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We study the effect of Facebook and Instagram access on political beliefs, attitudes, and behavior by randomizing a subset of 19,857 Facebook users and 15,585 Instagram users to deactivate their accounts for 6 wk before the 2020 U.S. election. We report four key findings. First, both Facebook and Instagram deactivation reduced an index of political participation (driven mainly by reduced participation online). Second, Facebook deactivation had no significant effect on an index of knowledge, but secondary analyses suggest that it reduced knowledge of general news while possibly also decreasing belief in misinformation circulating online. Third, Facebook deactivation may have reduced self-reported net votes for Trump, though this effect does not meet our preregistered significance threshold. Finally, the effects of both Facebook and Instagram deactivation on affective and issue polarization, perceived legitimacy of the election, candidate favorability, and voter turnout were all precisely estimated and close to zero.

This article analyses the novel form of live political fact-checking, as performed by the Norwegian fact-checking organisation Faktisk.no during the Norwegian parliamentary election campaign in 2021. The aim of the study was to investigate the epistemological consequences of introducing a breaking news logic to political fact-checking. Through methods of participatory observation, interviews and textual analysis, the study finds that Faktisk.no used several strategies to bridge the 'epistemic gap' between the logics of breaking news and political fact-checking. Combined, these strategies pushed the live fact-checking towards a confirmative epistemology, implying that the live political fact-checking confirmed (1) knowledge already believed to be true and (2) hegemonic perspectives on what constitutes important and reliable information. The findings thereby point to a potential reorientation of political fact-checking from being a critical corrective of political elites to confirming the perspectives and knowledge base of the same elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the peak‐end rule to economic voting, finding that voters focus on peak and end economic growth when evaluating incumbents. Cross‐national data from 595 elections in 70 countries (1960–2020) shows that the average of the highest GDP growth rate during the term and the growth rate in the election year positively impacts incumbent vote share, with peak growth having a stronger effect. Instrumental variable analysis addresses endogeneity. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that less‐educated voters rely more on the peak‐end rule. The findings contribute to understanding voters' behavioral patterns and improving democratic accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Citizens are expected to make informed voting decisions. Theoretical approaches suggest that people are most likely to acquire their political knowledge through media. As more people turn to social media as a source of news, the political knowledge gains from using these technologies are called into question. Previous research has shown that rather than increasing objective political knowledge, the use of social media for news only increases people's metacognitive sense of being knowledgeable (subjective knowledge), which in turn increases their political participation. However, it remains to be understood which particular forms of social media use, e.g., incidental or intentional news exposure, are related to which dimension of political knowledge. The present work examines (a) the extent to which different motivational forms of social media news consumption foster subjective knowledge, and (b) whether this metacognition is related not only to political participation as a broad concept, but also to specific democratic outcomes such as voting intentions. Methods and results: Results from a pre-registered, pre-election survey (N = 1,223) of social media users show that intentional news seeking, but not incidental news exposure on social media, is directly related to increased subjective knowledge. Subjective knowledge appears to explain the relationship between social media news use and voting. Discussion: By showing that incidental and intentional social media news use affect subjective knowledge differently, this study provides preliminary and nuanced insights into the ultimate role that social media technologies can play in democratic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After previous failed attempts, Prabowo Subianto won the 2024 Indonesian presidential election. In this article, we outline the events that unfolded in the run-up to the election before analyzing the drivers of Indonesian voting behaviour based on original survey data. Our analyses underscore the importance of transformations in the generational composition of the Indonesian electorate: younger voters, especially those born after the return of democracy, are fuelling its erosion with their support of a former general accused of human rights abuses. In addition to benefitting from the support of incumbent President Joko Widodo, we argue that Prabowo's victory was underpinned by a sophisticated social media campaign, the waning memory of Indonesia's authoritarian past, and a young populace anxious about their economic prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences between urban, suburban, and rural voting outcomes in U.S. presidential elections is a common area of both academic research and news media analysis. Most scrutiny and mapping of the geography of the presidential vote is done at the county scale, with counties described as either urban, suburban, or rural. Small towns are often assumed to mirror surrounding rural areas, with little research examining election results and historic patterns in these places. This is understandable: Accurate spatial data at a fine scale for national elections is difficult and, in some states, impossible, to obtain. Research presented here (in states where precinct‐level data is readily available) indicates that while most small towns indeed voted Republican in the 2020 U.S. election, a closer inspection indicates that they are more Democratic‐leaning than surrounding rural areas. This research indicates the value of studying these fine‐scale data as well as the challenges faced in acquiring these data and resulting lack of research and visualization of these differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Party member mobilization is part of a modern election campaign, just like social media are. This article enhances prior research on the strategic inclusion of grassroots campaigning from a top down perspective by adding insights from the individual perspective of the rank-and-file party members. Evidence is built from a party member panel survey conducted among four German parties: CDU, SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and Die Linke. Based on quantitative data analyses, first, the article scrutinizes the share of online campaigners among members and the importance of digital campaigning for the toolbox of electioneering. Social media are essential campaign tools even if only about half of campaigners actively participates in such activities. Still, only a small group of campaigners categorically rules out engaging via social platforms. Secondly, the article analyzes which groups of members are more likely to participate in social media campaigning, showing that higher age, being male and holding a university degree is associated with a lower probability to participate in such activities. Additionally, these newer forms of campaigning are rather used by highly engaged members who are familiar with party routines. Hence, social media campaigning requires skills and resources, despite its flexibility and accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Swiss People's Party emerged as the unambiguous winner of the 2023 Swiss federal elections. Thanks to a vote share of 27.9% obtained in the elections to the National Council, it managed to surpass Brothers of Italy to become the largest radical right party in contemporary Western Europe. By contrast, the Greens did not manage to confirm their electoral performance from 2019 and even fell below the important 10% mark. Their attempt to enter government by unseating a member of the Liberals clearly failed in the subsequent elections to the Federal Council. While the partisan composition of the government remained unchanged, it is likely to be subject to change in the future. The rise of the radical right is in line with national elections that have recently taken place in France, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article was to highlight the attitudes of political parties towards Euro-Atlantic integration of the Slovak Republic in verbal form, but also the practical implementation of their policies in this regard. The work is dismantled issue of integration steps Slovak Republic to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. Significant work takes place in the analysis of electoral programs relevant political actors in relation to Euro-Atlantic integration SR. The attitudes of the parties were not always identical to the implementation of practical policies of some political parties.

