voting

Assorted References

• Australia
  • 
    In Australia: Elections

    …granted women the right to vote in 1892. Women also made dramatic gains in representation, particularly since 1990. In modern elections, all citizens at least 18 years of age are eligible to vote. Voting itself is compulsory (with the exception of elections to South Australia’s Legislative Council), and nearly all…

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• civic engagement
  • In civic engagement

    …in public decisions, such as voting, testifying at public meetings, or volunteering for campaigns. Associational participation typically takes place in the social arena and encourages volunteering in nonprofit organizations or visiting an elderly neighbour. Increased engagement is assumed to push extreme interests to the periphery. The underlying assumption is that…

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• Classical Greece
  • 
    In democracy: Classical Greece

    …as in many later assemblies, voting was by a show of hands. As would also be true in many later democratic systems, the votes of a majority of those present and voting prevailed. Although we have no way of knowing how closely the majority in the Assembly represented the much…

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• Ecuador
  • 
    In Ecuador: Political process

    Voting is required for literate Ecuadorans ages 18 to 64. If a political party fails to garner a minimum of 5 percent of the votes in two elections, it is eliminated from the electoral registry. Citizens not affiliated with a political party may also run…

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• features of ideal democracy
  • 
    In democracy: Features of ideal democracy

    Equality in voting. Members of the dēmos have the opportunity to vote for or against the policy, and all votes are counted as equal.

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• functions of elections
  • 
    In election: Functions of elections

    Voting gives people an opportunity to have their say and, through expressing partisanship, to satisfy their need to feel a sense of belonging. Even nonvoting satisfies the need of some people to express their alienation from the political community. For precisely these reasons, the long…

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• game theory
  • 
    In game theory: Power in voting: the paradox of the chair’s position

    Many applications of n-person game theory are concerned with voting, in which strategic calculations are often rampant. Surprisingly, these calculations can result in the ostensibly most powerful player in a voting body being hurt. For example, assume the…

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• Jordan
  • 
    In Jordan: Arab Spring and reform

    …the aspects of the old voting system that gave disproportionate weight to districts where support for the government was highest. When Abdullah called early legislative elections for January 2013, the IAF vowed to boycott them. The elections produced a new House of Representatives dominated by pro-government figures. Opposition leaders called…

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• Oman
  • 
    In Oman: Transforming Oman in the 21st century

    While the right to vote had previously been vested in a select number of individuals, particularly intellectuals and leaders, in 2003 universal voting rights were extended for the first time to all Omanis over the age of 21. Political stability in Oman remained tied to the ability of the…

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United States

• 
  In United States: Voting and elections

  Voters go to the polls in the United States not only to elect members of Congress and presidential electors but also to cast ballots for state and local officials, including governors, mayors, and judges, and on ballot initiatives and referendums that may…

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• Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
  • 
    In Fifteenth Amendment

    …States that guaranteed that the right to vote could not be denied based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The amendment complemented and followed in the wake of the passage of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments, which abolished slavery and guaranteed citizenship, respectively, to African Americans. The passage…

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• Twenty-sixth Amendment voting age change
  • 
    In Twenty-sixth Amendment

    …the United States that extended voting rights (suffrage) to citizens aged 18 years or older.

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