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The province of Ontario, Canada, has a longstanding history of non-partisanship in municipal elections. In this distinctive context, we report results on citizen attitudes toward municipal partisanship using a survey of eligible voters in Canada's most populous province. Using a mixed-methods approach, we focus on three interrelated research questions. First, how much does citizen support for municipal parties depend on the type of party under consideration? Second, what reasons do citizens provide for their preference for either municipal political parties or independents? Finally, what are the correlates of support for municipal parties? We find little support for municipal political parties, and that many voters have sophisticated reasons for preferring either independents or parties. We also identify several factors associated with support for parties. These results provide an in-depth picture of attitudes on municipal partisanship in Ontario, and suggest that public opinion may provide an overlooked mechanism that maintains Ontario's non-partisanship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We offer a new interpretation of the structure of municipal electoral competition in Vancouver, focusing on the city's high-profile municipal election in 2018. Using novel "cast vote records"—a dataset containing each of the 176,450 ballots cast in the city's municipal election—we use a Bayesian multidimensional scaling procedure to estimate the location of every 2018 candidate and voter in Vancouver in a shared two-dimensional political space. We then use data from the Canadian Municipal Election Study (CMES), a large election survey undertaken in Vancouver in 2018, to interpret this political space, assessing 96 possible correlates of CMES respondents' locations in political space. We find evidence of a single primary dimension of competition, structured by left-right ideology, along with a secondary dimension dividing establishment from upstart parties of the right. Our paper supplies a new interpretation of Vancouver's electoral landscape, clarifies our understanding of the role of left-right ideology in municipal electoral competition, and demonstrates the promise of cast vote records for research on municipal elections and voting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada is the longest user of online voting in municipal elections and has primarily used non-verifiable systems, raising concerns about the integrity of election results and public and administrator confidence in the process. In the 2022 Ontario municipal elections, 9% of municipalities offered online voters the option of individual verifiability. To better understand the considerations and challenges of introducing verifiability mechanisms in local elections, this article explores municipal administrators' perceptions and understanding of verifiable online voting through three focus groups with local governments in Ontario, Canada: (1) users of verifiable online voting systems,(2) users of non-verifiable systems, and (3) those without online voting. We find deeper reasonings for selecting non-verifiable online voting systems, such as administrators' perceptions of voters' needs and the perceived value of transparency. To enhance the adoption of verifiable online voting, the article suggests promoting the value and meaning of verifiability among all stakeholders.

Introduction. After the legislative distinction between the concepts of “dual citizenship” and “multiple citizenship”, predicting the prospects for the development of legal regulation of social relations emerging in the field of dual and multiple citizenship, as well as development of practical proposals to consolidate the legal status of persons with multiple citizenship in the Russian Federation, becomes relevant. Theoretical analysis. The author examined the legislation of the Russian Federation regulating the legal status of persons with dual and multiple citizenship, in particular, analyzed the current legislative restrictions and prohibitions established for this category of persons. Empirical analysis. The author studied the problem of exercising electoral rights by citizens of the Russian Federation with multiple citizenship, including the problem of renouncing the citizenship of a foreign state, and analyzed judicial practice on challenging decisions of election commissions of municipalities on the annulment of registration/refusal to register candidates for deputies. Results. The author proposes the concept of the Federal Law “On the legal status of persons with multiple citizenship in the Russian Federation”: legislative consolidation of the concept of “person with multiple citizenship”, formulation of the goals of establishing prohibitions for persons with multiple citizenship, establishment of additional prohibitions for persons with multiple citizenship in the sphere of the use of electoral rights, in particular, the ban on passive suffrage (the right to be elected) in municipal elections, the ban on active suffrage (the right to vote) for persons with multiple citizenship permanently residing outside the Russian Federation.

