Indian elections - our recommended social media sites

What is the role of Social media in the 2014 Indian elections.
According to Forbes India the 'impact is limited but liked'.
according to the FT Beyond Brics it is the first digital election. The other  FT blogs have been discussing examples these include digital tea parties.
BBC Trending from the World Service recently had a discussion of the use of social media
IRIS Knowledge Foundation, Mumbai India  published a recent report on Social Media and Lok Sabha Elections which regarded it as important fre registration required to download the report.

Key examples of the use of social media in the campaigns.

Major social media have set up specialist pages for the Indian elections.
See the Google Indian elections portal. this includes maps, links to key sites  a score map of popular searches.and a hang out section which is promoting an on line community who can ask questions and discuss election issues.
Global Voices online has a background guide to the elections plus comment from bloggers.
You Tube elections hub has online videos of debates.
Social Samosa launched the MTS Election Tracker, a live dashboard that showcases analysis of conversations around the web and social media about political parties in graphic form. The tracker provides real-time data analysis of data from throughout the web and from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well as tracks mentions of leading political parties and politicians.

The Guardian newspaper has been getting readers to nominate favourite Indian election blogs and websites.which are providing alternative voices during the elections. These can all be read online.
 Voter and activist sites
The TCS iElect app a collaboration between Twitter and Tata Consulting services
An official App from the Electoral commission.

Vebbler’s ‘the Ungli campaign’

Google's Pledge to vote campaign.

I vote for a Better India.

Indian elections - keep up to date with our recomended research resources.

As India starts its elections.
Here is the first of our postings linking to useful sites for academic researchers.

Get started with this quick two minute guide from the BBC.
The Guardian website also has this quick Interactive guide.

Indian Government official information.
can be found in detail on the Electoral Commission website.
This includes a useful series of electoral maps marking out constituencies, regulations and press releases


New services covering the election.
All these websites have news headlines, poll, and analysis.

India
CNN-IBN 
Economic Times of India
Economic and Political weekly
Express
India Today
Times of India
ND TV

Foreign Press
BBC
Al-Jazeera
Economist
Reuters India coverage
FT 
Guardian
Le Monde
New York Times has a special India ink blog.
Wall Street Journal
Washington Post

Afghanistan elections April 2014: will they be fair?

Presidential  elections are due to take place in Afghanistan on April 5th

Good starting points for background to the elections are
IFES guide
Guardian has a basic guide and news coverage of events
Aljazeera recently published an article on myths about the elections.
The BBC website has a guide to why the election matters in 60 seconds as well as general news
Tolo news - has news from within Afghanistan.
Independent  Election Commission of Afghanistan has information on the electoral system, previous elections

Election observers.
use these sites to get analysis of the state of democracy and conduct of the elections.
EU observers
United Nations Assistance mission.


Analysis
Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) is an independent non-profit policy research includes useful postings and analysis of eventsDemocracy International has polls of voters and analysis of knowledge
IKNOW - covers women in the elections.
CRS congressional research services briefing Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance November 22, 2013
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has reports on women in democracy
United States Institute of Peace briefing.
Council on Foreign relations.
Brookings Institution.
Rand - analysis of security



Human Rights.
Controversy surrounding polls issued has been highlighted by Reuters.
Human Rights Watch has reported concerns
Amnesty International has published a document which sets out what should be done.
International Media support has documented pressures on the media.

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France local elections gains for far right- recommended research resources

As the far Right Front National make gains in French local elections here are some recommended resources on the far right in France at the recent election results.

The main FN party website has news interviews and manifestos from the party. But for more detailed local election news they created a special municipales website 
Marine Le Pen has a twitter account where she sent messages of congratulation.

Newspaper and news service coverage.
Look at the following for news, analysis and polls
Le Monde
Le Figaro has a detailed website with a map of results . It also has information on parties, candidates and many online videos.
Le Parisien
Nouvel Observateur.
L'Express
Humanite

Academic discussion
Sciences Po televised forum on the municipales.
Cevipol analysis
The International Migration Institute has a paper on the impact of immigration on extreme right voting in France
MeLextra  This blog, the third journalism translation project by students of the MéLexTra JET master’s degree in English-French translation at Lille 3 University it translating stories about the rise of the far right from the French media.
Chatham House think tank has some analysis and discussion of far right politics in Europe,
The Conversation has academic discussion on whether youth in Europe are swinging to the right.

North Korea- an election where the winner gets 100% of the votes

In the recent North Korean elections all the  seats are won by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.

The Economist magazine provides a good explanation of how the electoral system operated
Background reports and results can be found on the website of the IPU Parline database.
and the IFES  election guide. 
For background information on the state of democracy and human right sin the region some recommended starting points are
Freedom House rankings

US Department of State annual  human rights reports

Network for North Korean Democracy and human rights. has news and reports.

The International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), an alliance of over 40 human rights groups from around the world its website has reports on international action plus links to full text reports.

Switzerland - referendum on immigration see our quick links

This week Switzerland has been voting in a series of referendums. One of which covers proposals relating to immigration.

Here are some receommended starting points for some quick academic research.

The IFES website has a brief guide in English to what the referendum was about.

Detailed materials, legislation and statements from the Swiss Government can be found on the official website.

why are the Swiss worried about immigration? See the Swiss Federal office for Migration which has official policies and data

The Office fédéral de la statistique also has a useful page with statistics on numbers of immigrants where you can trace trends. Interestingly Martin Grand Jean has mapped the results of the referendum at a local level with statistics the local population. so you can see if votes for quotas coincided with areas of high immigrant population.

For further news coverage, discussion and comment.

Try Swiss Info (English)
24 heures.ch (French) has a special dossier with photographs, images of Swiss front pages and graphs showing results

Le Temps has coverage of immigration issues in Switzerland (in France) and their relationship to the vote.

Popular newspaper le Matin - has a 6 point guide in French to the impact of the vote on immigration.

Thailand elections - who are the protestors?

Elections in Thailand have been marred by violence.

Asian Correspondent had a blog on its website called SIAM Voices which recorded events live.
our previous posting has some suggestions on academic sites where you can keep up to date with news and think tank coverage


For further information on one of the main organisers of the protests -
Suthep Thaugsuban see these suggestions.
 There is an official facebook site and the website Reform Thailand (thai language)
 but for those seeking saomething more basic.

Radio Australia had a basic introduction which asked who is Suthep Thaugsuban
which was aided in December 2013. It is introduced by Dr Nicholas Farrelly, Research Fellow at the Australian National University and there is a transcript on the website.

The Washington Post has a collection of articles about him and the unfolding Thailand protests.
As does the Bangkok Post.
and the Nation.