Electoral Commissions and Democratization in Africa

Abstract

Why do some countries hold elections that meet global democratic standards, while other countries do not? Electoral Commissions and Democratization in Africa makes a novel contribution to this question. In a departure from the typical story about the ‘boring’ administrative tasks that electoral commissions carry out and their impact on international observers’ assessments of election quality, the book’s core argument is that electoral commissions provide valuable information that helps politicians and citizens resolve uncertainties about electoral fraud and administrative irregularities. Whereas previous research focuses on the institutional design of electoral commissions, this book privileges their actual performance and focuses on two attributes: autonomy and capacity. By serving an informational role, the autonomy and capacity of electoral commissions influences how citizens and elites think about and behave during elections. This includes whether political elites and citizens participate in elections, engage in electoral fraud and violence, accept electoral outcomes, and express confidence in elections. These attitudes and behaviours, in turn, influence whether elections meet democratic standards (election quality) and whether political elites and citizens regard election processes as acceptable (election legitimacy). This book brings together evidence from public opinion surveys, elite surveys, field research, and cross-national databases to give an unusually rich empirical exploration of the dynamics of elections and democracy in sub-Saharan Africa since the 1990s, with a focused case study of Nigeria. This book will be appealing to scholars and policymakers interested in democratization and elections.