Elections: Nominations, Campaigns, Voting

Given (1) the number of political units in the world using elections as the primary way to determine who will be given authority to perform which political roles, (2) the periodicity of elections, and (3) the complexity of the process surrounding elections, it’s safe to say that at any point in time, considerable energy will be focused on the process of elections throughout the world.   This post examines the DDC’s treatment of the activities that support the election process (e.g., nominations, campaigns, voting); a later post will explore the DDC’s treatment of participants in the election process (e.g., parties, candidates).

In the DDC, the interdisciplinary number for elections is 324 Political process, where elections appear in the class-here note.   Participants in the political process of election are found in the early subdivisions of 324, while election activities are found in its later subdivisions.   Taken at its simplest, the election process is supported by two general political activities: one identifies and promotes candidates; the other selects winners from among the candidates.  The first activity thus includes nominations (in 324.5 Nominating candidates) and campaigns (predominantly in 324.7 Conduct of election campaigns and 324.9 Historical and geographic treatment of elections), while the second focuses on voting (predominantly in 324.6 Election systems and procedures; suffrage and 324.9 Historical and geographic treatment of elections).

The class-here note at 324.9 indicates that comprehensive works on campaigns are to be classed in 324.9.  Such works will generally correspond to the subdivisions under 324.9 for Historical periods (324.901–324.905) or for Geographic treatment (324.91–324.99).  Hence, Campaign!: The selling of the Prime Minister is classed in 324.9410858 Political campaigns in Great Britain in the 1980s (built with 324.9 Historical and geographic treatment of elections plus notation T2—41 Great Britain plus notation –0858 1980-1989 from the historical period numbers for 941 Great Britain [that is, from 941.0858], all following the instructions at 324.91–324.99).  As the comprehensive number for campaigns, we find a see reference [6] away from 324.9 to 324.5 for campaigns for nomination. 

The first step in a campaign is being nominated, for which several mechanisms (e.g., primaries, conventions) can be used.   Several nomination mechanisms have their own numbers under 324.5.  Under 324.5 and each of its subdivisions, the standard subdivision range T1—094-T1—099 has a do-not-use note indicating that nominating party candidates in a specific country or state should be classed in 324.24–324.29 Parties in specific countries and localities in modern world.  Thus, 324.5 should generally be reserved for general works on one or more mechanisms for nominating candidates (e.g., Candidate selection in comparative perspective: The secret garden of politics, classed in 324.5 Nominating candidates itself) or for works on nominating candidates in areas other than countries or states.

The practical conduct of campaigns is classed in 324.7, which has subdivisions for strategy (324.72), use and effect of media (324.73), and campaign finance (324.78).  Examples of works classed in these numbers include:   

• Political structures and strategies: A study of electoral politics in contemporary rural Thailand,  classed in  324.7209593091734 Campaign strategy in rural Thailand (built with 324.72 Campaign strategy plus notation T1—09 Geographic treatment  plus T2—593 Thailand plus T1—09 Historical treatment plus T2—1734 Rural regions, following instructions at T1—093–099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities)
• Funding political parties in West Africa: Proceedings of a conference, classed in 324.780966 Campaign finance in West Africa (built with 324.78 Campaign finance plus notation T1—09 Geographic treatment  plus T2—66 West Africa, following instructions at T1—093–099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities)

Works on voting are classed in 324.6, which includes subdivisions for suffrage (324.62), women’s suffrage (324.623), electoral systems (324.63), voter registration (324.64), voting procedures (324.65), election fraud (324.66), and the removal of an elected official from office (324.68).  Examples of works classed in these numbers include:  

• Helen Hart: Founder of women's suffrage in Australasia, classed in 324.623092 Women’s suffrage, persons treatment (built with 324.623 Women’s suffrage plus notation T1—092 Persons; note that –092 is higher in the table of preference for Table 1 than T1–093–T1—099, which is why no Table 2 notation for Australasia is given)
• Electoral systems and political transformation in post-communist Europe, classed in 324.63094091717 Electoral systems in the European former communist bloc (built with 324.63 Electoral systems plus notation T1—09 Geographic treatment  plus T2—4 Europe plus T1—09 Historical treatment plus T2—1717 Former communist bloc, following instructions at T1—093–099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities)

Election returns and results and studies of voting behavior are classed in 324.9 History and geographic treatment of elections, where they appear in the class-here note.   Thus, we find Tribal voting behaviour: A study of Bihar tribes classed in 324.954123 Voting behavior in Bihar (India) (built with 324.9 History and geographic treatment of elections plus notation T2—54123 Bihar, following the instructions at 324.91–324.99 Geographic treatment).