Copyright of Revista Estudos Feministas is the property of Revista Estudos Feministas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since the 1993 Maastricht Treaty, EU citizens have the right to vote in European and local elections in the member state they reside in. In France, only about a quarter do so. Our article considers what factors explain the registration and participation of non-national citizens for the French Department of the Nord where around 35,000 non-French European citizens of voting age are living. Among them, 11,638 are registered to vote in the French municipal elections. Following the 2020 municipal elections, we have consulted the electoral rolls in each of the 648 communes to know who actually cast a vote. Based on detailed census data on each EU nationality and on other information contained on the electoral lists and rolls (age, gender, place of birth, etc.) and also contextual variables, this article seeks to identify the main factors associated with registering in the first instance and turning out to vote in the second. Our results confirm wide variation in registration and voting rates according to nationality. They also show that beyond voters' nationality and the "usual suspects" of electoral participation, contextual factors are important predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how mayors' political experience impacts fiscal outcomes. Using a regression discontinuity design in highly-contested elections in Brazilian municipalities, we estimate the differences in fiscal performance between newcomers and veteran politicians. We find that municipalities governed by mayors who never won an election before experience a worse budget balance and a substantial increase in public investments. This difference appears to be driven by differences in candidates' experience rather than by factors such as re-election concern, ideology, vertical partisan alignment, gender and political party turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do the leaders of minority communities in divided cities influence group members' expressed willingness to engage politically with rival groups? Studies typically link group members' willingness to engage with rival groups to direct contact between individuals from opposing groups. However, such contact is problematic in divided cities, wherein opportunities to interact are scarce and frowned upon. Focusing on the contested urban space of Jerusalem, we find indications that the diverse nature of community leadership in East Jerusalem can influence Palestinian residents' attitudes towards political engagement with Israeli authorities via municipal elections. The 'middlemen' role can explain community leaders' influence in divided cities. They facilitate indirect contact between their constituents and the other group's members or institutions. Our analysis employs original data from a public opinion survey conducted among Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem immediately prior to the Jerusalem 2018 municipal elections. It has ramifications regarding urban governance for other divided cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Athenaeum: Polskie Studia Politologiczne is the property of Faculty of Political Science & Security Studies Nicolaus Copernicus University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Copyright of Gestion et Management Public is the property of Association Internationale de Recherche en Management Public (AIRMAP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A comparison of the results of municipal elections in 2020 and the results of the most recent presidential and legislative elections in 2017 (results confirmed in 2022) has revealed a growing disconnection between the local and national political scenes. The aim of this special issue is to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon by drawing on the achievements of electoral socio-geography, which is experiencing a certain revival in France. In addition to analyses focused on the political offer, in particular partisan strategies, this introduction argues in favor of taking greater account of certain urban and socio-demographic dynamics, in order to understand this disconnection. After presenting the revival of the ecological approach to political behavior in France, this article puts into perspective studies on gentrification, urban decline and territorial inequalities and their effects on electoral choices and participation, and more generally on the relocalization of municipal campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1993 Maastricht Treaty, EU citizens have the right to vote in European and local elections in the member state they reside in. In France, only about a quarter do so. Our article considers what factors explain the registration and participation of non-national citizens for the French Department of the Nord where around 35,000 non-French European citizens of voting age are living. Among them, 11,638 are registered to vote in the French municipal elections. Following the 2020 municipal elections, we have consulted the electoral rolls in each of the 648 communes to know who actually cast a vote. Based on detailed census data on each EU nationality and on other information contained on the electoral lists and rolls (age, gender, place of birth, etc.) and also contextual variables, this article seeks to identify the main factors associated with registering in the first instance and turning out to vote in the second. Our results confirm wide variation in registration and voting rates according to nationality. They also show that beyond voters’ nationality and the “usual suspects” of electoral participation, contextual factors are important predictors.

