|
|
Redistricting Bodies and Redistricting Reform in the U.S.: Where Are We Now and the Way Forward
Šára, Pavel ; Bečka, Jan (advisor) ; Calda, Miloš (referee)
While drawing electoral districts and its special type called gerrymandering (redistricting with a certain purpose in mind) has been present in American politics since the founding of the United States, it has recently received a lot of attention and criticism. Gerrymandering has been accused of ruining electoral competition, contributing to the gridlock in Congress, and hampering the spirit of American democracy. Moreover, legislators responsible for redistricting are frowned upon for choosing their own voters and thus ruining the purpose of the electoral process. Redistricting currently follows certain principles, the most important of which and the only two recognized at the federal level are population equality and minority representation. These principles were designed to limit the redistricting bodies when drawing districts. State legislatures remain the most common redistricting institution. However, for the criticism that they face various redistricting commissions with different powers were established. The current trend in the redistricting reform is to delegate the redistricting power to independent commissions which can adopt a redistricting plan without the consent of a legislature and whose members have no connections to politics. Competition and partisanship are the two most discussed...
|
|
|
Effect of gerrymandering on competitiveness in Congressional elections
Petrů, Tomáš ; Kotábová, Věra (advisor) ; Stauber, Jakub (referee)
Gerrymandering, a phenomenon describing the malpractice of electoral districts transformation known as redistricting is motivated by political gains and is considered to be a deep rooted example of a democratic deficit embedded in the political system of The United States of America. In the eyes of the public it is seen as a source of decrease in electoral competition. This thesis investigates the relation between gerrymandering and electoral competition through a quantitative statistical analysis based on the data collected from forty randomly chosen electoral district in the last House election in 2014. The findings show no statistically significant relation between gerrymandering and electoral competition and are then interpreted by different theoretical presumptions further shedding light on the results. The thesis accompanies already rather large number works focused on a statistical approach towards the topic of gerrymandering but offers a unique perspective of constructing the two variables whose relation is subject to the statistical testing.
|
|
| |
|
|
Effect of gerrymandering on competitiveness in Congressional elections
Petrů, Tomáš ; Kotábová, Věra (advisor) ; Stauber, Jakub (referee)
Gerrymandering, a phenomenon describing the malpractice of electoral districts transformation known as redistricting is motivated by political gains and is considered to be a deep rooted example of a democratic deficit embedded in the political system of The United States of America. In the eyes of the public it is seen as a source of decrease in electoral competition. This thesis investigates the relation between gerrymandering and electoral competition through a quantitative statistical analysis based on the data collected from forty randomly chosen electoral district in the last House election in 2014. The findings show no statistically significant relation between gerrymandering and electoral competition and are then interpreted by different theoretical presumptions further shedding light on the results. The thesis accompanies already rather large number works focused on a statistical approach towards the topic of gerrymandering but offers a unique perspective of constructing the two variables whose relation is subject to the statistical testing.
|
|
|
The electoral bias in the electoral system to the Chamber of deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
Blaha, Aleš ; Říchová, Blanka (advisor) ; Brunclík, Miloš (referee)
This diploma thesis opens a new deep insight into the issue of electoral systems in Czech and Central European political science. The mid-point of this research is the electoral bias in the electoral system to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The electoral bias is researched on all general elections from 1996 until 2013. To find out the electoral bias I apply mathematical method created and used by professor Galina Borisyuk from University of Plymouth. This method is based on several mathematical methods used by the American and the British political scientists for decades. However, the new method created by Galina Borisyuk is the most convenient for many reasons. Mainly this method isn't necessarily connected with plurality majority system, which was essential variable so far. Second key attribute of this method is the possibility to apply it on the three party systems, which is important variable for our political system in the Czech Republic as well. In analytical part of this research I apply the new mathematical method in all elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Ascertained results are analysed in the conclusion together that I have set the feasible ways to develop a new path the research of bias in the future.
|
|
|
Redistricting Bodies and Redistricting Reform in the U.S.: Where Are We Now and the Way Forward
Šára, Pavel ; Bečka, Jan (advisor) ; Calda, Miloš (referee)
While drawing electoral districts and its special type called gerrymandering (redistricting with a certain purpose in mind) has been present in American politics since the founding of the United States, it has recently received a lot of attention and criticism. Gerrymandering has been accused of ruining electoral competition, contributing to the gridlock in Congress, and hampering the spirit of American democracy. Moreover, legislators responsible for redistricting are frowned upon for choosing their own voters and thus ruining the purpose of the electoral process. Redistricting currently follows certain principles, the most important of which and the only two recognized at the federal level are population equality and minority representation. These principles were designed to limit the redistricting bodies when drawing districts. State legislatures remain the most common redistricting institution. However, for the criticism that they face various redistricting commissions with different powers were established. The current trend in the redistricting reform is to delegate the redistricting power to independent commissions which can adopt a redistricting plan without the consent of a legislature and whose members have no connections to politics. Competition and partisanship are the two most discussed...
|
|
|
Electoral Engineering at Local Level in the Czech Republic: Case Study of Prague, Olomouc, Ústí nad Labem, Most
Kuchařová, Milena ; Lisa, Aleš (advisor) ; Němec, Jan (referee)
The master's thesis deals with local elections in the Czech Republic from the point of view of electoral engineering. Theoretical part of the thesis is focused on the elections, electoral systems and variables of electoral systems. The main variables are electoral district magnitude, electoral formula, legal threshold and the number and character of tier districting. The thesis then describes issue of gerrymandering and malapportionment from the theoretical perspective. The next part of the thesis deals with legislative framework of the local government elections from 1989 including rules and problematic characteristics of current electoral law for electing members of municipality. Empirical part of the thesis analyses local elections in the Czech Republic and results of the elections between 1994 and 2014. In the last chapter, division of the territory into electoral districts is assessed with an emphasis on principle of equal weight of votes and degree of proportionality. Comparison was carried out by using two indices of proportionality, Loosemore and Hanby index and D'Hondt index.
|
|
|
Gerrymandering
Šteflová, Svatava ; Pokorný, Pavel (advisor) ; Krejčová, Iva (referee)
This bachelor's thesis describes a system for drawing electoral districts called gerrymandering. The thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part deals with the explanation of the system, its history and functions. In the practical part, we are going to focus on how this system would influence the election results in the selected area.
|
guest ::
