Post-conflict elections and the process of demilitarizing politics: the role of electoral administration

Pre-designing democracy: institutional design of interim governments and democratization in 15 post-conflict societies

“…Those studies that aim for a more systematic survey of the empirical record of post-conflict transitions primarily evaluate their success with respect to the ability to foster durable peace 22 or demilitarize politics. 23 Yet, steps taken to advance peace are not always beneficial for democracy. 24 Among those focusing on democratization, many emphasize structural preconditions for transitions: Grimm evaluates the success of external democratization after war, with multilateral interventions in post-1989 intra-state conflicts as a subset of her cases.…”

“…The sole transitional body, the Joint Political-Military Commission, remained without political power. 66 While the signatory parties decided on fundamental principles of democracy, no mechanism was introduced that forced the government into exercising transparent, accountable politics or demonstrate its commitment to the peace process. 67 Yet, also UNITA failed to show its commitment to democracy by stating that if it did not reach a desired outcome in elections, it would return to war.…”

“…The institutional choices in a transition shape the incentives of political actors, structure their mode of interaction, and are likely to set the course of democratization for years to come. 1 Indeed, interim regimes in places like Cambodia, Croatia, Afghanistan, and Liberia not only differ in their institutional design, but display large variation in terms of democratization success and failure.…”

“…4 The democratic reconstruction model initially adopted by the international community focused heavily on the holding of competitive elections soon after the cessation of hostilities. 5 Elections are seen as critical tools to assist the development of peaceful politics and confer legitimacy on the new political order. 6 Yet, the belief in elections as a safeguard against renewed violence and a springboard to democracy was challenged by studies pointing to dangers of rapid democratization in fragile states.…”

Quem ganhou as eleições?: a validação dos resultados antes da criação da justiça eleitoral

“…Apesar do despertar recente dos estudiosos sobre o tema da governança eleitoral (MOZAFFAR & SCHEDLER, 2002;LYONS, 2004), o estudo do contencioso em si e, em particular, sobre a administração dos escrutínios em época em que a justiça eleitoral ainda não havia sido adotada ficou limitado a estudos de caso 2 . Tudo considerado, nosso conhecimento limita-se à constatação de que, no século XIX, as próprias câmaras legislativas -tanto na América Latina como na Europa -eram as últimas instâncias competentes no reconhecimento dos diplomas e, portanto, decidiam definitivamente sobre a validade das eleições 3 .…”