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This article analyzes how autocratic parties sustain and adjust electoral manipulative tactics to maintain electoral dominance in multi-level elections. It examines continuities and changes in electoral authoritarianism in Ethiopia by comparing elections held under the EPRDF and Prosperity Party (PP). The 2021 elections, marred by the detention of main opposition leaders, war and opposition boycotts, resulted in a dominant victory for the incumbent (PP), showing continuity of electoral dominance. Analysis of election data since 1995 shows that elections under PP were more competitive than the last two elections under the EPRDF in terms of opposition votes and seat share. Further, the analysis indicates regional asymmetry in electoral competition and opposition success, which is explained by asymmetric authoritarianism, ethnonationalism, and regional political dynamics. Despite this, the incumbent garnered public support through targeted rhetoric, addressing regional demands, and reframing historical narratives. These dynamics have implications for Ethiopia's future and state-society relations. Insights from Ethiopia have implications for multi-ethnic federations facing challenges of democratization while highlighting the empirical need for a nuanced understanding of region-specific contexts to understand democratization challenges in ethnically diverse states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is focused on the differences in argumentation of male and female MPs and the impact of parliamentary experience and party ideology. Our pragma-dialectical analysis of argumentation encompasses 150 parliamentary speeches in the Czech Chamber of Deputies (2017–2019). The results show that gender does not influence the number of concrete arguments in the speeches, but women use slightly more abstract arguments. Speeches of senior female MPs have a larger number of both, abstract and concrete arguments. Moreover, senior male MPs use a greater number of concrete arguments but a smaller number of abstract arguments. Finally, leftist female MPs create more abstract arguments and fewer concrete arguments than rightist female MPs. The findings add to the discussion about political socialisation and accommodation of female MPs in male-dominated parliaments and extend the geopolitical scope of previous research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of party membership is a traditional sub-field of the literature on political parties, especially studies based on internal party organization. Among other things, research on party members has focused on why people join parties and how to increase members' opportunities for participation. The decline in party membership has contributed enormously to the growth of these studies. This article will investigate the relationship between the party and its members by focusing on two organizational innovations introduced by the Italian Democratic Party: a) the selection of candidates through open primaries; b) the organization of spaces for discussion open to party members and sympathizers (the so-called Agorà). What opinions do the party members have of these participation tools? What factors determine the different views of the party members? Is it possible to build a typology of party members based on their attitudes to these tools? This article answers these questions by employing an original dataset from a survey administered to Italian Democratic Party members between January and February 2022 (about 4,500 respondents). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Politik kültür çalışmaları, siyasal gelişmeleri, olayları, tutum ve davranışları anlamada tarihsel sürekliliğin ve aktarımın önemine vurgu yapar. Güncel siyasal olaylarla, hatta yapısal ögelerle tarihsel ve kültürel ögeler arasında kökensel bir ilişki olduğu varsayımı politik kültür çalışmalarının temel iddialarından birisidir. Türkiye’de 1936 yılında politik ve idari bir karar ile devlet-parti bütünleşmesi (CHP Genel Sekreteri’nin aynı zamanda İç İşleri Bakanı ve il başkanlarının da vali olması) gerçekleşmiştir. Bu karar doğrudan kendi döneminde idari ve politik sonuçlar doğurduğu gibi politik kültür açısından sonraki süreçleri de etkileyen bir mahiyete sahip olmuştur. Çalışma bu kararın, alınış ve uygulanış aşamalarıyla birlikte, bir politik kültürü ögesi ve kaynağı olarak ne tür nitelikler taşıdığını ve nasıl bir etkiye sahip olduğunu analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu analizin amaçlarından birisi de güncel olanın daha iyi anlaşılması çabası olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Bu nedenle çalışma, döneme ilişkin yaptığı analiz neticesinde ortaya çıkan bulgular doğrultusunda, çok genel hatlarıyla güncele dair de açıklamalar yapma iddiasında olacaktır.