The municipal elections in Brazil in 2020 were marked, among other things, by the debate on the candidates' identity representation. On social media platforms, the issue was widely discussed and it was part of the process, including the emergence of neologisms such as "identitarismo" (identitarism). This research, using a mixed method, with an automated natural language processing step and a genealogical one, aims to understand what is being called "identitarianismo" on Twitter, which phenomena the concept tries to account for and the that it has produced in the current political game. After we elaborated on the theorization between the theme of representation and identity, we discussed the political disputes around race, gender and sexuality, and the controversies about the left-aligned political parties on Twitter. We conclude that "identitarismo" is used as an adjective that classifies a supposed movement, perspective, party or political action based on issues of racial, gender and sexual minorities. However, it is evident that no movement claims to be "identitarista" (identitarian) and, in general, the term is used to disparage political strategies that are primarily based on the defense of some minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a study of individual budget amendments allocated to municipalities, we seek to analyze factors related to the chances of a municipality receiving these resources and the effects of receiving these funds on their electoral and budgetary dynamics. The analyses explore the topic by examining amendments allocated between 2015 and 2019, using a quantitative approach, through linear regression models and Propensity Score matching. The conclusions indicate an active role of municipalities in the allocation of these resources and the interference of their political and budgetary characteristics in the propensity to receive amendments. In addition, different budgetary and political returns are identified between amendments allocated to health, education and urban policy, the latter being responsible for the largest budget expansions and electoral returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport and delivery digital platforms symbolize the uberisation of labor relations within the capitalist neoliberal phase, and they have become increasingly present in daily life. In order to reveal political-electoral reverberations of such process, this article presents an analysis of candidates' ballot names considering their Electoral Geography when it comes to the Municipal Elections (2016 and 2020) referring to uberisation. Initially, based on data from the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the growth in the number of these candidates is understood, such as their profile, their distribution across the territory, and political parties. In a second step, it is considered the trajectory of a particular app driver, who has become a public persona, being elected councilor for São Paulo in 2020. Then, it is presented how the national candidate network has articulated based on issues related to drivers' activity by apps. Some final considerations have indicated a considered growth regarding the adoption of ballot names linked to uberisation, this is geographically selective but indicative of a trivialization about this process in social and political life. Besides, there are institutional limits to City Councils actions concerning a national regulated process. Other tensions are also indicated between the public and private sphere stemming from digital platforms in the territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mayors are increasingly tackling environmental issues. To enact demonstrable change, however, mayors first need to be elected – leading one to question: How can a candidate create cohesive messaging on environmental issues and win? By content analyzing Anne Hidalgo's successful 2014 and 2020 mayoral elections in Paris, this study seeks to illuminate potential environmental communication strategies for future candidates. Results revealed Hidalgo favored traditional environmental frames over alternate frames, treatment recommendations over blame attributions, and ecological solidarity frames. Further, Hidalgo employed gender adaptive strategies moving between elections, which enabled her to navigate gendered expectations in becoming Paris's first female mayor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the validity of the second-order model in the 2019 municipal elections. We focus, first, on the theoretical evolution that has transformed the model proposed by Reif and Schmitt (1980). Second, it evaluates the explanatory capacity of a model that does not fit with highly fragmented and heterogeneous units of analysis. Finally, a contextual analysis is presented to provide a more robust explanation of the 2019 Spanish municipal election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LREM's remarkable victory in the 2017 legislative elections led to the historic elimination of the traditional major parties, Republicans and Socialists, indicating a reversal of the 5th French Republic's party system polarity. Like any political party, LREM had to face several territorially determined electoral races between 2017 and 2021 - two senate, municipal, regional, and departmental elections. Territorial anchoring is a prerequisite for any party that seeks to permanently establish oneself in political life in France. The paper aims to analyse and assess whether the balance of political forces has also changed at the subnational level of politics. It tries to answer the question "Is the nature of party recomposition absolute?" or "Has LREM become rooted in other representative bodies at different government levels in France?" Following the overall developments, we argue that LREM currently fails to change the traditional poles and pivotal forces of the French politicalspectrum in the Senate as well assubnationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on mayoral leadership focuses on how leaders view and exercise power when in office. In contrast, we study 'prefigurative leadership' during a municipal campaign, i.e. the way in which putative leaders construct, stage and consolidate a leadership style that foreshadows the way they will exercise power if they get elected. We rely the study of the 2020 French municipal election in Bordeaux, characterized by political alternation, succession to a strong leader, and electoral uncertainty. Candidates endorse