Suchergebnisse

The power of elections in Africa revisited / Staffan I. Lindberg -- The relative powerlessness of elections in Latin America / Jennifer L. McCoy and Jonathan Hartlyn -- Elections as levers of democratization: a global inquiry / Jan Teorell and Axel Hadenius -- Post-Cold War political regimes: when do elections matter? / Philip G. Roessler and Marc M. Howard -- Harbinger of democracy: competitive elections before the end of authoritarianism / Jason Brownlee -- All elections are not the same: why power-sharing elections strengthen democratization / Pippa Norris -- Sources of competition under electoral authoritarianism / Andreas Schedler -- Opposition parties and incumbent presidents: the new dynamics of electoral competition in Africa / Lise Rakner and Nicolas van de Walle -- Legislative elections in hegemonic authoritarian regimes: competitive clientelism and resistance to democratization / Ellen Lust-Okar -- Opposition versus dictators: explaining divergent electoral outcomes in post-Communist Europe and Eurasia / Valerie J. Bunce and Sharon L. Wolchik -- Judicial complexity empowering opposition? Critical elections in Armenia and Georgia / Bryon Moraski -- The contingent power of authoritarian elections / Andreas Schedler -- A theory of elections as a mode of transition / Staffan I. Lindberg

This volume studies elections as a core institution of liberal democracy in the context of newly democratizing countries. Political scientist Staffan I. Lindberg gathers data from every nationally contested election in Africa from 1989 to 2003, covering 232 elections in 44 countries. He argues that democratizing nations learn to become democratic through repeated democratic behavior, even if their elections are often flawed. Refuting a number of established hypotheses, Lindberg finds no general negative trend in either the frequency or the quality of African elections. Rather, elections in Africa, based on his findings, are more than just the goal of a transition toward democracy or merely a formal procedure. The inception of multiparty elections usually initiates liberalization, and repeated electoral activities create incentives for political actors, fostering the expansion and deepening of democratic values. In addition to improving the democratic qualities of political regimes, a sequence of elections tends to expand and solidify de facto civil liberties in society. Drawing on a wealth of data, Lindberg makes the case that repetitive elections are an important causal factor in the development of democracy. He thus extends Rustow's (1970) theory that democratic behavior produces democratic values.

Intro -- Contents -- List of Tables and Figures -- Preface -- 1 INTRODUCTION -- The Role of Elections -- Why Africa? -- On Regimes -- On Elections and Democracy -- Preindependence and Postindependence Elections in African Nations -- Contemporary Africa's Track Record -- Outline of the Book -- 2 ON DEMOCRACY AND ELECTIONS -- Making a Conceptual Choice -- Defining Democracy -- Operationalizing Democratic Qualities of Elections -- Data Collection and Processing -- 3 ELECTIONS IN AFRICA OVER TIME -- Frequency and Number of Elections -- The Democratic Qualities, on Average -- Democratic Qualities of Elections over Time -- Conclusions -- 4 THE SELF-REINFORCING POWER OF ELECTIONS -- Going from Bad to Worse -- First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Later Elections -- A Panel-Group Comparison -- Conclusions -- 5 THE CAUSAL EFFECTS OF ELECTIONS -- Democratic Qualities in Society -- A Missing Factor of Democratization -- Hypotheses and Causal Links -- 6 DEMOCRATIZATION BY ELECTIONS? -- Elections Are Associated with Civil Liberties -- Analyzing by Countries -- Conclusions -- 7 COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES AND REFLECTIONS -- The Transition Paradigm -- Corruption and Democratization -- Stateness and Social Citizenship -- Lessons on Consolidation -- Policy Implications -- The Power of Elections in Unfavorable Conditions -- Appendix 1. Overview of Elections in Africa, by Year -- Appendix 2. Changes in Civil Liberties Rankings -- Appendix 3. About the Freedom House Civil Liberties Index -- Appendix 4. A Data Set on Elections in Africa -- Notes -- References -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Z.

Abstract: Findings in the social sciences too often turn out to be unstable because of the difficulty of and lack of incentives for replication. Bogaards' initiative to reexamine existing findings on the role of elections in democratization is laudable in principle. Yet, replication is a delicate art and Bogaards attempt is not entirely cogent. The cited works are not accurately presented; the original indicators and dependent variables are shifted making comparison with the original findings difficult at best; and his own analysis is distorted by the use of muddled, partially overlapping categories.