General elections in Indonesia are designed to ensure equality and justice for all voters and candidates, regardless of party affiliation. Despite these principles, election violations do occur, including criminal acts, breaches of ethical standards by election organizers, and administrative violations related to election procedures. To protect the integrity of elections, which is crucial for democracy, lawmakers have classified certain electoral frauds as criminal offenses. The Election Law not only outlines the procedures for conducting elections but also prohibits actions that undermine the fairness of the process and imposes penalties on offenders. The type of research in this study is normative legal research, which is a research method that focuses on written legal norms. accompanied by a comparative study of the country of Nigeria The results showed that the small number of reports of election crimes that continued to the level of investigation, prosecution, and examination in court until the issuance of a permanent legal force decision (inkracht van gewisjde) showed that the handling of election crimes in the elections had not been effective. The same is true for Nigeria through INEC. Although INEC has the authority to initiate cases of electoral offenses, it rarely does so due to a lack of supervisory capacity due to understaffing and the inability or unwillingness of the police to collect evidence and conduct investigations.

This study is the first to analyze the impact of domestic political unrest on Kuwait’s stock market. Our data indicates a daily market decline of 0.16 percent during periods when the parliament is suspended. This translates to a 7.1 percent loss in the value of the Kuwait Stock Exchange for each period of suspension. Our findings suggest that Kuwait, despite having a more democratic political system, experiences greater economic instability than Saudi Arabia. This research highlights the nuanced relationship between the political structure and economic performance, particularly in emerging markets, challenging the notion that more democracy invariably leads to better economic outcomes.