a great variety of prefigurative leadership styles and juggle with a series of dilemmas inherent with the complexity of mayoral roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ataturk Arastirma Merkezi Dergisi is the property of Ataturk Arastirma Merkezi Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article investigates whether citizens reward those politicians who achieve better results in public management with re-election. It analyses the last three electoral processes in Spanish local governments, a period that runs from the beginning of the economic crisis (2007) to the last municipal elections (2019). For periods of financial crisis, the results indicate a higher probability of re-election for governments that have better managed public services. In periods of economic growth, citizens do not take into account the capacity that rulers have shown in public management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Automated news writing is one of the technological advances that raises most questions, but also expectations, within the application of artificial intelligence in the media. Currently, RTVE (Radio Televisión Española) is working on a pilot project together with the company Narrativa Inte)ligencia Artificial to cover the municipal elections of 2023 in the areas that are part of the so-called empty Spain. A project that contemplates the automatic writing of news by a technological tool that interprets and transforms the election results and turns them into news without human intervention. Methodology: This work is based on the systematic review of existing literature on the subject and is a case study in which open interviews have been conducted with four of the managers of the companies mentioned. Discussion and results: A pioneering, state-of-the-art initiative in which RTVE, using technology as a lever, aims to increase the dissemination and reach of news in regions with scarce journalistic coverage. Conclusions: The artificial intelligence applied to journalism leads to compe)titiveness, flexibility, fluidity and fast. This paradigm shift for the profession must have its limits in a code of ethics that rules this innovative way of automating the writing of news. Nevertheless, its proper use will allow, as in this case, to integrate and vertebrate territories, with news formats adapted to each target audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2016 and 2020 municipal elections in São Paulo's city presented results that deviated from previous ones in the spatial voting patterns and in candidate performance. While the PT in 2016 did not win in any district, with part of these votes "stolen" by Marta Suplicy (PMDB), in 2020 the party, for the first time since 1985, was not among the first place contenders, a position occupied by the PSOL. Through mapping and factor analysis, the present article provides evidence for this deviation and seeks possible explanations by analyzing, through ecological inference, the transfer of votes from one election to another among candidates. The article defends the hypothesis that this transfer is due more to a strategic vote than to electoral realignments. The results show that there was no change in "voter alignment" and the deviations found attributed to the competition strategies adopted by the parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the underrepresentation of women running for the position of councilor in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 elections in 5,108 municipalities in Brazil with up to 50,000 voters and discusses its impacts on democracy in Brazil. The data from 913,133 candidacies, electoral results, accounting, and electorate, obtained from the Open Data Portal of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), were processed at the Network Analysis Laboratory (LAR/UFPR) for the extraction of descriptive statistics reports, logistic analysis, correlation tests and linear regression. Our findings showed that the initial ineptitude of female candidacies is associated with less availability of resources, lower schooling levels, and scarce electoral experience. Among the eligible candidates, incumbency, specialized occupations and electoral funding are variables that influence performance and electoral success. The findings are consistent and contribute to debates on the complexity of electoral determinants and on the challenges that gender relations pose for contemporary democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the electoral dynamics and municipal political action of the socialists in Bilbao between 1891 and 1905. The connections between the electoral trajectory of socialism at the local level and the techniques and strategies used by the political party are examined. The study also examines the patterns of behavior adopted by the organization in its municipal political action, in line with the programmatic and discursive profiles defined in the electoral campaigns. The study is framed within the evolution of Spanish socialism and highlights the prominence of the province of Vizcaya in the organized labor movement. [Extracted from the article]

The topic of the article is the 2021 elections to the municipal bodies of Kosovo and Northern Macedonia. Although usually of little attention, in the present case they went beyond local importance calling into question the stability of the governments. Backing from the protest vote the ruling parties in both states were dependent upon turned out to have had a limited shelf life during the socio-economic crisis caused by the pandemic, which their long-time opponents have effectively used. This even prejudged the extremely negative outcome for those who are currently at the helm. In neighboring Bulgaria, too, the strength of the new government began to cause increasing doubts due to discrepancies between the president and the prime minister, seemingly political associates. The enhanced cooperation between Sofia and Skopje has raised hopes for an early compromise in their long-standing dispute related to the problems of Macedonian identity, language and their common history. However, this development runs the risks of becoming a hostage or a victim of internal political strife in neighboring countries. In such a case Brussels and Washington that have urgently pressed for the lifting of the Bulgarian veto on the start of talks for accession of North Macedonia to the EU, will once again find themselves in the unenviable position of «the tail wagging the dog!».

