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## Meet the editor

Ryan M. Yonk is the Research Director of the Rural Policy and Public Lands Center, and an instructor in the Department of Political Science at Utah State University. His books include *Green V. Green*, *Direct Democracy in the United States*, *Nature Unbound*, *Politics and Quality of Life*, and *The Reality of American Energy*. Dr. Yonk is the author of numerous academic journal articles and policy reports focused on the intersection of public

policy, economics, and politics. Dr. Yonk received his PhD in Political Science from Georgia State University in 2011. He was previously a research assistant professor of economics at Utah State University and an assistant professor of political science at Southern Utah University.

**Preface III**

Understanding Elections **1**

**Chapter 1 3**

Elections in Developing Democracies **23**

**Chapter 2 25** The Electoral Cycle and Grassroots Realities in Cameroon: The Omnipresent,

**Chapter 3 41**

**Chapter 4 57**

Elections in Developed Democracies **73**

**Chapter 5 75**

**Chapter 6 95**

Electoral Behavior and Politics of *Stomach Infrastructure* in Ekiti State

Electoral Legitimacy, Preventive Representation, and Regularization of

Estimating the Effect of Voters' Media Awareness on the 2016 US

How Italian Female Local and National Politicians Perceive and

Cope with Obstacles in a Gatekeeping Political Culture

*by Donata Francescato and Minou Ella Mebane*

Who Does Not Vote and Why? Implication for New Democracies

**Section 1**

**Section 2**

(Nigeria) *by Mike Omilusi*

**Section 3**

*by Elvis Bisong Tambe*

Contents

*by Numvi Gwaibi*

*by Moniruzzaman M.*

Presidential Election

*by Lauren Dique and Maria Gallego*

Overbearing and Contested Political Elite

Authoritarian Democracy in Bangladesh

### Contents



Preface

Among the most prized and revered democratic institutions are elections, and few other actions typify what it means to participate in the democratic process in the same way that turning up, casting a ballot, and then having that ballot be part of determining who will control power has. Elections are at the center of what we view as democracy and much ink has been spilled in attempting to explain just how

In fact, scholarship about political regimes has long focused on their classification into simple categories: authoritarian, monarchical, democratic, etc. Designations that in large part rely directly on how, when, and if they hold meaningful electoral

Among those who study democratic institutions that utilize a common definition, with near infinite variation of particulars, to simply classify a political system as being democratic or non-democratic. Their definitions are generally distillable too; does the nation hold regular elections? The very notion of regular elections provides

common ground for discussing what is and what is not a democratic system.

and its institutions and the role of the individual voter in that system.

Given the relative importance of elections to our wider understanding of democracy and its role in the world it is not surprising that explorations of elections particularly in the developed world abound and have explored both the impact of the electoral system

At the systemic level, the rules of the game matter greatly and the outcomes of elections are heavily influenced by how the rules are constructed, who is allowed to compete, what the field of competition looks like, and ultimately how who wins is

My own background is heavily tilted toward US politics and public policy. The unique nature of the rules of the electoral game in the United States has greatly influenced its electoral outcomes, often to the chagrin of those who study elections and democracy. The US system with its levels of electoral control and competition creates a complicated landscape for those who wish to understand how elections are conducted and what influences them. The wide and deep literature on this subject illustrates that the differences between local, state, national, and ultimately presidential elections are substantial, driven by a variety of causes, and lead to unique

In the United States, local elections are distinguished by low voter turnout, high voter information, and little partisan conflict. State and national elections have higher voter turnout and low voter information but also introduce the unique role of party into the electoral dynamic. The first-past-the-post system coupled with single-member districts both at the state and federal levels has led only two parties to emerge as substantial political forces that compete for legislative majorities in

essential the electoral action is to democracy.

competitions for determining who will govern.

decided.

outcomes.

state legislatures and the US Congress.