Demokratik rejimlerin temel özelliklerinden biri çoğulculuktur ve bu ilkenin gereğini yerine getirebilmenin yolu da genel oy hakkının olduğu seçimlerle mümkündür. Bu bağlamda siyaset kurumunun toplumun her kesiminden seçmenlerle kurduğu ilişkide onları yanına çekme ve desteklerini kazanabilme adına kullanabileceği enstrümanlar ve söylemler öne çıkar. Seçme hakkına sahip yurttaşlara ulaşabilmenin en etkili ve rasyonel yollarından biri son yıllarda geleneksel medyanın yanında sosyal medyayı da kullanmaktan geçmektedir. Özellikle eski adı Twitter olan X sosyal ağı dünyanın her yerinde siyasal seçimlerde seçmene ulaşabilmenin başlıca yollarından biri haline gelmiştir. Bu çalışmada da Türk siyasal hayatında gerek sosyo-ekonomik açıdan gerekse kültürel ve tarihi önemi nedeniyle sonuçları çok merak edilen İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanlığı seçimleri siyasal değerler açısından X sosyal ağı üzerinden analiz edilmiştir. 2019 yılındaki yerel seçimlerin çok çekişmeli geçmesi ve İstanbul seçimlerinin tekrarlanmasına karşın mevcut Belediye Başkanı Ekrem İmamoğlu’nun zaferi ve 31 Mart 2024 tarihindeki seçimlerde yeniden aday olması bu siyasi yarışı daha da heyecanlı hale getirmiştir. 2024 seçimlerinde Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi’nin adayı İmamoğlu’nun karşısına Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, iddialı bir biçimde eski bakanlarından Murat Kurum ile çıkmış ve seçimi kaybetmiştir. Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi’nde en çok sandalyeye sahip ve genel başkanı mevcut Cumhurbaşkanı olan Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi’nin diğer büyükşehirlerle beraber İstanbul’da da kaybetmesi siyaset arenasını oldukça hareketlendirmiş ve muhalefette gelecekte yakalanabilecek başarılara ilişkin büyük bir umut yaratmıştır. Bu araştırmada, böylesine önemli hale gelen ve sonuçları itibariyle büyük yankı uyandıran 31 Mart 2024 İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanlığı seçimlerinde söz konusu iki adayın, seçmenlerin oy verme davranışlarında büyük bir etkiye sahip olan siyasal değerlere nasıl ve ne ölçüde seslendikleri X sosyal ağındaki paylaşımları kapsamında Schwartz’ın siyasal değer ölçeği kullanılarak içerik analizi yöntemiyle çözümlenmiştir. Politik yarışın iki aktörünün en çok; başarı, kendi amaçlarını belirleme, sorumluluk, kamusal imajı korumak ve sosyal güç değerlerine seslendikleri görülmüştür. Analiz neticesinde adayların, sosyal güç olarak seçmeni önemsediklerini vurguladıkları, geçmişteki başarılarından yola çıkarak “olumlu” kamusal imajlarından hareketle kendi amaçlarını ortaya koydukları ve biz kaybedersek olacaklardan siz mesul olursunuz şeklindeki söylemleriyle korku çekiciliği unsurlarını kullanarak sorumluluk değerine atıfta bulundukları saptanmıştır.

Elections are one of the key moments in a country's democracy. Indonesian elections have a significant impact on regional and global politics. Twitter being one of the popular social media platforms becomes a powerful tool for political campaigns. This makes it an ideal source to analyze public opinion during the 2024 general election, particularly the upcoming Presidential Election (Pilpres). IndoBERT is the model chosen to analyse the sentiment from the dataset in this study using a zero-shot learning approach. Based on the evaluation results, the accuracy value of the 2024 presidential election classification is 0.60 (60%), tends to predict with a good value in the positive label of 0.74 (74%) for F1-Score. This model is considered quite good at predicting negative labels but the results are not too optimal with a value of 0.49 (49%). Confusion Matrix in this IndoBERT model is more likely to label tweets with positive things, by detecting negative labels quite well.

Due to their significant influence, new voters have a dynamic political orientation and are crucial targets in elections. In the 2024 General Election, Generation Z and millennials will dominate the voter demographic, comprising 56.45% of 204 million voters, thus holding substantial potential in determining election outcomes. This study examines new voters' political awareness and participation in the Cibeunying Kidul Sub-district, focusing on the influence of political understanding, environmental support, family socialization, and political education. This research employs a juridical-empirical approach using interviews and participatory observation to gather data from new voters aged 17-21. Findings indicate that new voters' political awareness is heavily influenced by family habits and guidance, highlighting the need for more intensive political education. Some new voters exhibit apathy due to distrust in the political system. Therefore, the role of the KPU (General Election Commission) in socializing elections to new voters is crucial to enhance their participation. From the siyasah dusturiyah perspective, political participation is part of obedience to the leader and a mandate that must be fulfilled. Elections in Islam resemble deliberations to select a leader who will be sworn in. New voters' participation in elections aligns with the amar ma'ruf nahi munkar principle. Enhanced political awareness among new voters will increase their participation in elections, thereby strengthening the quality of democracy in Indonesia.