Political campaigns frequently emphasize the material stakes at play in election outcomes to motivate participation. However, field-experimental academic work has given greater attention to other aspects of voters' decisions to participate despite theoretical models of turnout and substantial observational work signaling that a contest's perceived importance affects the propensity to vote. We identify two classes of treatments that may increase the material incentive to participate and test these messages in a large-scale placebo-controlled field experiment in which approximately 24,500 treatment letters were delivered during Connecticut's 2013 municipal elections. We find some evidence that these messages are effective in increasing participation, as well as that some of them may be more effective than typical nonpartisan get-out-the-vote appeals. While these results remain somewhat preliminary, our findings have important implications for our understanding of how voters decide whether to participate and how best to mobilize citizens who would otherwise sit out elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the French government decided to still hold the first round of the 2020 municipal elections as scheduled on March 15. What was the impact of these elections on the spread of COVID-19 in France? Answering this question leads to intricate econometric issues as omitted variables may drive both epidemiological dynamics and electoral turnout, and as a national lockdown was imposed at almost the same time as the elections. In order to disentangle the effect of the elections from that of confounding factors, we first predict each department's epidemiological dynamics using information up to the election. We then take advantage of differences in electoral turnout across departments to identify the impact of the election on prediction errors in hospitalizations. We report a detrimental effect of the first round of the election on hospitalizations in locations that were already at relatively advanced stages of the epidemic. Estimates suggest that the elections accounted for at least 3,000 hospitalizations, or 11% of all hospitalizations by the end of March. Given the sizable health cost of holding elections during an epidemic, promoting ways of voting that reduce exposure to COVID-19 is key until the pandemic shows signs of abating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objetivo: analizar los cambios en la competencia electoral partidista en los municipios de Campeche entre 1997 y 2021. Metodología: análisis estadístico-descriptivo combinando la tipología de los sistemas de partidos de Giovanni Sartori; los indicadores de margen de victoria, fuerza opositora y número efectivo de partidos; y los postulados de la teoría de la modernización. Resultados: se observó que la alta competitividad y el sistema de partidos de pluralismo moderado se instauraron como rasgos recurrentes de las elecciones municipales y que las condiciones socioeconómicas todavía influyen en la configuración de estas. Valor: el análisis amplía el conocimiento sobre los cambios que se han dado a escala municipal en un estado que hasta 2021 estaba gobernado sin interrupción por el Partido Revolucionario Institucional. Limitaciones: la profundidad y las implicaciones de los cambios que se observaron escapan a los fines de este artículo. Conclusiones: la competitividad y el pluralismo partidista se han manifestado de diferente manera en los municipios de Campeche a lo largo de los 24 años que se analizaron.

