The role of electoral administration in democratic transitions: Implications for policy and research

Abstract

Much has been written about the causes and consequences of democracy, but a crucial variable for explaining the success or the failure of democratic transitions has been omitted ‐ the administration of elections. In a poor country with low levels of education, the administration of an election is no simple matter, and accidents occur at the intersection between political suspicion and technical incapacity. Many elections fail because one party interprets a ‘technical irregularity’ as politically‐inspired by its opponents, whereas it might be due to administrative failures. This article analyses the increasing use of Elections Commissions and surveys the boundary line between technical and political challenges in conducting transitional elections. It proposes a research and policy agenda to disentangle the technical from the political and pursue each more effectively.