Reforming the Algerian electoral system

Bouandel, Youcef

doi:10.1017/s0022278x05001023

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…As Pripstein Posusney (2002) remarks in a comparative analysis of electoral engineering in the Arab world, 'if in democracies WTA [winner-takes-all] is associated with two-or three-party systems, in this authoritarian context its effect is to maintain single-party domination by distorting the popular vote earned by the ruling party' (p. 40). This finding is also confirmed by Bouandel (2005), who, writing on electoral law formation in Algeria, illustrates how the move from a two-round absolute majority system (1991/1992) to closed list-PR (1997 onwards) resulted in the emergence of far more plural legislatures.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 54%

“…The other half of the seats and all that far from being meaningless, electoral institutions in the Arab world do matter, and that they hence merit greater attention in analyses of electoral authoritarianism in the region than they have hitherto received (e.g. Pripstein Posusney 1998, LustOkar 2006, Bouandel 2005. Second, by drawing a connection between electoral rules and political agency, this paper also seeks to open up a new avenue of enquiry within the nascent literature on electoral institutions in the Arab world that has thus far been neglected.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electoral rules, voter mobilization and the Islamist landslide in the Saudi municipal elections of 2005

Kraetzschmar

2010

Contemporary Arab Affairs

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This paper examines the Saudi voting system and its effects on the first nationwide municipal elections held in the Kingdom in 2005. It argues that by encouraging electoral mobilization across districts, the voting system impacted on both the dynamics of the election campaign and its outcome. Drawing on original research conducted in the country, it is demonstrated that, as designed, the rules of the electoral game (1) made possible the formation of electoral alliances, whose presence on the ground gave the entire campaign a distinctly ideological flavour; and (2) facilitated the remarkable victories of Islamist candidates in municipalities across the Kingdom.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electoral rules, voter mobilization and the Islamist landslide in the Saudi municipal elections of 2005

Kraetzschmar

2010

Contemporary Arab Affairs

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“…Political changes were made, ostensibly to speed up the transition process but really to ensure the survival of the current system. The electoral system's overhaul was a key component of the survival plan (Bouandel, 2005).…”

Section: The Civil Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political Reforms For Regime Survival: Algeria From 1988 To Post-Covid-19 Era

Khelfa

Zamani

2023

JSPG

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This study examines how the regime in Algeria could survive the different popular uprisings throughout history, unlike the rest of regimes that experienced the Arab Spring. The study argues that since the foundation of the republic, the Algerian regime has always supported quick political reforms as a survival tactic. Contrary to other Arab dictatorships, the FLN has always been in power, but, as a survival tactic, it has always been willing to make concessions. The Algerian government used immediate political reforms to dictate the populace's behavior during uprisings, which over time created a kind of negative reinforcement. The study will employ an extensive literature review and archival records to support this argument. Relying on a fusion of classical conditioning, power-maximization theory and inherent factors approach, this study will prove that political reforms are used mostly as a tool of regime survival and power maximization.

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“…Therefore, the Algerian authorities adopted the closed party list electoral system, which put a threshold of 5% for parties to gain representation in the National Assembly. The electoral system aimed to better reflect the popularity of parties, avoid manufactured majorities and produce a parliament where several parties are represented, according to their share of votes (Bouandel, 2005). Under this system, five legislative elections were held since 1997 until 2017.…”

Section: The Algerian Casementioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of using proportional representation system on the fragmentation of the party system in Algeria. Applied to the elections of the National People’s Assembly (1997–2017)

Mahgoub¹

2021

REPS

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of using proportional representation system on the fragmentation of the party system in the Algerian political system within the period from 1997 to 2017, in which Algeria has experienced five legislative elections regularly every five years by testing a hypothesis about adopting the proportional representation system on the basis of the closed list during the foregoing legislative elections has obviously influenced the exacerbation of the Algerian party system’s fragmentation, compared to other factors. Design/methodology/approach The essence of the theoretical framework of this study is to address the effect of the electoral system as an independent variable on the party system as a dependent variable. The starting point for that framework is to reassess the “Duverger’s law,” which appeared since the early 1950s and has influenced the foregoing relationship, and then to review the literature on a new phase that tried to provide a more accurate mechanism for determining the number of parties and their relative weight, whether in terms of electoral votes or parliamentary seats. This means that researchers began to use a measure called the effective number of parties (ENP) for Laakso and Taagepera since 1979. The study elaborates the general concepts of the electoral system and the party system. It used Laakso, Taagepera index of the “ENP” to measure the phenomenon of fragmentation party during the five legislative elections from 1997 to 2017 in Algeria. Findings The results of the study reveal that the proportional representation electoral system – beside other factors – had clear impacts on the fragmentation of the Algerian party system by all standards, whether on the level of the apparent rise in the number of the parties represented in the Algerian parliament from 10 parties in 1997 election to 36 parties in 2017 election or according to the index of Laakso and Taagepera (ENP). The average number of effective number of electoral parties in the five elections was around 7.66, and the average number of effective number of parliamentary parties in the five elections was around 4.39, which puts Algeria in an advanced degree of the fragmentation of the party system. Originality/value This study about the phenomenon of the fragmentation of the party system, which is one of the new subjects in the field of comparative politics – globally and in the Arab world. Hence, the value of this study aims to shed light on this mysterious area of science, the fragmentation of the party system in the Algerian political system during the period from 1997 to 2017.

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Reforming the Algerian electoral system

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Electoral rules, voter mobilization and the Islamist landslide in the Saudi municipal elections of 2005

Electoral rules, voter mobilization and the Islamist landslide in the Saudi municipal elections of 2005

Political Reforms For Regime Survival: Algeria From 1988 To Post-Covid-19 Era

The impact of using proportional representation system on the fragmentation of the party system in Algeria. Applied to the elections of the National People’s Assembly (1997–2017)

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