This research aims to analyze the argumentative strategies triggered by candidates Arthur do Val (PATRIOTA), Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) and Jilmar Tatto (PT) through videos published on their official profiles on the TikTok application during municipal elections in the city of São Paulo. - SP in 2020. To this end, we used the argumentative analysis protocol, proposed by the UFSM/CNPq Study and Research Group on Communication and Policy, based on the concepts developed by Ruth Amossy (2011; 2016) and Patrick Charaudeau ( 2011; 2015a; 2015b). After the analysis, it was concluded that the candidates more frequently used the arguments of dramatization, ethos and disqualification in order to obtain the support of their voters. Finally, it was found that videos that dealt with political issues through humor obtained greater engagement among users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do incumbents dominate non-partisan elections because of an especially large personal vote? This question has important implications for understanding the causes of incumbent success and the benefits or drawbacks of non-partisan elections. This paper uses a natural experiment, combined with three original datasets, to estimate the size, persistence, and consequences of the personal vote in a large non-partisan city election. We first use individual-level survey data to show that individuals assigned quasi-randomly to a new incumbent are substantially less likely to support the incumbent. We use a second survey, one year later, to demonstrate the persistence of this effect. Finally, we use historical election results to simulate the electoral consequences of the personal vote; we find that the personal vote is sufficiently large to affect one in four incumbent races. We conclude that the personal vote, while large and important, is not sufficient to explain incumbent dominance in non-partisan contests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although several previous studies have advanced the knowledge of how violence perpetrated by DTOs affects electoral outcomes, the study of how levels of criminal violence vary during local electoral contests remains scant. Stated differently, we know little on whether the local electoral cycle has an effect on the level of criminal violence. Employing the CIDE-PPD Database, we find that local elections do have an effect on levels of DTOs violence and that the greatest incentives to upscale violence occur shortly before election day. These fluctuations suggest that DTOs are actively seeking to influence local governance in their favor especially during the campaigns. Our analysis also suggests that candidates in local Mexican elections face a more precarious and dangerous situation compared to recently-elected authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research in the United States has found that municipal governments are responsive to the ideological complexion of their cities even in the absence of partisan elections. In this paper, I test for the presence of party match—a match between the partisan character of a district and the partisanship of its municipal representative—in Canada, where municipal elections are distinctively non-partisan. Using new data on district-level party support and the partisanship of Canadian municipal politicians, I find clear evidence for party match. This match is equally likely in at-large and ward elections, partisan and non-partisan elections, and large and small cities. I thus argue that partisan and ideological representation is an important and widespread feature of Canadian municipal politics. I discuss the implications of these findings for theories of municipal representation and the role of ideology in municipal politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Ciencias Sociais is the property of Revista Brasileira de Ciencias Sociais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Incumbent city councillors have an almost insurmountable advantage in Canadian municipal elections. This article aims to improve our understanding of the municipal incumbency advantage by considering the ability of electors to correctly identify the two most competitive candidates in one's ward and the factors associated with being able to do so. Using survey data from the Canadian Municipal Election Study (CMES), we consider the case of the 2018 elections in Mississauga, a city with typically high rates of incumbent re-election. Survey respondents were asked to identify the two most competitive candidates in their local ward races. We find that comparatively few electors are able to recognize which challenger serves as the strongest threat to a sitting councillor, a finding that suggests that coordination problems may help to contribute to high rates of incumbent success. We identify several individual-level and ward-level correlates of correctly identifying the first-place and second-place finishers. We do note, however, that there is a significant amount of variation among the thousands of municipalities in Canada, so findings from this case should be tested in other settings, including larger or smaller cities where levels of information might be different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Religião e Sociedade is the property of Instituto de Estudos da Religiao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The municipal elections of 30 september 2013 in Cameroon devoted a new category of political entrepreneurs who are at the origin of certain changes in local political arenas. These entrepreneurs, mostly political defectors, have left their parties either by resignation or by exclusion, while retaining great legitimacy in the eyes of the population. On the strength of their popularity, they either created a new party or joined another formation, with the prospect of beating their original political party or the main rival party in the electoral district. By this victory, they produced a local political alternation. Our study focuses on the cases of Yabassi and Bafang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the parliamentary elections in Portugal (held on October 6, 2019) the Socialist Party won with more than 37% of the votes. Such a convincing result was predicted by political observers after four years of socialists in power and the obvious success in overcoming the economic crisis. The party has good chances to create a stable minority government in alliance with other leftist forces – and in fact repeat the scenario of previous legislature, which lasted the entire term allotted to it by the Constitution after elections in 2015.

In the last 25 years Polish society’s aging process has been intensified what caused a constant growth of the number of people in the age 65 and more. Furthermore, according to demographic prognosis, the share of this age group will be rising in the next years, as well as the role of “silver” electorate. In the local governments selections in 2018 the Elderly were perceived as an important electorate group. Their problems were not ignored and political groups noticed the necessity of winning this group round. In campaigns and election programs candidates focused on the seniors’ needs. The main propositions dealt with safety and health issues, as well as concerns regarding institutional solutions targeted for this group specifically. It can be said the Elderly became one of the most desirable voters next to the Young on Polish political scene.