The issues faced by Indonesia in the 2019 elections are likely to reemerge in the 2024 elections. In the 2019 elections, digital media became a highly effective tool for disseminating information related to politics and governance. Unfortunately, not all information available on digital media was accurate. Social media, in particular, saw a lot of misinformation and the spread of fake news (hoaxes). This led to a negative perception of the government among the public, which consequently influenced the opinions and political participation of Indonesian society. Therefore, a transformation is needed to support the formation of a positive government image. One of the strategies is maximizing government public relations. On August 8, 2023, the Communication Department at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, held a community service activity on the topic of government public relations training in Magetan Regency to address the political year. The main target of this activity was government officials in Bulukerto Subdistrict, Magetan District, Magetan Regency. The implementation mechanism consisted of three stages. In the initial stage, the community service team conducted surveys and coordinated with local government officials to gain a detailed understanding. During this stage, the Communication Department observed the involvement and performance of government public relations to obtain an initial overview of the strategies or designs used for the training. Subsequently, it was decided that the activity would be conducted through seminars and workshops covering topics such as public speaking, digital government, corporate social responsibility, and government public relations. After the activity, an evaluation was conducted to measure its success. It is hoped that this activity can serve as a foundation for improving the function of government public relations in addressing the political year and can be a supportive factor in ensuring the success of the 2024 elections.

The principles of militant democracy as a manifestation of the instinct of self-preservation of democratic systems are considered. The argumentation of supporters and critics of militant democracy regarding the use of restrictive measures to save democratic institutions is analysed. Two main types of instruments of militant democracy are distinguished: 1) creation of obstacles to the coming to power of alleged enemies of democracy using the election mechanism (prohibition of political parties); 2) restriction of opportunities for abuse of state power. A number of measures to prevent the degeneration of militant democracy into authoritarianism are given, in particular, fixing the monopoly on banning parties to a body protected from political pressure. Two ways of implementing the provisions of militant democracy are defined and analysed: through the constitution and relevant legislation, or only in legislative acts. Using the example of Germany, the peculiarities of the first method, which is characteristic of countries with negative historical experience of destroying democratic institutions by formally legal methods, are analysed. The second method, which is used by the states which do not want to compromise the ideal model of liberal democracy, is illustrated by the analysis of Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and the USA. It is noted that the Constitution of Ukraine contains a number of provisions of militant democracy, in particular, the complicated procedure for amending the fundamental articles and the grounds for banning political parties. The latter were applied to pro-Russian parties too late - after the beginning of the Russian aggression in 2014, but their relevance will grow with the prolongation of the war and deterioration of the socio-economic situation of citizens.

The public servant’s exercise of political rights is not absolutely like this, but rather a set of determinants derived from the legislation at times, and from the subjectivity of the public function at other times, and the determination of such determinants does not aim to ban political rights, but rather to place the exercise of these rights in its correct framework compatible with job duties, so it is Either they are fixed by legal texts, or they are derived from the nature of the public job, and these restrictions are imposed on all public officials, but in a relative manner according to the type of job, and the employee’s rank in the levels of the administrative ladder. And others, neglecting the duty of presidential obedience and not disclosing job secrets, so it was necessary to state who the employee is and then clarify the determinants imposed by legal texts

The enthusiasm of the younger generation for presidential and vice-presidential elections has a significant impact on the political dynamics of a country. This study aims to explore the factors that influence the level of enthusiasm of the younger generation in the process of electing the head of state. The research method used is descriptive analysis using primary and secondary data. The findings show that factors such as political education, social media, participation in political activities, and the aspirations of the younger generation play an important role in shaping their level of enthusiasm for the presidential and vice-presidential elections. The results of this analysis provide valuable insights for policymakers, political stakeholders and educational institutions to design more effective strategies to strengthen young people’s engagement in the democratic process, as well as to sustain their political participation in the future.