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"This book shows that the third wave of democracy has been accompanied by a worldwide wave of opposition-initiated, election-related protests. Such electoral protests result from a failure on the part of incumbent and opposition elites in the developing world to negotiate acceptable terms of electoral conduct, and their consequences for democracy depend on the context in which they occur. Where election boycotts receive international support, they increase the probability of democratic reform, but where support is primarily domestic, there is a higher probability of authoritarian backsliding. Based on an extensive new data set covering nearly thirty years of electoral protest and election-related reform in the developing world, this book explores the causes of different types of electoral protest and their consequences for democracy. Statistical analysis and case studies provide readers with a complete picture of the dynamics surrounding developing world elections, protest, and democratization"--

AbstractThis paper contributes to a growing body of research on voting technology and voter confidence, which generally concludes that voters are less confident in technology—particularly in developed democracies. Using a unique survey experiment, this paper demonstrates that far fewer individuals are concerned about election fraud involving electronic voting, compared with other potential forms of election fraud such as registering ineligible voters or voter suppression. Other interesting findings emerge from the data: Older individuals are more concerned about fraud with electronic voting but the effects of age appear to be conditioned on political polarization. This paper advances our understanding of the impact of voting technology on electoral confidence, and raises important substantive and methodological questions about priming.

This paper uses a survey experiment to assess what individuals understand about election fraud and under what circumstances they see it as a problem. I argue that political parties are central to answering both these questions. Results from the 2011 CCES survey suggest respondents are able to differentiate between the relative incentives of Democrats and Republicans where fraud tactics are concerned, but whether voters see these tactics as problematic is heavily influenced by partisan bias. The results show little support for the notion that partisan ideology drives fraud assessments, and suggest support for the idea that individual concerns for fraud are shaped a desire for their preferred candidate to win. These results offer insights that might be applied more broadly to questions of perceptions of electoral integrity and procedural fairness in democracies. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]

Why do political parties boycott elections and what do election boycotts mean for democracy in developing countries? To answer these questions, I differentiate between major and minor boycotts to study the causes and consequences of those boycotts most likely to affect democratization. Using an original data set, I find distinct causes for each type of boycott. While major boycotts are motivated by electoral unfairness and a strong opposition, minor boycotts seek to obtain international attention for particularistic interests, without sacrificing monetary gain. In addition to a distinction between types of boycott, an original dataset, and the most systematic examination of election boycott causes to date, this dissertation also contributes the first study of the effects of election boycotts. I find that major boycotts have consequences both for the elections in which they occur and for democracy in developing countries more generally. With respect to boycotted elections, this study finds a distinction between those types of boycotts that are peaceful and those that engage in violence as part of their boycott campaign. Where the implications for democracy are concerned, I find that major boycotts stimulate political reform and encourage the future involvement of international election observers. These findings suggest that election boycotts do not represent death throes, but rather the birth pangs of democracy