candidato ganador. En este estudio, empleamos datos de una encuesta de ANES sobre las elecciones presidenciales del 2008 en los Estados Unidos para determinar el impacto del proceso de nominacion presidencial del Partido Democrata en la evaluacion de los candidatos y las preferencias electorales generales. Encontramos evidencia de que Barack Obama tuvo una mayor dificultad unificando su partido que su equivalente Republicano debido a que partidarios de Clinton fueron lentos en sumarse a Obama. Estos partidarios no reportaron altos niveles de apoyo hasta que Clinton confirio la contienda en el verano, mientras que partidarios de Huckabee y Romney se concentraron en el candidato de su partido desde la primavera. Al final, muchos votantes adeptos a Clinton se abstuvieron de votar en noviembre o decidieron apoyar al candidato Republicano., In the United States, presidential elections are the second round of a two-stage selection process that begins months earlier with a series of party primary elections and caucuses. During the [...]

This article focuses on how the ability to speak and read English affects Latino citizens' participation in U.S. elections, and evaluates the extent to which this language barrier might be overcome by living in a community with a relatively large Latino population and having access to registration materials and ballots in Spanish. Using data primarily from the Pew Hispanic Center, we find that the inability to speak and read English hinders registration and turnout among Latino citizens. While the language barrier to turnout is mitigated by several factors, the barrier to registration is more intractable. These results have implications for researchers and practitioners interested in the political participation of this increasingly prominent group. In particular, understanding the role of English proficiency is a critical first step in thinking about policy prescriptions that will bring into the political process a growing number of Latino citizens, particularly those with limited English skills. Keywords: Voting Behavior, Public Opinion, Parties, Elections, Voting, Race/Ethnicity, Political Participation, Citizenship, Democracy, Civil Society, Public Policy. Este estudio se enfoca en como las habilidades de hablar y leer el ingles afectan la participacion de ciudadanos latinos en las elecciones estadounidenses, y evalua la medida en que esta barrera del idioma podria ser superada viviendo en una comunidad con una poblacion latina relativamente grande y teniendo acceso a materiales de registro electoral y boletas en espanol. Usando datos principalmente del Pew Hispanic Center, encontramos que la baja habilidad para hablar y leer en ingles obstaculiza el registro y participacion entre ciudadanos de origen latino. Mientras que la barrera del lenguaje para ejercer el derecho al voto es mitigada al vivir en una comunidad con una poblacion latina relativamente grande y con acceso a boletas bilingues, la barrera para inscribirse en el registro de electores es mas restrictiva. Estos resultados tienen implicaciones para investigadores, practicantes, y legisladores interesados en la participacion politica de este grupo cada vez mas prominente de electores. Entender el papel del dominio de el ingles es, particularmente, un primer paso critico para pensar recetas de politicas que incorporen en el proceso politico un creciente numero de ciudadanos latinos, especialmente aquellos con un limitado dominio del idioma ingles., Democracy rests, in large part, on the willingness and ability of citizens to participate in elections. Yet it is well known that many Americans do not vote or otherwise play [...]

This article explores the national factors that predict bishops' votes on two of the most contentious issues at the Second Vatican Council. Using data obtained from the Vatican Secret Archive, analyses demonstrate that rational choice oriented theory in the sociology of religion that focuses on competition is limited. While competition is important to religious leaders' actions, its effects can be understood only in relation to other crucial characteristics of the social environment within which leaders operate. These characteristics, which we derive from Neo-Institutional Theory (NIT), shape leaders' interests and often lead them to prioritize concerns about their institutions' legitimacy over the concerns about efficiency and growth rational choice theorists assume are predominant. Most NIT studies examine the population of firms within one organizational field. Because we hold firm constant and examine how variation in the type of organizational field (supplied by the more than 100 countries in our analyses) predicts firm leaders' actions, this study represents a unique test of NIT. Keywords Vatican II, Neo-Institutional Theory, Rational Choice Theory, voting behavior, religious change DOI: 10.1177/0003122410368927

To what extent does candidate gender influence voter support in state legislative elections? This question is addressed in a candidate-level analysis of campaigns involving men and women in 20 states in the 1990s. The findings demonstrate some statistically significant differences by gender--women actually receive a higher percentage of the vote, although these effects are insufficiently large to influence their likelihood of winning. Additional analyses consider characteristics of districts and states that increase or dampen support for women. For example, women receive a greater vote percentage in districts where education levels are higher and where there is a larger proportion of African Americans. Overall, the major conclusion to emerge is that women have a slight edge over men in gaining voter support, but factors such as candidacy status, partisanship of the district, and campaign spending have a much stronger influence on election outcomes. KEYWORDS women and politics, legislative elections, campaigns, campaign finance, voter behavior DOI: 10.1080/15544770903501400

The single transferable vote (STV) is a proportional electoral system that maintains the link between deputy and constituency; however, it suffers from some inherent structural flaws. The principal problem with [...]