Electoral Observation Missions in Promoting Democracy: Do they Work?

Abstract

In the last year, questions dealing with the causes and consequences of fraudulent elections have gained popularity among political scientists. Scholars has been focusing on how fraudulent elections affect party systems; or exploring under which type of electoral system these acts of fraud are observed most often; or under which conditions incumbents decide to commit electoral fraud. This panel intends to offer scholars interested in this topic an opportunity to discuss issues addressing questions like: Why are electoral observation missions invited to monitor a country? Why do International Organisations send missions to monitor the elections of a country? Are international monitors more effective in preventing electoral fraud than domestic or regional monitors? How do monitors alter the electoral dynamic of the observed country? These questions are the core subject of this panel. Papers dealing with these, or closely related, issues using theoretical approaches or large comparative analysis are welcome in this panel. This panel is sponsored by the ECPR Standing Group on Comparative Political Institutions.

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